The Mini Bike 2-in-1 is designed to grow with your child. Start with a balancing bike setup so that your child may practise balance, coordination, and steering without the use of pedals. Once they have mastered the balancing bike, all they need to do is attach the pedal kit to turn it into a regular pedal bike, allowing them to transition to independent cycling with ease.
Udeas is committed to ensuring your child's safety while they're having fun. A fully enclosed chain guard is included with the Mini Bike 2-in-1 in Blue to safeguard against harm to small fingers. The bike's frame is also constructed of strong, lightweight materials, assuring stability and long-lasting performance.
The Mini Bike 2-in-1 features an adjustable, cushioned seat and soft-grip handlebars to provide a comfortable ride for your child. Because of the bike's design, your child may ride with good posture and lessen their chance of strain or injury.
The Mini Bike 2-in-1 is a great option for both boys and girls because of its eye-catching blue hue, which is guaranteed to catch your child's attention. Your child will be proud to display their new ride to friends and family thanks to the bike's attractive overall design and tasteful graphics.
Parents are busy, so Udeas created the Mini Bike 2-in-1 with simple construction in mind. The bike comes with detailed assembly instructions and all required hardware, enabling you to assemble it quickly and easily and get your child ready for their upcoming excursion.
The Udeas Mini Bike 2-in-1 is a multipurpose, secure, and comfortable bike made to grow with your child as they master cycling techniques. It makes the ideal present for young riders because to its appealing design and simple construction. Why then wait? Get your child their very own Mini Bike 2-in-1 right away by visiting the GoGoKids website.
The 43 magnetic pieces of the Magfun Magnetic Set come in a range of sizes, hues, and textures. The components' muscles and endurance are guaranteed by the use of neodymium magnets and premium ABS plastic in their construction. The set can be used to create a variety of buildings and objects and contains shapes such as triangles, squares, rectangles, isosceles triangles, and trapezoids.
The Magfun Magnetic Set is a fantastic toy for kids because of its many functions. First of all, because of the magnetic qualities of the pieces, kids may construct intricate structures and designs. The pieces are very simple to hold and move around, which helps develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Lastly, the set is portable and light, making it ideal for play while travelling.
The Magfun Magnetic Set has a wide range of advantages. First of all, since kids can construct anything they can think, it fosters creativity and imagination. Second, it improves children's ability to solve problems and develop spatial awareness since they must find out how to join the pieces to make stable structures. Lastly, because kids can cooperate and interact with others while working together to produce something, it promotes social and emotional growth.
It's simple and enjoyable to use the Magfun Magnetic Set. To make simple designs, kids might begin by playing with various shapes and linking them. As students gain confidence, they might try making more intricate objects and structures, such as homes, pets, and cars. Children can explore geometry and symmetry by using the parts to make 3D designs and patterns.
Children three years old and up can safely use the Magfun Magnetic Set. Nonetheless, it is advised that adults supervise children, especially smaller ones who might put the bits in their mouths. The pieces should not be given to children who are still putting things in their mouths, and they should not be given to pets.
Children can develop their creativity, problem-solving abilities, and spatial awareness with the help of the Magfun Magnetic Set, which is a brilliant toy. It is the ideal toy for both home and travel because it is simple to use, strong, and portable. Children three years old and older can have countless hours of learning and pleasure with it, and it is safe for them. The Magfun Magnetic Set is a great method to encourage your child's imagination and inventiveness. It is available for purchase on the Gogokids website, and you can begin creating your own graphics with your children there.
One of the most important advantages of Robotime 3D wooden puzzles is that they are excellent for developing hand-eye coordination, spatial reasoning, and fine motor skills. Assembling a wooden puzzle necessitates meticulous attention to detail and precision, as each piece must be placed precisely to ensure that the puzzle is completed correctly. This can be a great way for both children and adults to improve these important skills.
Furthermore, Robotime 3D wooden puzzles are an excellent way to stretch your mind and put your problem-solving skills to the test. Each puzzle comes with detailed instructions to guide you through the assembly process, but there are frequently multiple approaches to the puzzle, and determining the most efficient and effective method can be a great mental exercise.
One of the best aspects of Robotime 3D wooden puzzles is that they are not only challenging and educational, but also extremely rewarding. When you finish a puzzle, you'll have a beautiful and functional model to display in your home or office. This can be a source of great pride and accomplishment, as well as a way to demonstrate your skills and creativity to others.
Robotime 3D wooden puzzles are also excellent for encouraging imagination and creativity. Many of the puzzles are customizable, allowing you to paint or decorate the finished model however you want. This can be a great way to express your creativity and truly personalise the puzzle.
In conclusion, Robotime 3D wooden puzzles are a fantastic option for anyone looking for a fun and educational activity that can stretch the mind, develop crucial abilities, and produce something lovely and useful all at once. These puzzles offer a distinctive and satisfying experience that will surely keep you entertained for hours, with a broad variety of patterns to pick from and premium materials and workmanship.
Children can develop social skills and empathy through the use of dolls and action figures. With the help of their toys, they may act out situations and tell stories, and while they play with them, they learn how to take care of things. Dolls and action figures can also be a great way to spark a child's imagination, as they can come up with all sorts of stories and adventures for their toys.
Science kits and other educational toys are excellent for encouraging learning and comprehension. They can impart knowledge of various ideas, including numbers, shapes, and the scientific method, as well as assist children in the development of problem-solving abilities and critical thinking. Many educational toys can also be entertaining, which encourages kids to remain interested in and involved in their studies.
Kids can express themselves and grow their creativity with arts and crafts items like painting kits and modelling clay. Kids can improve their hand-eye coordination and fine motor abilities by playing with these kinds of toys. Additionally, using arts and crafts toys can help kids relax and concentrate while they work on their projects.
Outdoor games and sports items like balls are excellent ways for kids to keep active and healthy. They can be a terrific method to encourage collaboration and social skills as well as help with coordination and balance. Sports toys can also be a great way to help kids burn off energy and have fun, which can help to reduce stress and promote overall well-being.
Children's toys can be quite advantageous for their physical and mental growth. It's crucial to take your child's age and interests into account when toy shopping, as well as the advantages that various toy kinds might offer. Finding toys that are entertaining and informative and that will support your child's growth and development is simple thanks to the wide variety of excellent options available.
Take any opportunity you can to utilise play as a vehicle for building numeracy skills with a child of any age to encourage them in their learning and developing of maths skills. Numeracy skills are always relevant, and will be useful at every stage in their future. Although adults don’t have to be playing along, play is likely to become more complex and more conducive to learning with an adult present and interacting, rather than just observing. Try posing ‘what if’ questions, and ask about the reasoning behind the choices they’re making.
Learning through play also offers the additional benefit of gaining social skills and knowledge when a child plays with someone more skilled or advanced. Techniques and strategies can be shared for tackling the problem at hand, as well as learning valuable lessons in listening and sharing. It is also true that a playful and engaged attitude witnessed in others is likely to be imitated by children, so make sure you’re excited about learning numeracy skills so that your child can be too!
With imaginative play, children can also draw on past experiences in order to consolidate new information and skills they’re working on. Their imagination is engaged, and there’s also genuine learning occurring. This type of play also opens up new possibilities to children, and helps them to use these new skills to create meaning. The knowledge they’re building fits neatly into their experiences and their imaginations, allowing them to take these new numeracy skills on board for life and keep learning.
MathLink Cubes, Set of 100 by Learning Resources
To get started with building numeracy skills through play, MathLink Cubes or Three Bear Family Counters can prove invaluable. They might even look familiar from your own days in the classroom because these tools have proven useful again and again to so many children. To bring them into learning play, consider building shapes or contrasting lengths of different coloured blocks, or organising the bears by colour or size. Ask about what will happen if you add one more, or ask why a child has chosen to organise the counters a certain way. These can also be useful tools in learning to count and with learning colours.
