My Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Educational’

Today’s parents feel pressured to use technology to begin their child’s education in utero. For example, the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System promises to “give your baby a headstart” by playing rhythmic patterns to help stimulate early learning. It is time, therefore, to step back and evaluate the true value of toys that incorporate technology to teach.

Toys that are formed from high-tech electronics embedded with semiconductor chips are generally known as edutainment toys. The quality and substance of their play may be limited by the number of buttons a child can push. Some promise to challenge a child by allowing him or her to interact with the educational content to learn it. For example, V.Smile offers a Baby Infant Development System aimed at introducing interactive learning to kids 9 months to 3 years. They can watch educational videos with this system or push buttons on a tray to influence what is happening on a television screen.

Some older toys are also adding electronic bells and whistles to appeal to the current technologically sophisticated generation of children. Dolls now interact with the Internet. Wooden Brio trains make electronic sounds and can be controlled by infrared remotes. The classic Fisher-Price Rock-A-Stack now also comes in a Dance Baby Dance version whose center rod lights up and plays songs when the rings are stacked on it.

Open vs. Closed-ended Toys

An open-ended toy encourages free play with an unlimited number of outcomes. For example, a building set can be used to construct a variety of different structures. A closed-ended toy, on the other hand, has a limited and often soon exhausted number of outcomes.

Not all closed-ended toys are bad. After all, a stacker is a classic closed-ended educational toy: it can only be put together correctly in one way. However, to solve a stacker, a child must develop and use logic and fine motor skills. The child benefits from the repetition of playing with the pieces of a stacker, manipulating them with his or her fingers over and over and thinking about how they fit together until the solution is mastered and then repeated for pleasure.

A closed-ended edutainment toy, on the other hand, may only require a child to press a few buttons. Eventually, it leads to a dead end and the child grows bored and tosses the toy aside. As Martha B. Bronson notes in The Right Stuff for Children Birth to Eight, although a child can have a rich play experience with any toy, basic, open-ended toys encourage this type of experience more than rigidly programmed toys with only one or two functions do. This sort of edutainment toy is not timeless. It is meant to be replaced sooner rather than later by the next big product in edutainment that uses the latest in technological innovations.

Often people assume that toys that use new technology are more innovative and educational than non-technological educational toys. In fact, childhood specialists such as Jane Roberts (president of Young Media Australia, a consumer advocacy group), question how educational and interactive high-tech edutainment toys really are, noting that “[p]ressing buttons and having items do things for you is fairly limiting in terms of how children learn.” Furthermore, many traditional toys are themselves becoming more innovative about stimulating a child’s imagination and creativity without having electronics in them. For example, the blocks in FoxMind’s Cliko game can be used for a variety of games that are challenging to children and adults alike.

Negative Impacts of Edutainment Toys

Overall, parents might not want to encourage children, especially younger ones, to use too often edutainment toys that involve televisions and computer screens. The authors of “Effects of Preschool Television Watching on First-Grade Children,” found that preschoolers who watched more television than their peers did worse in school and were not as well socialized when they entered first grade. Researchers Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis found that babies watching Baby Einstein DVDs and videos scored lower on language skills than babies who had never watched them at all.

In addition, Allison Sloan notes in Shopper’s Guide to Healthier, Greener Toys that computers and television sets emit EMFs, “invisible forcefields whose possible health effects, from headaches to sleep disruption to cancer, are the subject of heated debate.” Children’s developing brains are in the greatest danger from such outside influences.

A final caution about edutainment toys is that they can foster in children an acceptance of a disposable consumer culture. A timeless toy such as a set of wooden unit blocks will hold up under heavy use for generations and can be played with at the same time by children (and adults!) of a variety of ages. Edutainment toys, on the other hand, are usually played with by only one child at a time, and they generally have a shorter playtime and life span. Children quickly master and get bored of them, or their high-tech components break, rendering the toy useless, and then they are discarded, releasing toxic chemicals and metals into the environment.

