Christmas and birthdays are the traditional time to buy toys but it is easy to forget that toys are essential throughout childhood to help children learn and develop crucial skills. Toys provide the necessary stimulus for children to learn. They give children the opportunity to observe or experience how real objects behave.
Children learn many skills from social games with other children of different ages. However, they don’t usually start to interact fully with other children until they are able to walk and talk. Up to this point the toys that are provided for them are the ones that the ones that will help them to learn these skills.
Colourful toys are perfect for stimulating a child’s mind and certain colours stimulate a child’s brain so the child can associate the colour to real objects around him.
Toys of different shapes and textures help a child to learn about patterns, shapes, spatial relationships and provide different tactile experiences.
Toys also develop motor skills, memory, imagination and hand to eye co-ordination. Playing with craft materials and learning to use safety scissors can help with co-ordination whilst encouraging creativity.
When children act out scenes with their toys it helps them to make sense of what is going on around them and to understand how the object, animal or person that the toy represents works in the real world.
Activity toys such as baby walkers, ride on trucks, and skipping and playing football in the garden all help with physical learning and development.
Many toys and games are centred on maths skills, numbers and counting and help to introduce children to this. The idea being that without being aware of it they will be learning and picking up basic number skills and concepts whilst immersed in the game which will help them in their later maths education.
The same idea applies to games focusing on words, reading and writing. Seeing words written down and learning how to read and understand them will help children significantly as they progress to learning to read and write.
There are many ‘mini’ musical instruments available that are designed for children. Not only do they help children develop coordination and motor skills, they also give an introduction to music, rhythm and musical learning and children can start playing with them from a very early age.
Learning is part and parcel of childhood and growing up. There are many toys on the market that are labelled ‘educational’ but children will learn something new from playing with most toys – ‘educational’ or not. Even if you are trying to teach your child something specific with a particular toy they are generally so busy having fun they don’t even realize they are learning!
Amesbury Baby Centre stock a range of ‘educational’ and just for fun toys. Pop in or visit us at www.amesburybabycentre.co.uk