Three Bear Family Baby Bear Counters by Learning Resources
Mini Muffin Match Up is a game that encourages learning math skills for children aged 3 and up through play. Children will have fun while developing all sorts of early math skills like matching, sorting and counting, as well as using dice to play. There’s also room for group learning and game play if you’re not quite sure how to get involved in educational play.
Mini Muffin Match Up Math Activity Set by Learning Resources
For children beginning to learn math skills in school, games like Magic Maths and I Sea 10! keep it fun while still developing these important numeracy skills. These games also engage children’s other interests like magic, animals, and ocean life. Both are games suited for 2-4 players, which provides plenty of opportunity for interaction between players with different skill levels. Magic Maths brings plenty of giggles with its gross spell ingredients, while I Sea 10! incorporates chance and encourages children to do addition problems as fast as they can. They’re certainly educational, but they’re also very fun games to play.
I Sea 10! Game by Learning Resources
All play can be educational, and there are simple ways to include building on numeracy skills into play activities, particularly with the handy tools we provide at Go Go Kids Remuera. Keep learning, but most importantly keep having lots of fun!
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Play and Mathematics by Bob Perry and Sue Dockett, Charles Sturt University, published by the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers Inc., 2007.
Jill Eggleton is a very successful author with a wealth of experience in education, literacy, and teaching. She has written many fun books that help children develop their reading skills that you may recognise from your children’s school. Jill is an internationally recognised literacy consultant, and she has written over 900 books in her 30+ year career which focus on building an accessible and enjoyable path to literacy for all children. Jill is also an expert on training and the professional side of teaching children to read, so her visit could prove invaluable to any educators who attend the signing and are interested in chatting with Jill. Jill has also amassed considerable critical acclaim, including winning the Storylines Margaret Mahy Award in 2015 and in the 2010 New Years Honours List Jill was made a companion of the Queen’s Service Order for services to education and literacy.
In our collection of Jill’s books we have a number of titles that we enjoy for their humour and how fun they are to read aloud with their clever usage of rhyme and onomatopoeia, as well as bright and engaging illustrations that connect with children’s imaginations. Here are some of our staff favourites:
Big Bubba features Big Bubba Hippo, a baby hippo living with Big Papa and Big Mama Hippo in the Ringting River. Big Bubba struggles to listen to his parents and one day this gets him into trouble but luckily lots of animals come to his rescue including the clever Parrot. This exciting book also includes an audio CD reading of the story so children can read-along or the whole family can enjoy the story while travelling.
Butterfly Magic is a story about the grumpy Mr Grizzle who grouches at everyone and everything until his new neighbour Beatrix B. moves in and hatches a plan to cheer him up.This colourful and sweet book also comes with a digital audio file accessible online.
Never Tug a Tiger’s Tail and other ridiculous rhymes is a wonderful book of short poems sure to enchant and please any child. It engages with topics including nature, the fantastical, siblings, and space in a fun and visually exciting way. This book also comes with an audio CD so the poems can be enjoyed at any time. It is currently available in-store.
It is truly an honour for us to host Jill at GoGo Kids Remuera, and we encourage you to take this opportunity to meet such a successful and well-renowned author and educator. We hope to see you there!
Don't miss getting Jill Eggleton's signature on your new books!
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As the terrific author Neil Gaiman said, “I don’t think there is such a thing as a bad book for children. It’s tosh. It’s snobbery and it’s foolishness. We need our children to get onto the reading ladder; anything that they enjoy reading will move them up, rung by rung, into literacy”.
Finding a favourite author can be a key way to unlocking a love for reading so we’ve collected some suggestions here to get you started.
First of all, Neil Gaiman himself is an excellent writer with many riveting stories across all age groups which means that picking up any of his books could lead to a new passion for reading that can be carried into adulthood.
Coraline is currently a staff pick in store having won the hearts of our staff as well as many children. Coraline thinks she’s found her perfect world through an old door in her new house until she realizes that it’s not quite what it seems. This novel can get a little spooky but never fear – Coraline is smart, resourceful and brave. Coraline is suitable for ages 11+.
Norse Mythology, a non-fiction text from Gaiman, offers an engaging read to all ages including adults. Norse Mythology offers a more narrative based and interesting retelling of old Norse myths, breathing new life into the classic tales.
Gaiman’s frequent collaborator Chris Riddell is an amazingly talented illustrator, but he also possesses a talent for writing and was named the UK’s Children’s Laureate 2015-2017. Riddell recorded his experience travelling, talking, reading and drawing as the Children’s Laureate in his wonderful book Travels with my Sketchbook. It includes work in progress for children’s book illustrations as well as his work as a political cartoonist - there’s something for every reader.
Riddell combined both his talents to create the Goth Girl series – starting with Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse. Ada Goth is a very bright and inquisitive girl who loves to solve a good mystery and who has a new ghostly visitor, Ishmael the mouse. All the books in this series contain a unique and engaging story that will keep small hands turning the pages but also include many of Riddell’s elaborate and fantastic illustrations, as well as fun literary and historical references. Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse is suitable for advanced solo readers, aged 7 and up.
Goth Girl and The Ghost of A Mouse
It can also be a great idea to pursue an interest your child already has in order to lead them into the joy of reading.
For lovers of animals – Zoe’s Rescue Zoo series by Amelia Cobb is always popular. In each novel, Zoe must learn about a new animal her uncle has brought home in order to make it feel welcome in her family’s Rescue Zoo – a task which is made much easier because Zoe can secretly talk to animals. The Picky Puffin is a great one to start with as puffins are Zoe’s favourite animal. These novels can help combine a love for animals and reading, and they also have beautiful illustrations. This series is suitable for readers aged 6/7.
Zoe's Rescue Zoo: The Picky Puffin
If your child is a big fan of Minecraft and you’re looking to cut down on screen time, they may be interested in the Diary of a Minecraft Zombie series which lets them peek into the mind of a 12-year-old Minecraft zombie. Each novel has a standalone tale of Zack Zombie’s adventures which makes for fun reading with plenty of Minecraft references and inside jokes. These books can also tackle real life issues like Book 2: Bullies and Buddies, which confronts the issue of bullying.
Diary of a Minecraft Zombie #2: Bullies and Buddies
Once again Neil Gaiman said it best: “You’re finding out something as you read that will be vitally important for making your way in the world. And it’s this: The world doesn’t have to be like this. Things can be different.” Encouraging children to read in whatever capacity is the most meaningful gift you can give them, especially when it blossoms into a lifelong love of reading.
]]>NOTE: All above quotes from Neil Gaiman are from his fantastic book Art Matters, illustrated by Chris Riddell - which we also highly recommend.
Well, coding is the language and actions behind everything in our modern technologies like the website you’re reading this on, apps on your phone, as well as any computer. It’s the way that we communicate with this tech and instruct it to do as we design. With bring-your-own-device schools and the rise of online learning its important that our children grow and develop coding skills in order to be able to interact with new technology. Coding is a life skill that can also help develop their numeracy and literacy skills, as well as their creativity and problem-solving abilities.
It can be difficult to know where to start, especially if coding isn’t something you’re familiar with yourself. GoGoKids however has a wide range of solutions that can help you learn alongside your child, or let them take the initiative and direct their own learning. What’s even better is that many of these options provide a device-free approach to learning which means the kids can get a screen break over the holidays while still learning about coding!
Coding education can start as early as you’d like - for example see My First Coding Book. This book helps introduce 5-7 year old to coding basics in a way that makes it fun and engaging with bright colours, flaps, wheels and sliders. Its an excellent way to introduce young ones to coding and inspire an interest in the subject early on.
Even younger children - 4 years old and up- can get involved with coding through interactive problem solving games like the Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set. With this set, children can build endless mazes for their mouse Colby and use coding cards to help programme Colby’s path and help him find his way to the cheese! This game makes learning code fun for children.
Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set
Older children (8 and up) can combine interests in Minecraft or space exploration with learning coding skills with options such as the Code Master Programming Logic Game or the Coding Game Rover Control. Both of these games have a multitude of levels that increase in difficulty so they’re sure to keep young learners interested and challenged for longer. While having fun, children will also build on coding skills as well as logic, reasoning and planning.