What Parents Can Do

As technology and the Internet permeate society and people’s lives more and more, it does make sense to introduce children to computers and other inventions that they will need to use as they grow older. A toy is not necessarily bad or useless because it incorporates technology. That said, smart parents should examine the stated purpose of an edutainment toy, evaluate how and what it teaches, and determine if their children could receive equal or greater value from a simpler, classic toy. Roberts warns against the dangers of a parent using high-tech toys as babysitters, substituting interaction with a machine such as a single-player computer game for what should be “the best learning for young children-real-life experience when they model, create, explore, and develop their own initiatives through play.”

To begin with, here are the ground rules for grown-ups. First, don’t overload your kids with toys. Too many at once will simply overwhelm them.  Second don’t take away old favourites – even if doggy, teddy, or dolly has been loved to bits. And third: suggested age ranges aren’t set in stone. Be patient if a child can’t yet cope with some particular game. She’ll soon get the knack.

As a natural, on-going part of our work as parents, teachers, early childhood specialists and others involved with children at home or elsewhere we observe children at play. This includes selecting the right products to enhance play and learning.

We can depend on the durability and versatility of such items as blocks, construction toys, games, puppets, and transportation toys. They stimulate the imagination, engage the player, have value and hold up over time.

“There. Did you see that?” a worried mother asked her friend after observing her gifted daughter stand up and walk away from two other little girls who were playing a card game.

What some parents conclude after watching their gifted children at play can be very far from the reality of the situation. Some parents, like the one from above, believe that their child isn’t being social when she doesn’t play with the other children. In fact, the issue might not be with the playmates; rather, it might be the choice of games, because gifted children learn and grow from play. Of course there are important social issues for gifted children that parents need to consider; however, since the gifted child can process at a higher level, he or she might gravitate to older children or to other children who have the same interests and abilities rather than to the boys and girls of the same age.

Children are little sponges when it comes to learning, and they are perfectly capable of doing that without toys that are described specifically as educational toys. Children’s toys are supposed to be fun, and most educational toys that children love will combine learning with having a great time.

The old classic children’s toys like Lego or Playdoh are great for stimulating child development and creative tendencies. Young children can start with the basic sets that don’t come with any complicated extras and work their way up.

Children’s educational toys are an essential component to every child’s playroom. Life would be much easier if we could just accept the fact that kids have always, and will always, spend most their time playing with toys. In the last few years, parents started getting more and more interested in choosing all sorts of educational toys for their children.

Playing with educational toys is one of the means that help children to establish contact with the world they live in, especially during the infancy stage. During the infancy stage, toys serve as educational materials to stimulate the child’s sense of sight, hearing, and touch. A rule of buying educational toys is to keep in touch with the child’s interests.

Once your kid has graduated infancy, the learning process becomes a little more complex. A year ago, they were learning how to eat solid food by chewing on a pillow. They were learning what would eventually allow them to read by staring at the mobile above their crib going around and around. Now it’s time to start thinking about reading, mathematics, basic building and organizational skills, further social development… the list goes on.

The wrong way to go about teaching these skills, and certainly you know one or two parents like this, is to treat the educative process too much like… well, academics. You don’t want to turn learning into something boring, with worksheets and assignments and so on. Learning should be fun, and if you teach that at a young age, it will remain with your child through their whole life.

But how does a parent know how much is too much to give? The dilemma is persistent though perilous when parenting pre-teen and teenage daughters when stuff and idols have their most tenacious grip.

What could be more innocent, more harmless than toys? If we were the toymakers, our products would no doubt reflect our love for children, our love for God, and our desire for holiness and purity. Unfortunately, the shelves of most toy stores are filled with toys made by those who are definitely of another mindset entirely.

Do children need toys? I would answer yes. Less affluent children have, for centuries, created their own: a piece of wood wrapped in a scrap of cloth became a doll; other bits of wood became animals, houses, tools, or weapons. Children seem to need to play almost as much as they need food, shelter, and love. Toys are the necessary props.

In this day and age of satellite TV with hundreds of channels, computers with 24/7 internet access and video games that also connect to the internet it is difficult to get out children to take the time out to do something more constructive and educational like reading a book.

What we have to do is conform a little with the times and make use of the technology to give our children tools for learning that they enjoy. How do we do that, you ask?

There are many companies now producing videos, video games, and computer games that are not only fun to the children but are at the same time educational. I am not suggesting that you only buy educational products because if you were to do so your kids will rebel and then you won’t even have the technology they like working for you.

