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As we move away from the trend of advancing our children through the use of flash cards and other learning boosting activities, play is returning to the forefront of early childhood education. Play is the most effective way of introducing and mastering concepts that is available to children. Toys are the tools that children use to experiment and increase their knowledge base. By introducing children to quality toys, learning is encouraged and expanded as they play.
It can be difficult to know what products in the toy store will really be effective tools for learning. Some toys are created to cash in on popular trends and have little potential to teach. Other toys have a great educational concept when they are in the box, but fall short of expectations once they are opened. Many toys advertise their educational value, but are seldom if ever played with by the children they are bought for, and therefore are ineffective.
There is no need to despair. Knowing how to buy the right toys for the children in your lives is a skill that can be learned. You can become a good judge of the play value of any toy.
One of the first things to understand is that it is not good economy to buy toys that are too advanced for the child. While it is tempting to buy things that are intended for older children, thinking that this will increase the child's intelligence or knowledge, it is generally not advisable. A toy designed for an older child may frusturate the recipient and turn them off the very concepts that you were trying to encourage. Often, they will not return to the toys when they are old enough to understand and play with them, because of the negative experience. Make sure the toys you buy are geared towards the age of the child you are buying for.
Buying toys that are educational is not about buying toys that promote one particular thought or concept. Toys that are educationally sound will encourage creativity and thinking skills more than anything else. While it would be nice to buy a toy that promotes math abilities for example, toys that are geared to one skill tend to not be played with. Better to buy a game with dice and have the child add the numbers and move the tokens than to buy a toy that is all about math. A deck of cards has even more math building potential. A product does not have to have flashing lights to be fun or educational. In fact, many of the toys that feature the flashing lights have little learning potential because they promote the idea that there is only one way of doing things, and this is not a a thought that will serve today's children very well.
Toys for children should cater to skills they are developmentally ready for. For instance toddlers and three year olds love to mimic. By supplying them with toy replicas of household appliances and tools like stoves and brooms, you are working with the child's natural interests to encourage learning. By pretending to cook, they will develop an understanding of the different colors of foods, the different food groups, the difference between solids and liquids. This is what learning through play is all about.
Toys that can be played with in more than one way are also great educational tools. The classic toys like blocks and legos never go out of style precisely because they provide an unlimited array of possibilities. Toys like these also have the advantage of spanning many developmental stages. While young babies love to see blocks turned into towers so they can knock them down, older children will turn them into castles and towns creating worlds out of the same blocks. The same toy is teaching the younger one about gravity while expanding the older ones creativity.
Quality is an important factor in buying toys. Having a toy that falls apart before the child has a chance to get to know it and all it can do, is not only heartbreaking, but a waste of money. If it is possible, try to get a good look at the toy you are thinking of purchasing. Check it for safety and durability in it's construction. There should be no small parts that can easily come off, whether the toy is for an older child or not, having small things that fall off can age a toy quickly. Many children will stop playing with a toy that is percieved to be broken, whether it's purpose is compromised or not, just think about all the children that refuse to color with broken crayons. Buy with the idea that the child will play for this toy for at least 2 years, if not more, and it may go through younger siblings as well.
Many children clamor after the latest trend toys. This marketing wizardry can leave their parents in a quandry. They want to please their children but know that many of the toys available within these lines are not of the best educational value. While they may be the cool thing to have, they are often limited because they have only one use. For instance, action figures can only be used to play their specific character roles. Often children will not expand the roles of the characters and will demand more of the same line of toys to expand their play. If a child is into a trend, you don't have to dissapoint them. If you buy a puzzle featuring the characters they are interested in, you will have satiated their desire to fit in and provided an educational outlet. Puzzles aren't the only solution, often you can find playing cards, books, games, and building models that are based on trendy characters.
A good toy is, first and foremost, fun. If it is not fun to a child, any of the other characteristics it has will be a moot point. It should intrigue the child enough that they will want to play with it. Toys that encourage creativity by being open-ended, that is having more than one right way to be played with, are more effective than toys that have only one purpose. Toys that have multiple uses and span more than one developmental stage are better than those that can only be used for a short period of time. Toys that fall apart after a short time are not a good deal, no matter what the price. A dollar or two spent on a toy may mean months, if not years, more of usefulness and learning. You needn't be too concerned about trendy toys if you buy with an edcuational slant on the current trend.
Following these guidelines will ensure that you promote learning through play throughout childhood. No matter what the age of your child you will want to follow his interests closely and only buy toys that are within his or her abililities. Choosing educationally sound toys will not turn any child into a genius, but will enhance their skills in a developmentally appropriate way. That is the purpose and the beauty of learning through play
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