ThinkFun-Code Master Programming Logic Game
Thinkfun Coding Game Rover Control
It’s particularly important to foster an interest in coding and computer science in young girls, because women continue to be underrepresented in STEM careers. Encouraging an interest in coding is an excellent way to set up young girls for exciting and cutting edge careers in computer science and technology. Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding is a book that speaks directly to this goal, engaging girls’ imaginations and including activities after each chapter to ensure successful learning. Give a young girl in your life a leg up into the future of technology.
Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding
Helping your child enter the world of coding doesn’t have to be expensive . There are plenty of freely available online resources like Hour of Code which include activities incorporating things your child already loves like Minecraft, Harry Potter and even Barbie. Scratch is one of the coding languages that can be freely downloaded and which provides an entryway into coding. Books like Coding with Scratch Made Easy are affordable, and provide excellent guidelines and instructions to help children make the most of Scratch and optimise the learning opportunities it provides. Through this technology kids can even make their own games!
And when your coding prodigy is ready to take gaming to a new level Computer Coding: Python Games for Kids is a book that will help children build their own games in another coding language - Python. Key concepts from coding in general will be learnt along the way, as well as an understanding of Python in particular. With the help of this book children can learn how to incorporate sound effects and even include their own cheat codes while making professional-looking and personalised games.
For a comprehensive introduction to both Python and Scratch - Computer Coding for Kids provides an easy to follow and very visually engaging guide for children. This book makes for an excellent entryway into coding, but also builds on existing knowledge and includes more advanced and complex information to help develop their coding skills and understanding.
Computer Coding Games for Kids
These tools aren’t just for children! Take the opportunity to learn coding with your kids - it’s a valuable skill that can be an attractive addition to your CV in the modern job market. Or, support your child’s coding comprehension and skills by asking them to share their knowledge and teach you. Coding is a new way of learning, but it's also a life skill in this modern world.
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Imaginative Play is a great way for children to engage their imaginations, develop social skills and emotional intelligence, as well as identify with the adult world around them. Easter presents a great opportunity to introduce children to Easter themed toys and activities that encourage this type of play, as well as keep small hands entertained.
One way to get in the spirit and keep small ones busy is to encourage imaginative play with our beautiful cotton candy scented Scentco Smanimals Bunny! Her sweet smell will last far past Easter with a 2-year scent guarantee! She’ll make an excellent new cuddly friend for any child this Easter.
Crafty children will love using the Make and Play: Easter book to press out 25 play pieces including people and bunnies they can use to act out Easter events. This book also includes fun Easter activities and recipes for fun ideas that can include the whole family.
Easter is an excellent time to get crafty! Whether its solo projects or something the whole family can contribute to, consider giving a craft gift this Easter to help build creativity and develop fine motor skills.
The Robotime Flower Pot Bunny is a cute flower pot that can help start a conversation with your child about environmentalism and the natural world around us, as well as nurturing a growing plant. It’s a 3-D puzzle and an ongoing science project all in one – plus it makes a lovely decoration! Older children 11 and up will be able to assemble it themselves, but younger ones will need a helping hand.
Robotime DIY Cartoon Wooden Plant Pot (Bunny)
For more advanced crafters (or possibly with more help from an adult) the ROKR Laser Cut Bunny Music Box makes an excellent way to spend your break. This is a more intricate 3-D wooden puzzle that builds a steampunk looking bunny complete with a bow tie and moustache! When assembled, the music box plays an instrumental version of the classic kids’ tune Little Bunny Foo Foo.
Robotime 3D Laser Cut Wooden Puzzle Music Box Robot Bunny
A helpful craft activity can be involving children in making thank you cards for the Easter gifts they have received. Good manners never go out of style, and this Card Making Kit makes it easy for children to create lovely cards and show their gratitude as it comes with gel pens and stickers.
Card Making Kit Party by Tiger Tribe
This Easter, give the gift of reading! There are plenty of Easter themed or bunny related Little Golden Books but here at Go Go Kids our favourites are:
Here Comes Peter Cottontail, a bright and colourful book following Peter Cottontail when he is chosen for the very important role of Chief Easter Bunny. Help children explore the myth of the Easter bunny and his busy role, as well as get them excited for this holiday!
LGB Here Comes Peter Cottontail
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, the classic we all know and love following the mischievous Peter Rabbit and his dangerous trip past the scary Mr McGregor’s farm. This edition has wonderful illustrations to engage young readers, while the classic tale is sure to take adult readers back to fond memories. This wonderful story is also available in a special edition with a space exploration themed cover and endpapers.
And The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown, a stunning book about a bunny who finds an egg and wonders what will hatch out of it. This story is a nice way to include nature and friendship into a very Easter-friendly tale, and the book is beautifully illustrated.
For fans of Thomas the Tank Engine, look no further than Thomas’ Easter Adventure – a board book with lots of fun flaps to lift and keep young readers interested. In this story it's up to Thomas to find the hidden Easter eggs and get them to the Sodor Easter picnic in time, but he’ll need help from readers!
Thomas' Easter Adventure: Lift the Flap
Why not spend some quality time together over this holiday and find a gift for the whole family to get involved in and enjoy. Our colourful Chalk Sticks will get everyone outside and creating their own works of art! Try having a portrait competition, or drawing an Easter message for passersby - there are endless options.
Pancake Pile Up! Is a relay game that will keep the kids entertained and active. Players must race to complete the correct pancake order from the grill and serve them first. This game is great for encouraging physical activity regardless of the weather, but also helps build cognition and fine motor skills. Pancake Pile Up! Is suitable for players aged 4-7 but older children and parents are likely going to want to join in on the fun. Its suitable for 2 players, or make it a team challenge.
Pancake Pile-Up! Relay Game by Educational Insights
Blurt! Is a fun game for the whole family to play together where the quickest player to blurt out the answer wins! Great for building language skills, vocabulary and fast recall, but also just a great time for the entire family. This game makes a great addition to any games night. Blurt! Is great for children aged 7 and up, and can be played with anywhere between 3 and 12 players.
Blurt! by Educational Insights
These options are all completely sugar-free, without losing out on the fun and excitement of Easter - plus they are all contributing to your child’s learning and development as well as providing an opportunity for some quality family time!
From all of us here at Go Go Kids Toy Store, we’d like to wish you a happy Easter.
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Young ones may not fully understand what has been going on or why, but it’s likely that they’ve picked up on adult emotions that have been circulating such as fear and sadness. Books can lead to helpful discussion, and this presents an opportunity to help them pick up life-long skills of processing emotions and giving them the tools to successfully handle any trials life may have in store for them in the future.
When Sadness Comes to Call by Eva Eland
Sad feelings can be hard to understand and deal with, but this picture book navigates such territory with sensitivity and offers simple but effective advice for children with the support of an adult reader.
The World of Ruby Red Shoes: A Book About Ruby’s Feelings by Kate Knapp
Ruby takes readers on a tour of all her feelings and their sources, but also includes ways she can positively engage with and process her emotions. This book has lovely illustrations and can also be a great read-together story.
My Mixed Emotions: Learn to Love Your Feelings
This book goes more in depth into the body’s physical responses to emotions including exploring how emotions feel physically, and how our body responds with different hormones. My Mixed Emotions also explores how to identify different emotions and difficult situations, and also provides a lot of different options for working with feelings like basic yoga, mindful breathing, as well as help identifying feelings in others.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This novel is currently a staff pick here at Go Go Kids Remuera “because it’s never too soon to learn good from evil. Great for starting thinking and discussion about how to be a good and kind person, even when the world seems dark and scary”. This novel is a great one for adults to read too, and to open discussion about fairness, justice and racism – plus it’s just an excellent read at any age! To Kill a Mockingbird is also available as a graphic novel for those readers who respond better to visual images.