What we can do however is mix it up a bit and include some educational games. These products are available for every age group from toddlers all the way through high school so there is no excuse for not using them. For toddlers you get games that will help them learn shapes, colors, and numbers more rapidly. I have a nephew who is only 4 years old reading on the level of a 9 year old, to me that is evidence the methods work.

I have used the programs with my own son who was struggling in school and disinterested in certain subjects like math and history for example. One of the games I used with him took the kids back in time to Egypt and the Great Pyramids and made it fun to learn history and math at the same time. His grades shot up in a matter of weeks. Is that not worth the price of a CD or DVD? It definitely was to me.

If you have kids (or even if you don’t), it’s relatively evident that no two children are the same. They don’t all have the same interests, they don’t all like the same toys, and they definitely don’t all learn in the same way. As adults, we need to encourage our children to enjoy learning, and it’s our job to figure out which way will work the best. One of the best means for us to encourage this striking of a creative chord is with educational toys.

First, let’s start with music. Music itself speaks to so many, and instruments help to develop necessary skills and confidence, and are a fabulous means of creative expression. Younger children will adore kazoos, maracas, and other “controllable” instruments that shake, rattle and roll. As they get older, throw in guitars, recorders and other “detailed” types of instruments that require a bit more skill.

Animals: Insect kits like ant farms, ladybug kits and butterfly environments provide children with the opportunity to learn the responsibilities necessary to care for animals and pets as well as to see what goes on in the daily life of such living things. With a butterfly habitat, the caterpillars arrive separately via mail so your kids can watch them grow, spin their chrysalides, and turn into beautiful butterflies.

Pretend Play has been a popular choice of both parents and children alike for generations. Kitchens, cooking and baking toys have continued to encourage creativity among future chefs and soccer moms and dads picking up a quick, yet somewhat healthy dinner for the family. Unfortunately many of the large corporate companies are trying their best to “brand” many of these types of toys to include their name, titles and logos throughout these pretend products, so keep your eyes open for the “unbranded” products.

Brain-teasers and multi-person board-games that make you think are once again gaining in popularity. These games help to develop critical math and logic skills. The ability to think quickly and under pressure is a large part of high school, college and the real world-working environment, so learning these skills during the elementary education years (and even earlier, if possible) will increase a child’s ability to problem-solve later in life.

Finally, electronic toys have been pouring out of the woodwork for a few decades now, but more recent advances have brought an educational focus to this genre of gadgets. Interactive play combined with learning and entertainment is a great recipe for educational toys in the new millennium.

 

Teach them Young!

Children love to explore, discover, observe and learn. Providing children with the right kind of toys will not only keep them entertained, but will also enhance their mental abilities. There are a number of such educational toys for all age groups available in the market today.

During Infancy

This is the age when children are just beginning to observe their surroundings. It helps if they are given toys that will stimulate their senses of hearing, touch, and sight. Colorful toys in different shapes help the development of hand-eye coordination. White, red and black are among the most attractive colors to a kid, and toys in these colors are sure to grasp their attention and interest them. They make the child think, and the attractive package makes it more interesting. Besides, there are special touch-and-feel books available that acquaint the child to the sensations of touch.

Early Childhood

These years are characterized by a strong sense of curiosity and inquisitiveness. Kids learn a lot by observing the different objects around them. Live habitat toys help children learn about the animals by watching them in their live habitats. There are various such toys including ant farms, frog habitats, and those of crabs, bugs, fishes, and sharks. Apart from this, puzzles, jigsaws, construction toys, arts and crafts materials, and reading and coloring books all help stimulate the child’s imagination and hone his/ her creativity and reasoning skills.

School Years

When children start attending school, their toys need to be upgraded accordingly. At this age, the games should help build social skills as well as sharpen the metal faculties. Board games, playing cards, balls, skipping ropes involve the participation of other children. Space educational toys educate the children about space and satisfy their curiosity about the galaxies, planets, moon, stars and the sun. There are different versions of this kind of a toy, even ones that allow a room to be decorated with glowing figures and create a universe-like atmosphere. Space toys also enhance the child’s interest in science and will thus make him/ her more attentive in class. Another great toy can be a digital camera. This will help the growth and development of the observational powers in a youngster. Besides, the images can be seen right away, and can also be mailed to friends and relatives. This makes the activity even more interesting to the child, as it might require the reciprocation of another individual.

