From a young age, children begin exploring the world through their senses and toys; playing with toys assists children in making better sense of the world and expressing their curiosity. This play is enjoyable, it isn’t goal-oriented and involves active engagement, which is beneficial for developing social skills at a young age.
What Are Educational Toys?
So, what makes a toy educational? This is a toy that provides an opportunity for the child to learn. It stimulates learning and allows children to acquire a new skill. From letter and number counting to shape sorter toys, there is a wide variety of educational toys that provide hours of fun and learning for children.
Playing With Toys Is Fun
By learning that playing with toys is fun from a young age, if you add education into the game, children will associate fun with learning. Ultimately, this should hopefully continue with them through to school, so when they learn they know it will be fun.
Sensory Development
As previously mentioned, educational toys also help with sensory development. Musical toys, for example, are perfect as the colours and noises develop their motor skills. From turning clackers to tambourines and xylophones, children can begin their love for music at a young age!
There is an array of different toys that offer sensory development for one-year olds and young children, including colourful mobiles, as children can focus on play through touch, sight and sound. As young children begin to improve their hand-eye co-ordination, toys that include interaction can be used to continue with sensory development.
Cause And Effect
Educational toys teach a number of valuable lessons that children can carry with them. For example, cause and effect, which can be taught through building a tower and knocking the blocks down. Knowing that actions can cause consequences should be taught from a young age, and with a wide range of colourful building blocks available, children can learn in a fun environment.
Grow IQ
Through memory retention, coordination, literacy and numeracy, you can help your child’s IQ to grow. From wooden jigsaw puzzles, to sorting and teaching clocks, children can play and further their IQ at a faster rate.
Build Emotional And Social Development
Educational toys allow children to build emotional and social development. Through playing with others, sharing toys and taking it in turns, getting used to confidently socialising and getting across ideas becomes second nature.
Physical And Educational
Ride on toys are ideal for getting children active from a young age, even as 1-year olds due to the stable design of the toys! When they get older, they can continue to enjoy physical play with pedal cars, which allow children to explore the outdoors and strengthen their muscles at the same time. Instead of video games and TV screens, these toys promote exercise as well as independence, as children create their own games and even play with others.
Educational toys come with a number of benefits and are extremely important for the development of young children. So, if you are ever stuck for finding a toy for a child, think both the educational and fun features of the toy. If you would like more information on educational toys, get in touch with our friendly team at The Toy Centre. Browse our educational toys, here.