Encourage journaling. Journaling is a great way to process and identify how you’re feeling about the day’s events and stay in touch with personal goals or responses, as well as develop a personal voice. We have a great range including these lockable ones, so that children will feel safe recording their true thoughts and feelings in private, and this Nebulous Stars one which includes fun activity pages and a secret magic pen. For an extra incentive, try these rainbow gel pens that make writing fun.
One thing we can take from these tragic events is the opportunity to encourage our children to embrace diversity and to learn from those who seem different to them.
Adults and children alike will love reading Mixed by Arree Chung together. Visually stunning, this picture book explores how embracing diversity makes us stronger and more interesting in a very approachable and engaging way for young readers.
The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams will help SOLO READERS learn to celebrate what makes them special, and to appreciate difference in others. This novel is also illustrated throughout by Quentin Blake, adding a visual element to its story and enchanting readers, especially as the ever-popular Walliams weaves a hilarious but also touching story about diversity and truly being yourself in the face of adversity.
This can also prove to be a learning opportunity for ADVANCED SOLO READERS who would like to learn more about the world outside their life and the different people in it. The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions (available in store) provides a comprehensive and engaging look into religions and customs from around the world and across history. It never hurts to consider how others think and lead their lives.
The Giver by Lois Lowry explores the downside of perfection and total uniformity. In a world of total sameness and harmony Jonas begins his training to become his community’s Receiver of Memory, where he begins to learn the true cost of this perfection and striking lack of diversity. This novel presents a great opportunity to open a conversation with your teen about the value of difference and diversity, even with any challenges it may present.
These are certainly challenging and upsetting times, but with tools like wonderful books and the valuable discussions they can start,we can raise our children to be versatile and emotionally healthy people, but also advocates for diversity and understanding - and ultimately positive forces for good in this world and its great future.]]>
Other toys which made to help children learn, followed. The famous ones were Froebel Gifts and Montessori toys. From then on, the educational toys have developed rapidly and varied. Now, there are kinds of educational toys available in the market. Here are the types:
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. The selling of STEM toys has increased in the past few years due to the rising of the parents' awareness of the importance of their kids to understand and master the STEM concept. The examples of the toys are:
Role play is one activity all kids love doing since at a very young age. And there are many toys which make kids' role play become more fun and educating such as toys related to occupation props (firefighter costume, doctor costume and many more), cooking set, groceries set, stuffed dolls, etc.
Playing the toys enable kids to learn about the world around them such as the characteristic of occupation, differences in people, and the social rules. It also brings out kids' imagination and creativity.
The toys enable kids to exercise their gross motor skills. The examples of the toys are the ball, trampoline, bicycle, balancing board, and many more.
Playing the toys will make kids able to strengthen their gross motor, exercise hand and eyes coordination, learn to acquire abstract thinking skill. And the skills they get by doing it, later on, will support kids' fine motor, logical, and cognitive skills.
The examples of the toys are games application, interactive plush toys, interactive books, etc. The toys are similar to STEM toys. However, they include other educational subjects such as language art or social science.
The toys enable kids to learn about the alphabet, gain vocabularies, gain knowledge about social facts, etc.
The toys enable kids to get the stimulation for their five senses, exercise kids' fine motor, and bring out kids' imagination and creativity. The examples of the toys are many such as play-dough, drawing board, sewing kit, greeting card making, paper-quilling jewelry, and lots more.
If you've read the types above, you may think that those include almost all kids’ toys. If you think so, you're not wrong. All kids’ toys actually can be educational.
So what makes it different from the non-educational toys? The difference lays in the purpose of playing the toys in the beginning. For example, if a kid arranges the beads to make a bracelet as he/she wants to, that's craft play. It will be educational play if we teach/ask a kid to make a bracelet by following the pattern because we want him/her learns to follow instructions/recognize a pattern, Then, if a kid does role play using a panda doll based on his/her pure imagination, it means he/she does imaginative play. But, if he plays the panda doll and says that the panda lives in the jungle and eats bamboo, it means he has done educational role play.
Therefore, when a toy has an educational purpose/concept which meant for kids to understand and learn, that toy is an educational toy. We can use any toys and change them into educational ones. However, we have to set the concept ourselves. If it's difficult for us to do so, choose the toys which provide instructions which include the educational purpose/concept. That way our kids can play based on it and learn a lesson material along the way. Eventually, they develop their play based on the knowledge they have gained and want to learn/seek more knowledge. And this is the ultimate goal of the educational toys.
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, core subjects that give kids the skills for future success in fields like robotics, computers and natural sciences. These toys are “learning” toys or “educational” toys because they promote creativity, logic, problem solving, collaboration, experimentation and other aptitudes that are relevant in all types of learning. STEM toys are open-ended, adaptive, flexible, provocative, and, most importantly children can have fun.
While the themes that make up the STEM acronym are not new, the grouping of these subjects - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - into a pedagogical approach emerged before the 2000’s, but the “trend” took place after the 2000’s. Today, as the movement has gained momentum throughout the world, more parents take action when dealing with traditional curricula that do not offer their children the content and pedagogy that will best prepare them for a career of innovation and problem solving. many families support better courses or enroll their children in out-of-school STEM programs, while others are turning to the market to find the answer they are looking for.
These games are ideal for school but also for home as they have a teaching purpose and at the same time an entertaining purpose. Τhis does not mean that these games will make the children to future inventors, programmers or poets, but surely through them they will learn more about science, technology and other areas that have been developing over the last few years.
In fact, some child development research has shown that children have more fun with toys that help them learn. a developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik described how children learn through the game: "New studies of “active learning” show that when children play with toys, they act a lot like experimenting scientists. Preschoolers prefer to play with toys that will teach them the most and play with these games in a way that will give them more information about how the world works. "
1. Open-ended: Whether a simple set of building blocks or a coded robot, the toys proposed are these can be played, disassembled, reconstructed and interact in a variety of ways. Many of the games do not have a single solution and require players to cooperate. These qualities encourage children to creativity, exploration and deeper understanding of rules, patterns, logic, and how things work.
2. Accessible: We need to focus on games that will not require extensive adult help or supervision. Toys do not have to force children to follow a specific set of instructions, but rather to encourage play through experimentation, exploration and testing and bugs. "It is very important that we let the children separate things from each other," according to Howland.
3. Reproductive: Toys should be enjoyed by all ages. It is important to offer different ways or levels of difficulty and allow for ever more complex interactions in order for the player to create skills. This means that children of multiple ages can play together and that a game can grow up with a child.
4. Fun: Another criterion, perhaps even the most important of the above, is the "fun factor". All games should be attractive in a positive way for children and each child must play and enjoy the game.
A trend that stands out clearly in the game market is the subscription services. The Amazon's STEM TOY CLUB, launched in 2017, is probably the most visible big company offering such a choice, but e-commerce juggernaut is not the only retailer involved in STEM TOYS. A recent piece in Retail Dive makes it clear that many other major companies, such as Walmart and Target, also offer STEM subscription services. The idea is simple: Parents pay a flat rate per month and their children receive a different STEM or kit every month. This does not mean, therefore, that all games are helpful but that retailers are looking to capitalize on this opportunity.
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DIY Music Box-Merry-Go-Round
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Puzzles are indeed very puzzling that it is a very good exercise for a child's brain. In fact, a child's brain is a candid place for simulating a simple problem for him to solve with and see how far he can go to go through it. Kids will mostly develop the process of elimination or deduction to the last idea given to solve the puzzle. Giving them this recreational tool does not only make us parents do our own household chores but also training their minds someday in case how they can fix that faucet with only one tool left or how to deal with your unreasonable neighbors with their sanitation issues lurking in your own backyard.
Children need to sit still and play with puzzles so that they can focus on something. This develops the child's patience and concentration. The child has to put pieces of the puzzle into a picture, which requires the child to carefully observe each puzzle piece. In the process of playing puzzles, children develop their ability to observe and analyze things. At the same time, they also learn to distinguish colors and graphics while playing puzzles, and can gradually understand the depth of color, the straightness of lines, the shape of graphics, and so on.