So no matter how simple a child’s toy may look, it definitely plays a vital part in the overall growth and development of the child’s personality, including the social, emotional and physical aspects.

 

Every parent wants his or her child to learn fast and grow up to become efficient and smart. Educational toys offer the best ways to help a child learn and have fun simultaneously. Parents who purchase educational toys for their children can save a lot of money by buying them at wholesale prices.

A wholesaler buys toys in large quantities from the manufacturers or importers. He sells smaller quantities to retailers, who in turn sell them to customers. Typically, wholesale rates are offered only to retailers who purchase the toys in bulk. However, there are times when a wholesaler sells these toys directly to the end user, namely the parent or teacher. There are a number of educational toys available at wholesale prices throughout the year. They are generally old stock that the wholesaler would like to dispose of quickly to make room for new models. Consequently, the wholesaler is inclined to sell them at cheaper rates.

The sale of educational toys at wholesale prices also happens during summer breaks or during festivals. When parents or teachers buy educational toys in large quantities, cheaper rates are offered to them.

The most popular educational toys now offered at wholesale rates on the Internet are kid’s laptops. These laptops are a good buy, because they make little kids computer savvy at a young age. Children really enjoy having their own laptops just like their parents, and have fun gaining lots of useful knowledge through their laptops

There are also other electronic learning toys for kids of all ages that provide a complete learning experience. In the past, many parents were hesitant to buy educational toys for their kids because the prices were really exorbitant. The availability at wholesale prices has proved to be an incentive for parents to buy educational toys.

Children love hands-on education and the Toobeez educational toys for kids are just the tool to get them learning through play and physical activity.

These giant tinker toy like building kits support educational classroom goals through exciting and enticing activities and differentiated instruction that addresses multiple intelligences. You’ll find dozens of learning activities created by teachers for teachers in the Toobeez activities books.

Kinesthetic Language Arts Activities

In your language arts classroom, the Toobeez educational toys for children are a quick way to set the stage for dramatic learning. Act out literature for greater understanding. Role play scenes and then record the dialogue to build writing skills. Have students create a new invention with Toobeez and then produce an instruction pamphlet for their unique device, including clear instructions. With the Toobeez Language Arts Activities Book, you will find ten innovative activities to improve reading comprehension, grammar, and creative expression. There is no end to the cooperative learning possibilities.

Hands-On Mathematics Activities

Bring another dimension to your math instruction with Toobeez construction toys for the mathematics classroom. Difficult, abstract concepts are easier to master when you build graphs, angles, and shapes using Toobeez learning toys.

As Kim Cooke of Walter Bickett Elementary School in Monroe, NC, explains, “One of my passions is gaining a better understanding on how the brain learns, and your activity books included up to date brain strategies. The books were very teacher-friendly and I was able to instantly incorporate the activities into my presentations and lessons. I have contacted 3 other principals and 18 other Teachers in my school system about your products.”

Students will understand the relevance of mathematics as they build and test their Toobeez structures. Ten engaging and open ended activities from the Toobeez Mathematics Activities Book will have students eager to learn more about mathematics.

Educational Toys for Toddlers and Preschooler

Young children learn best through play. Give kids a good start by choosing the right educational learning toys for toddlers and preschoolers. Because these multipurpose toys can be used in a variety of educational and fun ways, Toobeez make the perfect day care toy or toy for teachers of young children.

Toobeez encourage young children to explore their world in an educational and rewarding way. Build a tunnel, teach basic shapes, and create puppet theaters for kids.

Learning Toys

With these educational toys for kids, classroom activities transform into an opportunity for collaboration and genuine discovery.

Pete Smithson from Central Middle School, Orlando, FL, is impressed with the flexibility of these building toys: “The open ended nature of the product allows us to use your products within our entire school. We use them in our staff development days, core subjects, field day, and even our after school activities. What a great program.”

As teachers and educators, you know the value of character education. Toobeez brings learners together to complete authentic tasks.

Toobeez encourage perseverance, trust, responsibility and cooperation through activities that complement linguistic, logical spatial or kinesthetic learning styles.

