Homeschool
Curriculum
Children's educational toys come
in all shapes and sizes.
The technology available today
has almost supplanted even being able to find just your
basic set of alphabet building blocks.
Today's educational toys can simulate just about any
type of learning experience you could image for your
child. But, today just as it has been for ever, a
good educational toy's objective should be to
stimulate the child's curiosity, and lead them to
discover all the interesting things they can do with
the toy.
A well thought out
educational toy not only provides this, but allows for
more advanced discovery and learning as the child and
their abilities continue to grow.
Early on
up until about two years old, a child's educational
mantra is simply investigating their newly discovered
world. Their life is discovery through playing. Children
at this age are absorbing their world through their
senses, gradually building their physical aspects and
coordination that ultimately result in upright moving
about. In fact, up until about the age of four
children's educational toys should be those for kids on
the go exploring and discovering.
Around
about the age of five until about seven, or the early
school years, kid's interest begin to shift more and
more toward group activities, and their discovery zone
has now extended beyond their immediate family and even
their neighborhood. Educational toys for children in
this age range are marked by more emphasis on actual
games and toys that are a bit more technical in nature.
The
next age group level that educational toys relate to
actually begin to leave the realm of ‘toys' and
‘activities' (and the scope of this article) and begin
to enter into the world of games, such as some of the
various children's card games and other more ‘social'
gatherings, small parties, board games and more advanced
team games.
When
choosing toys for children parents should keep a few
basic thoughts in mind such as:
-
Does the toy allow for some sort of advancing level
of play and does it match the type of play your
child enjoys
-
Will the toy provide some sort of challenge for the
child either mentally, physically or both
- Is
the child's toy well made and safe such as:
shatterproof, no removable parts, and is easy to
clean and make sanitary.
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