When a child just starts a puzzle game, he needs an adult to point to it. Growing up slowly, the number of children playing with puzzles is increasing. When a child and a partner (or family member) work together to create a larger puzzle piece, each person is responsible for a part of the puzzle, and they need to work together and cooperate with each other. Especially when the child can't complete the picture that he is responsible for, he needs to ask for help from his partner and broaden his thoughts with the help of others.
Playing puzzles can also improve a child's hands-on ability. Hands-on ability is a very important ability for people, but not everyone has a strong hands-on ability, and the ability to do it is weak and whether it is highly educated. Not directly proportional. I want to have a strong ability to start training from an early age.
And education experts believe that for children, the game of interest is the best exercise for children's hands-on ability, and for the child's hands-on exercise, the best time is from 3 to 8 years old, if this is In the first period, the children's hands-on ability will be strengthened, so these children will have stronger hands-on ability when they grow up.
Playing puzzles not only can exercise the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, but also allow children to exercise the ability to solve problems in the process of thinking about puzzles. For children, this exercise is especially important, and they have been trained in this aspect since childhood. People are more able to withstand stress after adulthood. When faced with difficulties in learning or work, they often find solutions faster.
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Laser Chess is a fun two player strategy game and STEM toy with real lasers included, perfect for lovers of brain games like chess or other classic strategy games. Players alternate turns moving their mirrored pieces around the board, and at the end of each turn, players fire a real laser beam from their Laser. The laser beam bounces from mirror to mirror, and if the beam strikes a non-mirrored surface of any piece, it is immediately removed from play. If you illuminate your opponent’s King - YOU WIN!
Ages 8+
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Years of testing with children has produced this carefully crafted set of doable projects.
Step-by-step, highly visual instructions lead a child successfully through each invention. Incredible illustrations present central scientific concepts, allowing children to discover the "why" as well as the "how".
The use of everyday materials demystifies the way common electronic components work.
Build, Build, Build!
Ages 8+
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This delightful book and kit combines hours of fun with solid basic science. Your child builds circuit loops, lights lights, buzzes buzzers, spins whiz bangs, sends coded messages and plays hours of motor mania while learning basic concepts and the vocabulary of electricity. Nurtures a love for learning and develops an accessibility to science.
Ages 5+
There’s something enduringly sweet about wooden toys. While they aren’t as flashy as their plastic counterparts, they are eco-friendly and non-toxic and still spark children’s creativity.
Wooden toys are made of quality wood and are solid, it’s hard for them to be damaged beyond the basic scratch or dent. If your kid gets them dirty, you can simply clean them so they’re ready for the next learning activity.
In addition to being sturdy, wooden toys are also an elastic material with a long service life. Not only can wooden toys be enjoyed by generations, but the same wooden toys often last throughout generations.
Wooden baby toys offer great educational benefits and help to develop vital skills such as hand-eye coordination, developing problem solving skills, mental awareness and manual agility.
Toddlers and preschoolers love to build, and wooden toys that they can assemble teach them about spatial relations, logic, and help to develop fine motor skills.
Preschoolers enjoy making up imaginary worlds of animals and people, and Imaginative play offers a variety of wooden sets that will encourage verbalization, motor skills, and exploration of different animal habitats.
Wooden puzzles develop a child's sense of order, logic, and space, and, depending upon the theme, can teach about numbers, the alphabet, animals, and many other things. Three dimensional puzzles like these develop problem-solving skills as children fit the interlocking pieces together to form an animal shape.
Wooden toys offer children a blank slate upon which they can project all the wildness and extravagance of their burgeoning imaginations. When children are playing with toys, they aren’t just keeping busy; they’re doing some serious learning, too.
Wooden toys give children the ability to take control. While some wooden toys come in the shape of vehicles, food, or common household items, they still encourage children to use their imaginations to incorporate them into learning and play. Basic shapes, such as blocks, sticks, arcs, triangles, and circles. These basic shapes allow kids to really explore their uses and come up with creative ways to use them in different subject areas. For example, kids can experiment with physics by building various structures with wooden toys or learn about geometry by handling the toys to create their own geometric patterns.
While learning resources can provide you with ideas for using wooden toys to educate your child at home, they're just a starting point, a way to pique your child's interest before letting them come up with even more creative uses. Younger kids in particular can fit virtually any object into any scenario. Since most wooden toys don't come with a pre-conceived purpose, they encourage kids to develop their imaginations even further.
There are many environmental issues to consider with toys, including the resources used in creating toys, and the waste created when the packaging or toy itself is discarded.
Wooden toys made from sustainably sourced, certified wood are, of course, a much more environmentally friendly option than plastic toys. As an organic, renewable substance, wooden toys are biodegradable and can be recycled.
Babies born shortly usually seldom blink, so many parents naturally think that they can't see anything. Experts said: "The baby has a vision, especially sensitive to red and yellow." Hanging some small colored objects on the bed can not only create warmth for the baby but also exercise their vision. However, experts also reminded that usually within 1 month of the newborn, the pendant should be changed every few days, so as not to cause the baby to strabismus; the older children, parents can often take bright objects to draw the baby's sight, the distance is just mobilized Baby eyeballs and heads are appropriate.
0 to 3 months is also a rapid period of baby's hearing development. Professor Liu Jiping, the chief physician of the Children's Hospital of Beijing Children's Hospital, suggested that the baby should be given appropriate sound stimulation to promote hearing development. For example, you can attach different sound quality, a tone sounds in the crib. However, the selected toy can't be too loud, so pay attention to the distance when placing it. Because strong sound stimulation tends to damage the child's tympanic membrane, excessive noise can cause hearing fatigue, making them less susceptible to speech differences.
There are many kinds of toys on the market, such as plush and plastic, as well as wood and rubber. Many parents will only randomly choose several kinds of children to change their tastes. Experts believe that children should be exposed to different textures. The toy is used to exercise the touch. In addition, when bathing your baby, you can put some plastic bath toys of different shapes, so that your baby's small hand touch these boats and ducklings will also help their tactile development.
The child's sense of touch will gradually increase with age, so the exercise touch must be planned and step by step. When the baby is lying on his back, you can choose some thin, easy-to-grip rattles at the bedside, guide the child to reach out to the target, and learn to grasp; wait until the child can catch some items after 6 months, you should train the child. Passing and handing over small and light items, let them feel the estrangement in hand strength and the shift of the center of gravity; when the child has a certain amount of strength, it is suitable to buy toys such as tambourines that can be beaten, and exercise more precise hand eyes. Coordination.
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Preschoolers can assemble and decorate their very own robot, complete with snap-together arms, a kid-friendly screwdriver, multicolored bolts, and more! Includes 8"H robot with swiveling head, arms, and upper body. Easy-to-use, kid-friendly screwdriver, 15 multicolored bolts, and decorative sticker sheet.
Supports STEM: Introduce tools, promote interest in engineering
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Meet Botley, the code to fun! As the newest member of the Learning Resources family, Botley introduces coding in an easy, friendly way. Children as young as 5 can learn to code with Botley, and with his advanced features, he will grow with them for many play-filled years to come.
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An incredible new laboratory which helps you to understand how big transport trucks work and come into contact with principles of mechanics and engineering. Construct 10 fantastic moving models: from trucks with real steering and a grip for transporting tree trunks to a tipping trailer, to a fantastic new vehicle with a real functioning crane! A comprehensive illustrated manual guides the child step by step in constructing the models and teaches the basics of mechanics, engineering and how levers and gears work.
Ages 8+
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Build machines both real and imaginary! This open-ended Gears! building set pairs propellers, axles, and wheels with the pulleys, chains, and gears needed to make them go. Includes instructions for engineering-themed creations. Interchangeable with other Gears sets.
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Little builders get busy with a workbench and tool set designed just for them! Hammer nails and drill bolts directly into the bench to create colorful patterns for hours of unplugged play.