The workbooks also include discussion questions and activity variations to differentiate for learning styles and strengths!

Your students will build amazing things with Toobeez?”including their self-esteem.

By far the most popular brand of toys to date in the children’s educational toys market has been from the manufacturer Vtech. A great toy for helping kids write and learn would be the Vtech’s write & learn letter book. This engaging learning book features lively interactivity that teaches kids all about numbers, vocabulary and writing skills and also about the different letters in the alphabet. There’s even 60 age appropriate words, including phonics skills and the numbers 1 to 12.

This product is intended for kids between the ages of 36 months till 6 years and it requires only 3AA batteries. This is truly a revolutionary tool to help teach your kids how to learn pre-writing skills and with some time they will be confident and successful enough to fully write all on their own!

Next item up in line from Vtech is the Vtech learning laptop. With this highly interactive and very stylish laptop, your kids will learn all about English, geometry, spelling and of course, math!

There’s even a built in learning progress system that will keep tabs on your child’s performance and it automatically adjusts itself so that the level of skills needed to truly learn and build knowledge continues to grow. This small laptop even features a real working mouse and keyboard that also includes flashing light-up buttons for even more enthusiasm on your child’s part!

The mouse is basically a 4-directional touchpad, along with a real actual mouse that pulls up right to the side of the learning laptop and the keyboard is full QWERTY to replicate a real-life laptop. This unit is great if you want to get your kids into computers at an early age. And as we all can see, the earlier we get our kids into computers the better they are overall as they grow up, as they’ll be truly preparing themselves to face the challenges provided by the digital age!

And at only $29.95 MSRP you really can’t beat this learning laptop deal from Vtech! There’s even 40 different pre-programmed activities that teaches your children different subjects such as letters, spelling, math, English and even music!

If your kids love Spiderman you can even get them the Vtech Spider Man 3 Spider Smart Learning Laptop, which is similar to the learning laptop which is simply great for mind development! It’s great laptop for preschoolers and can help your child to be more independent.

What’s nice about Vtech toys is that they will surely keep your children’s attention span! No longer will you ever have to worry about giving your child a really boring game to play.

Thanks to companies like Vtech, you no longer have to be afraid to get an educational toy for your child. The boring learning toy has been replaced by a sophisticated toy that makes it fun to learn.

What is it about reality TV that has us glued to the television screen? How many people can relate too writhing and that of the head shake shiver in a bid to stop peeing our pants, all because we fear missing the next jibe or hint of rudeness blurted from the mouth of a big brother contestant. What of “I’m a celebrity get me out of here,” a show where famous celebs are left in the Australian jungle to fend for themselves. The celebrities have to face their fears in somewhat unimaginable circumstances just to put food in their belly. Most jungle edibles digested in camp is not through choice, it is the challenge of the bush tucker trial menu which has us see celebs squirm while eating grubs and kangaroo testicles. Okay, not nice, in fact sickening, but if crunching cockroaches and eating the head of a grasshopper boosts television ratings, then the jungle inhabitants will always be part of our lives.

If reality shows were directed more to helping youngsters, then this nation would be full of highly qualified MENSA boffins, hugely because of the interest kids take in this sort of entertainment.

Famous people are a powerful force to get a message across. I am not disputing that “I’m a celebrity get me out of here,” is not entertaining, but where is the learning in this, it is not every day our kids are left stranded in the jungle. We need reality TV to step up the power it has and make reality TV an educational experience. In the big brother house there is nothing to be learned aside from swearing. It accommodates British non-entities who doss around all day back stabbing and arguing, in hope of winning money along with fame, who wants to be famed for this type of behaviour. Behaviours stemming from achievement are a type of fame worthy of recognition.

If reality TV offered incentives then our kids are looking towards a brighter future. I believe India aired a programme called “Scholar Hunt Destination UK” it offered the 14,000 entrants the opportunity to win an all expenses paid place on an undergraduate degree programme in the United Kingdom. The winner secures a place at the University of Warwick studying Engineering. Now that is contributing to society in a way that is beneficial. Television producers need to create in children a hunger for a good education. I just read that reality TV goes against everything we teach our kids about tolerance, of course this may well be true, but it can also have its benefits if tastefully done, like India’s incentive. However we still have a catch 22 situation, production managers need to give the public choice.

