What Are Educational Toys And Its Benefits  To Children

What Are Educational Toys?

Educational toys  are objects of play, designed for children, which are expected to aid learning. 

Their main  purpose is to educate, such as helping a child develop a particular skill or subject. 

They often simplify, miniaturise, model activities and objects used by adults. They are  also  called Instructive Toys.

 Benefits Educational Toys To Children?

Educational toys are  fun, and also aid your child in learning new things in an interesting and exciting way, right from a very early age. 

The following  are some benefits that highlights why it’s a good idea to invest in some educational toys for your children :

• Educational Toys makes learning fun and easy : Children have short attention span. Educational toys helps children learn new skills along while maintaining perfect bonding time.
• It help inspire  imagination in Children : Educational toys such as  building blocks  help  children to  explore the various ways of using them. These toys encourage children to use their imagination and incorporate the same into learning and play.
• Development of Real-Life Skills : When children engage in pretend play, a lot of it will lean towards real-life situations. For instance, Children may have electronic  toys in form of  the look and feel of father, mother,  car  and  baby dolls, etc., to use as they pretend to play family trip on vacation.In scenarios like this, the children use their imaginations  to build real-life skills.
• It encourages interaction among Children : While using educational toys, children often use their imaginations and practice real-life situations, they often like to involve others in their play. 

Engagement  with parents, siblings or friends is a great way to encourage interaction. This helps the parents know more about their child’s personality, his likes and dislikes.

• Development of problem-solving skills : Educational toys like jigsaw puzzles  for the kids are designed in a way that helps to support and. develop problem solving skills in children.
• It help to  hand-eye coordination : Educational toys can also help in increasing hand-eye coordination in children.  Toys like  jigsaw puzzles help children to use their eyes  to visually see how the pieces fit together.
•  Educational Toys do make Kids smarter  in that it helps developing   new skills without even knowing  they’re doing it.

Types Of Educational Toys

• Stuffed Toys : These are toys  that are considered great educational toys. They  usually in different forms, which can be in shapes of animals, cars, house and with  features like sounds, accessories etc. 

 Children loves taking their stuffed toys around because they are relatable, cuddly, soft, cute and friendly in looks. They promote the feeling of love, empathy and help identification.

• Dolls :  A doll is simply a figurine that resembles a person, essentially having a head, torso, foot and facial features to mimic a human. Children enjoys  playing with dolls as they easily learn how to role play through their engagement with it.

• JIgsaw Puzzles : A jigsaw puzzle is a tilling puzzle  that requires the assembly of different  irregularly shaped interlocking and small patterns in pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. 

They are interesting, educative and promote reasoning and logical thinking in both children and adults.

Children learn the act of patience, recognition and retentive memory during puzzling.

They are ideal bonding tools for the entire family,in that they  can  be both rewarding and educational for children as they learn how to take instructions.

•   Activity Toys : These are  toys  that are designed with the sole aim of making kids complete a certain task. Engaging in  such activities whether  outdoor or indoor can help children do physical exercise and strengthen their bodies. A good examples are  rocking toys, Throw the ball, Pull-along.

• Computer and Digital Games : These days, the digital world has inroad into the world of educational toys. With more and more gadgets like laptop, mobile phone, and tablet replicas, children have numerous chances  to learn basics like alphabets, Shapes types,Animal types, Numbers, sounds and other topics right at the palm of their hands. 
• It is worthy of note that  debates going on as to how much of this exposure to technology is actually good for kids. It is advisable that parents should regulate the number of hours their children spend on either digital games or mobile gadget to prevent  addiction.

How To Choose A Good Educational Toys

1. It is important  to select toys that match your child’s interests and abilities.

2. The selection of toys that promote heuristic play.

3. Choose toys that promote social skills and collaborative play.

4. Select for toys that spark imagination, providing opportunities for pretend play.