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Ages 3+
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Nancy B's Science Club Stir-It-Up Chemistry Lab & Kitchen Experiments Journal by Educational Insights
Junior chemists can safely explore simple scientific principles including extinguishing a flame with invisible gas; making their own bubbling "lava" in a bottle; causing chemicals to change color; and more. Set includes essential lab equipment including: beaker, test tubes, goggles, and more. The journal is filled with experiments utilizing common household ingredients PLUS opportunities for young scientists to write, draw, and think about their discoveries.'
Ages 8-12 yrs
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The pressure like me is actually widespread in many parents, and it is also one of the research priorities of children's education experts for many years. The American Academy of Childhood Medicine has suggested that if parents buy toys for infants under one year of age to improve their IQ, they should be mentally prepared because they are likely to spend money. That is because the little babies under one year old are still in the first stage of knowing the world. Their potential is endless, but they are not ready to accept a very purposeful education. The TLC TV station in the United States once did a show. They compared many popular baby toys on the market. From the effect of inspiring children's imagination, the more expensive the toys, the more effective they are. Therefore, the choice of toys should be arranged according to the budget. It is especially important to choose toys suitable for the age group of children, and safety is also a factor that cannot be ignored.
After the age of one, you can start to buy some toys with specific purposes, such as teaching them to know the color, shape, and number of toys. After the age of two, you can give your child a puzzle and a moving toy (such as a traffic toy). And analog toys; (such as toy kitchens), and toys that can make sounds. Now the problem is coming. At present, there are many children's toys that are popular in the market. At first glance, it is very fun to have a series of music and light shadows when the baby clicks. However, the toys that are more guiding to children should be The kind of toy that they can explore on their own. Taking music as an example, our family first had a small electronic toy piano. When the baby clicked, there were children’s songs running out. The little piano also has a few keys for the children to pop up, but because there are buttons that sing when they press, my baby is rarely interested in playing something. Later, we bought a set of children's musical toys, which were all available and the children loved it. I also like it because they have to find the notes themselves, and no button can help them blow a whole song. What's more interesting is that in this whole set of instruments, except for the triangular iron, it is made of wood. Wood toys touched in the hands, it is indeed much more textured than plastic products. In a contemporary society where high technology is prevalent, traditional wooden toys still occupy a certain market weight, which also shows that parents have a multi-faceted demand for toys.
However, the toy market is generally sluggish. Richard Gottlieb, a senior toy industry analyst, conducted a survey in 2012 and found that from 2004 to 2012, US domestic toy retail sales fell by 15%. This is mainly caused by the popularity of video games and smartphone apps. This type of entertainment has become an effective means of comforting children by entering the infant world. Sometimes I need time to handle some things, put a cartoon to show the kids, I can get the time I need. But I also know that this method is not sustainable. Numerous children's education experts have repeatedly warned children of the harmful effects of using electronic products, especially in terms of stimulating children's imagination and creativity. Electronic products have great limitations. Traditional toys, such as building blocks, are only one-dimensional. When children put them together, they increase their dimensions. The process of extending this dimension is actually an extension of the image space of children. In comparison, TV, video games, and mobile apps create a three-dimensional space that, while lively and interesting, limits the depth of development of children's thinking.
Recently, I found that my two-and-a-half-year-old and four-and-a-half-year-old children will continue to play a game after building blocks, that is, they have an imaginary function for the things they have put, and put our family members into this one by one. Function inside. Many early childhood education studies have pointed out that children who play this kind of imaginary game after the age of two are one of the most exciting ways to stimulate their imagination and creativity. For example, buying a banana made of wood can teach children to know fruit. But soon the child might have used the banana as a phone call. It’s even better if parents join in and play with them. My father and I are often voluntarily or forced to join their role play. I have to admit that I often feel bored, but the two children can never tire of playing, the fun they get from this imagination. The big one is really beyond my expectations.
However, they also say from time to time that my mother is so boring. In the beginning, I will be under a lot of pressure because of this sentence. If I can't think of a more fun game, or can't buy a toy that keeps them interested, wouldn't I have to turn on the TV or use the iPad to play with them? The game?
Not long ago, I saw an article in the New York Times. The reporter interviewed the founder couple of Melissa & Doug (American Marisa) who developed traditional toys. His wife, Melissa, said that they installed flats throughout their homes. The computer entertains the children (although each computer can only be used for at most one hour), but their children still complain about boredom. At this time, it is much easier for parents to give in to their children than to persist. Melissa also said that based on her own experience, imagination can fill this boring; it is this experience that drives them to develop challenging toys. I think that since children always complain about boredom, I can't think that they can solve all problems by playing with them. I should endure this pressure, let them solve problems with imagination, and try to help them learn how to calm their emotions in the process. In fact, it is not a big deal for children to complain about boredom. Let them be bored. Maybe they will brainstorm new ideas.
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Dramatic play or, as it’s sometimes called, pretend play, imitative play, and symbolic play, which is a type of play where children assign and accept roles and act them out. When children act out their own life experiences, it helps them make sense of what is happening in their lives and the world around them.
Dramatic play is a crucial part of early childhood education. It can help you meet your curricular goals and build your children’s developing literacy skills. It allows children to experiment with purposes for literacy they’ve seen at home, to recognize that different tasks require different texts, to produce a wide variety of texts, and to act out stories they have heard. Here are eight dramatic play ideas for your kids.
Most kids love to do is to create special dishes in play kitchens. Kids love playing restaurant—playing a waiter taking down orders, cooking up yummy treats in the kitchen, and then serving the customers. And the best part of kitchen play with big kids is that they can often help with real cooking and baking by doing tasks like helping measure and mix ingredients to bake something or tearing lettuce leaves or washing cherry tomatoes for a salad.
Encourage your kids in your care to pretend to be the doctor and patient with a hospital-themed area in your dramatic play center. It is a great way of bouncing ideas off one another to create new ones! Kids also don’t mind if they use something to imitate something else such as if you do not have a toy phone, a brush for a pretend phone will do.
All children love to play school! Encourage the children to take turns with different roles. The preschoolers in your care will enjoy playing both the teacher and the student.
Parents know that kids don't need expensive toys to have fun and that one of the most beloved and often-used favorite plaything for kids is an ordinary cardboard box. With it, they can create anything their imaginations can think of, from a rocket ship to a car, or even a pirate ship sailing on the high seas and pretend to have lots of adventure and excitement in their box, er, awesome vessel or vehicle.
Puppet show are a natural and fun extension of the pretend play that young children engage in so readily. It will help your children develop some important learning skills. Hand Puppet play is imaginative and open-ended and equally freeing for adults. Encourage your kids to have a puppet show!
Who knew something as simple as playing dress up and having a pretend tea party could offer kids so many benefits? When you give your child a box of simple accessories like hats, plastic tiaras, and old Halloween costumes, they can become anyone they can think of, from a princess having a tea party to a good pirate who gives out riches instead of taking them.
A classic camp out makes a great dramatic play activity! Kids will love pretending to cook food and camp out in the wilderness.
Preschoolers will love pretending to buy and sell goods. Encourage beginning math and calculator skills while providing lots of opportunities for imaginative play with a cash register. Children will also learn currency denominations and have fun handling life-size money.
]]>Have you ever listened in as your child engages in imaginary play with his toys or friends? You will probably hear some words and phrases you never thought he knew! In fact, we often hear our own words reflected in the play of children. Kids can do a perfect imitation of mom, dad, and the teacher! Pretend play helps your child understand the power of language. In addition, by pretend playing with others, he learns that words give him the means to reenact a story or organize play. This process helps your child to make the connection between spoken and written language — a skill that will later help him learn to read.
Kids can expand their vocabulary and experiment freely with words in their own space and time, without the risk of embarrassment if they use the words incorrectly. By pretending to play with others, children begin to understand that words give them the power to re-enact a story and to organize play.