Television is a great ally in helping children and adults further their education. A lot can be learned from Animal Planet – Life In The Amazon Rain Forest or Living Under Water so on. Television can take us around the world without having to leave our armchair, give us perspective on other cultures, and take us all sorts of places we can only ever dream of.

1 Celebrity Love Island, what’s this all about? The only thing to be learned from this is, that twelve famous faces embark on 5 weeks of sun bathing and flirting on the beautiful island of Fiji looking for love, so what, who cares, because not all are true to their word while their spouse seeks divorce.

2 Survivor – Mark Burnett takes the recognition for hit television shows like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” which each regularly pull in 20 million viewers. Wow this is big numbers; imagine if this Burnett was let loose in helping to educate our children, then reality TV may not be so bad after all. Many reality shows have come and gone since producers stranded the first “Survivor” contestants in 2000, but Burnett has proven this by beating his rivals and sticking with what he does best. Every year since its beginning, “Survivor” has won the People’s Choice Award for favourite reality show. It has also been nominated 14 times for an Emmy, coming out on top twice..

The BBC and ITV clashed as talent contests Britain’s Got Talent and I’d Do Anything went head to head in a battle to boost ratings. The UK show Britain’s got talent has seen teen dancer George Sampson crowned the winner of the contest. Let us hope he invests his £100,000 prize wisely. Britain’s Got Talent pulled in 14 million viewers. Bhangra dancers Signature came second and young singer Andrew Johnston was third. The BBCs I’d Do Anything has averaged between five and six million viewers each week. Jodie Prenger was crowned winner and will play role of Nancy in the West End production of Oliver! The 28 year-old, from Blackpool, beat competition from Irish teenager Jessie Buckley to win the public vote.

Let us take rating figures from a couple of reality shows like Survivor and The Apprentice each pulling in 20 million viewers, add them together gives us 40 million. Another 20 million avid fans from Britain’s got talent and I do anything – gives us now a grand total of 60 million, that is an amazing number which producers need to take note of and use constructively. Planning a show that is educational, fun and interesting would certainly help 60 million children who need support in understanding what it is that needs to be understood for them to get on in life.

Life would be much easier if we could just accept the fact that kids have always, and will always, spend most their time playing with toys. It doesn’t even matter what type of toy it is, kids will play with whatever, even a ball attached to a stick. As a parent, you can take advantage of this trait and “trick” kids into learning by playing. Kids, it is true, will play with anything that grabs their attention, so all the clever parents needs to do is give them appealing toys that will teach at the same time as they provide amusement.

While many people might object and say that educational toys are no fun, and that kids will not play with them, they are completely wrong. If you think that toys that teach are not fun, you simply have not found the right toy yet. Properly executed educational toys are tons of fun.

How is it possible for toys to educate my child, you ask? Well, by interacting with whatever rules or system a toy develops, children utilize certain skills. Educational toys are crafted in a way that promotes the use of skills that will be beneficial to children as they age. Skills that can be learned include fine motor skills, verbal and aural recognition skills, and problem solving skills.

Many of these skills come from various types of “puzzles” which are not necessarily the jigsaw type. If you want this type of educational toy to succeed you must choose a puzzle that is suited to your child’s needs and interests. If your child likes to solve mysteries, perhaps a toy that asks them to add together different math problems to get clues to a crime would be the perfect toy for them. If you head to your local toy store you should find literally hundreds of different puzzles, but if that errand doesn’t turn anything up you can also search on the Internet. Searching on the net will also allow you to see what other parents think of whichever toy you are considering.

You know your child better than anyone, so you will know if puzzles are going to work for him or her. If they are not, maybe you should consider an electronic alternative, video games. That’s right, not all video games center on a never ending stock of enemies to kill or sports, and there are many that will help your child to learn. Remember that the games on the computer are helping them learn, and that just because it is a game doesn’t mean that it is a waste of time.

Finally, if you are simply overwhelmed by the choices available to you after you’ve started looking into educational toys and games, remember that there is a huge online community of other parents who are in the same boat as you are. You can connect with them and work together to educate your kids, the fun way. That old Italian saying about it taking a village to raise a child may be true after all.