When your child engages in pretend (or dramatic) play, he is actively experimenting with the social roles of life. Through cooperative play, he learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. Imaginative play has the greatest impact on the development of key skills that are important for children’s success with peers. When playing creatively with their friends, your child learns to co-operate and compromise.
It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, your child will begin to understand the feelings of others. He also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending!
When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. Imaginative play allows your child to express both positive and negative feelings. It also helps him to work through difficult emotions and to understand them.
Children express themselves both verbally and non-verbally through imaginative play. They use all their muscles and senses to achieve this. Working with art materials like crayons, scissors, paintbrushes and play dough promotes fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. To stimulate gross motor skills you can encourage percussion, dancing, mural painting or large construction projects like building tents.
Pretend play provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it's two children wanting to play the same role or searching for the just right material to make a roof for the playhouse, your child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever.
Imaginative play fosters mental growth by creating opportunities for trying out new ideas, ways of thinking and problem-solving. In pretend play, children face a variety of problems to solve. Whether it’s two children who want to play the same role or looking for the right material to use for a doll’s bed, children will use important thinking skills that they’ll use through their lives.
Indulge your toddler's fantasy world and let her reap the benefits of her imagination.
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Children are natural inventors. And this seeming flair is triggered by one thing – imagination. Invention is usually nothing but the power of imagination made real. From storytelling to free play, to games that are made up on the spot, children find ways to harness their imagination in their day to day life.
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination,” said the genius Albert Einstein. True! Great inventions and discoveries were born out of imagination and not mere knowledge. So, in order to raise intelligent children who can make meaningful contributions to society, you need to spark off their imagination.
As parents, we’re all so busy with the day to day, that we might be missing opportunities to nurture their imagination. Imagining is a lifelong skill that our children need, just as much as being a good problem-solver or knowing how to ride a bike. So, igniting their imagination from a young age is essential. We will share some ways to inject some imagining in children’s every day.
When children are role playing and are acting out various experiences they may have had or something that is of some interest to them. They are experimenting with decision making on how to behave and are also practicing their social skills. Children learn from experience: from what happens around them, from what they see, hear, smell, taste and touch.
Invite your child’s friends or cousins to come over for pretend play sessions. Provide them with different scenarios and ask them to take on roles and act out the situations. Stock up on dress up clothes, for example. Young children love to play make believe. It's fun to have a closet or trunk filled with items that can help them jump into a new role. Thrift stores, garage sales and after-Halloween sales are great times to stock up. Throw in jewelry, hats, sunglasses or anything else that can help kids enter that world of make believe whenever they like.
Many parents instinctively feel their kids are missing out on the freedom they experienced in their own childhoods, but still get caught up in the pressure to have their children engaged in endless adult-led, structured activities. Be confident that choosing downtime is the best gift you can give your child.
Remind yourself that free play has been shown to boost confidence, problem-solving skills, resilience, social-emotional connections, and more. So, ask yourself, what can give? Start by swapping out, say, one adult-led activity a week for more downtime and decompression, which may truly help kids realize their passions.
Much of the precious downtime our children have today is spent on screens, which does little to develop imagination, communication skills, and a sense of wonder. The more time your child spends before screens, the less will be her imagination. She will tend be more robotic and less humane in her thoughts and actions. So, cut down on screen time as a family. You can even have no-screen days.
Although it will be challenging initially, set aside small periods of time that are truly screen-free and hold to them. Start simply. Meals, for one, are an easy way to begin. Designate a container or basket at the corner of the table where everyone places their devices before the meal and witness how fun those meals become without screens getting in the way! Car rides are another time that can be tech-free. Set a rule that phones cannot be used in the car and experience the wonderful connections you can make with your children!
Nothing like storytelling to fire up your child's imagination. Children view their worlds through the lens of story – the who, when, where, what, why, how of daily living.
While you narrate stories, use puppetry or creative props to help your child picturise and imagine the setting and characters. You can even made good use of voice modulation for extra impact. Also, when you narrate stories, encourage your child to participate actively in the process by throwing up questions at you about the plot, the characters, their actions, the ending, and so on. You can also encourage your child to come up with his own stories. They can be either ones he has read or heard, or his very own yarns. You can have family storytelling sessions where one member begins a story and the others keep adding details to it to build the story.
Any handwork will give vent to your child’s imagination. Encourage him to make his own toys. Rather than playing with motorised or battery-operated ones, let him create his own toys. Provide him with materials such as old plastic containers, pieces of cloth, ribbons, etc. Also, this can serve as a good recycling exercise. Whether it's writing or painting or drawing, stay engaged with them as they show you their work. Ask your children questions about their artistic process and the choices that they made. Ask them to tell you the "story" behind the art.
From doodles to splotches, your child can go imaginative all the way. Sit down next to your children and draw together or write poems. Help them to see the artistic process as something that will be with them for their entire lives. Encourage your toddler to scribble and play with colours. As she grows up, introduce her to finer art forms such as pencil sketches, painting portraits, using poster or oil colours, painting murals and even frescoes.
Select toys that inspire imagination and construction and try open-ended toys that allow the child to decide how to use them. Toys like building blocks, puppets, animal figures and dolls, toy bricks and similar items provide hours of fun and countless opportunities for kids to stretch their imaginations. Role-play toys are great options too, because they encourage kids to play make-believe: cooking dinner in a kid-sized kitchen or building a house with a child-size tool set, camping out in a tent made with a sheet strategically draped over a table, or creating a cabin out of an over-sized cardboard carton.
Avoid toys that only require kids to press a button. Instead, visit a local toy shop and buy a selection of dress-up clothes and accessories. Kids will relish costuming themselves as pirates and policemen, nurses and princesses. A few well-chosen pieces and props will keep them busy for hours of imaginative play.
]]>Be sure to choose toys that encourage your child to use her imagination, creativity and problem-solving skills. The best toys are ones that actively engage your child both physically and intellectually. The more your child must problem-solve and use his or her imagination, the more your child will learn through play.
Carefully read what the pack says. Many toys have age-range information on their packaging. This can be useful, but in terms of play, it’s only a guide. Your child’s interests and stage of development will probably give you a better idea of what to choose.
The age-appropriate recommendations are given for two vital reasons. First, to help your child’s developmental needs and secondly, to keep him safe. If you are getting him small blocks for making a tower, make sure that the pieces are not too tiny. They should be big enough to not fit completely in his mouth. Additionally, ensure your child has developed the manual dexterity to play with it.
Toys are meant to entertain children and there is no doubt about that. However, you can choose toys that do just that or you can find toys that come with one or more educational aspects. For instance, you can find a toy that requires your child to sort different objects by size, color or category.
Or a toy that comes with different sounds in order to teach your kid the letters, numbers, animals or simply different songs. Such toys will entertain your child and teach them useful things at the same time. And all children should have at least an educational toy to play with for a harmonious development.
These are open-ended toys that leave playing to the imagination. Avoid toys that can only be played in only one or a few ways. Toys that run on your kid’s imagination are better than those that run on AA batteries. For example, a Tigger toy whose limbs your kid can manipulate endless ways is better than a Tigger toy that can only somersault. Playing toys by making believe enables your child to test his idea about the world and develops his creativity. Research has also shown that this also develops language and lengthens your kid’s attention span.
Open-ended toys which encourage your child to use their creativity and problem-solving skills are the best toys to give your toddlers.
Your toddler is getting good at figuring out how objects in her world work—like television remotes or light switches. She is also interested in playing with your “real” stuff, like your cell phone, because she is eager to be big and capable like you. Toys like this help children problem-solve, learn spatial relations (how things fit together), and develop fine motor skills (use of the small muscles in the hands and fingers). For Examples: Plastic dishes and food, toy keys, toy phone, dress-up clothes, musical instruments, child-size brooms, mops, brushes and dustpans
In summary, to foster learning as well as fun . . .
Remember that play is the “work” of childhood. Good toys help kids learn new skills and practice relationships with others and their world. When you choose a toy, ask yourself if it is really for the child or for yourself. (It’s okay to use toy buying as a nostalgia trip. Just don’t expect the child to share your enthusiasm.)
Don’t get hung up on gender-specific toys. Little girls and little boys both need to learn to be comfortable with babies and with tools in the world they are going to inhabit as adults. Get in there and play with your kids. It’s part of the fun of being a parent.
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The following list of toys is responsible for the most eye-related injuries in children each year. Start by supervising your child while he or she is playing with one of the following types of toys that pose a high risk of causing eye injuries.
1. Toy Weapons
Any toy that shoots or propels a small object can potentially cause significant damage to the eyes. Lightsabers, wands, and swords can have sharp edges and cause eye trauma. Dart guns, paintball guns, BB guns and airsoft rifles launch objects that can cause lacerations, increased eye pressure, cataracts and vision loss.
You might think these soft projectiles would pose little or no risk, but toy guns of this type can shoot up to distances of 75 feet, and the darts move at speeds fast enough to cause a serious eye injury — especially when used at close range indoors.
Projectile toys are never safe, so avoid purchasing toy guns for children. If you buy any toy that could be used as a weapon, accompany the gift with proper eye protection and require that your child wear the safety glasses when using the toy.
2. Toys That Launch Water Balloons
Water balloons can cause serious blunt trauma to the eye that can cause a retinal detachment and permanent vision loss. Even toy guns that shoot a stream of water can cause serious eye damage, especially when used at close range.
3. Toy Sporting Equipment
Playing sports accounts for many eye injuries in children every year. If your child participates in a sport, appropriate eye protection is imperative for their safety. Eye injuries commonly occur during sports such as basketball, baseball, and racquet sports. Sports-related eye injuries include blunt, penetrating, and radiation injuries.
If you buy sports gear or equipment for your child, ensure that he or she is using proper eye protection and head protection. Always supervise your child outside during practice and play time, and do not allow sporting equipment indoors.
4. Toy Swords, Wands, and Fishing Poles
Young children do not necessarily have the best control over long objects, such as toy swords, wands or fishing poles. When an object is secured to the end of such a toy, the risk of eye injury can be even greater. Don’t get caught off guard by how easy it is for the end of a long object to end up in a playmate’s eye!
5. Fireworks
Explosive devices are best left to adults to activate. Children usually underestimate the dangers of fireworks. Even small explosions near the eye can cause devastating injuries and burns. If your child must set off fireworks, always insist on the use of protective eyewear or safety goggles.
6. Aerosol-Propelled String
The chemicals in these products can cause eye irritation and a type of pink eye called chemical conjunctivitis. When used at close range, aerosol string also can cause a corneal abrasion that could lead to serious eye infections.
7. Laser Pointers
Laser pointers (as well as high-powered LED flashlights) should never be used as toys. Unfortunately, children may have difficulty understanding this. Many kids enjoy playing laser or flashlight tag. The problem is that pointing a high-intensity laser beam into someone’s eye can cause serious eye injuries, including permanent vision loss.
A flashlight is a safer alternative to a laser pointer and poses less risk to the eyes. Remind kids never to shine any type of light into the eyes.
Check for the age limit on the packaging of the toy. Some toys are meant only for kids above a certain age, and this disclaimer must be taken seriously, especially, when the toy contains small pieces or components. There is a potential choking hazard when children put these in their mouth.
If you are buying toys for grandchildren or the children of other relatives or friends, ask for suggestions from the child's parents. Discuss any toys you are thinking about purchasing before doing so, to make sure the child's parents are okay with the type of toy you are considering.
Look closely at your child's toys. Examine toys for sharp edges. Safety regulations prohibit sharp points in new toys that are designed for use in children under eight years of age. Don't be too cheap. Be careful with inexpensive toys in the budget aisle. Toys with sturdy construction are less likely to shatter or break into small, sharp pieces.
Sweet Heart charms with an iridescent candy pink hue that warms to a light blush with just the heat of your hands. Sugar-free and great for classroom parties, it ?s a perfect treat for all your favourite valentines.
Ages 3+
New Sprouts Fix It!
Big fix-it fun for the smallest fixer uppers! Encourage imaginative play with chunky, toddler-safe tools made from durable, soft plastic.
Includes a fun drill-squeeze the trigger to hear it working! Includes saw, hammer, screwdriver, wrench, drill (with sound), and tool box measuring 9"L x 3¾"W x 5½"H.
Toddlers+ | Ages 2+
Gears! Gears! Gears! 100-Piece Deluxe Building Set
Set imaginations in colorful motion! Fun, bright new colors and kid-friendly pieces for easy assembly make this deluxe hands-on construction set a whole new building experience. Invites little engineers to discover a world of building possibilities while developing critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Includes 46 colorful gears, 26 square pillars, 21 six-way axles, 6 interlocking bases, handle, and Activity Guide.
Compatible with all other Gears! Gears! Gears! sets for even more imagination and fun.
Grades PreK+ | Ages 3+
It is a set many things can be assembled using ideas.
Samples of the package are castle, rocket, helicopter, and bear.
Age: 8+
The Parking Garage has 3 floors of parking space, a working elevator tower, and helipad. The set also includes eco charging station, car repair, figure , bus stop and car.
Ages 3+
Create your own crazy critters! Collect the Pals, pop them apart, and swap them around to make custom combinations. Use the included Playfoam to sculpt play props.
Possible Color Transfer: Playfoam may transfer color stain to fabric, carpet, and plastic. Keep away from open flame.
This price is only for one pod. Each pod includes character with pop-apart head and body, Playfoam, and collection checklist Collect them all to find the super-rare golden critter.
Ages 5+
S-t-r-e-t-c-h your creativity to the max with Mad Mattr - an addictive, super-soft modeling compound that shapes easily.
Ages 12 months+
Toys for kids are a very important part of the child’s development. They can help build different skills in child and help them to have a better mental growth. This post talks about some of the ways in which toys impact the children’s development.
Toys are a great entertainment source for kids, they can keep the child busy for hours. Toys bring joy to kids, they feel happy when they are playing with toys. This is because they get to play with them just as they want, they use their imagination to imagine every toy’s character in their play and what this character does. This nurtures the creativity and imagination of kids which is further enhanced through books and other activities.
Toys for kids give the child a great opportunity to socialize with other kids of their age and play together. This builds their social skills, how they interact with other kids, how they share their own toys and how do they make the perfect characters for each toy with mutual discussion and agreement. This is the initial stage of learning how we need to live with other people and how we socialize in the society.
When the kids are playing either with other kids or with their parents, their bonds grow stronger. As it seen that the kids that play together are closer to each other generally and share a stronger bond. Similarly, toys can also give the parents an opportunity to strengthen their bond with their kids. When parents play with kids and their toys they become a part of the child’s imaginative world, they make a different place for these characters of mother and father to fit in. Now it depends on the parents on what kind of they role they portray to be, is it a friendly one who the kid loves to play with, or is it a more strict one that the kid is more afraid of.
In child development the ability to share things with others is a very important personality trait. In this world we can’t have everything to ourselves, we have to share it with other people. And toys, very effortlessly, nurture this concept into the kids when they share their toys with their fellow kids. Sharing their own things with friends, and how they should use other people’s things, all of these concepts become a part of the early child development.
Some toys for kids are made for educational purposes, like some puzzles, or memory games. Such toys slowly help in the mental growth of child. Their memory gets better, they are able to solve some simple puzzles. This strengthens their thinking capability. Such toys also introduce the kids with a new feeling, the feeling of accomplishment when they finish a puzzle, especially when do it on their own. It boosts up their self confidence which is very healthy and beneficial for them when they go into school.
Toys have great impact on child’s development, these toys remain a part of the early memories for the whole life. Therefore, it is necessary the child is provided with good, educational and gender biased free toys. It is the responsibility of parents to make sure that when they go to the toy store they pick the right for their child.
]]>Today's children have more choices in toys, and sometimes they do not lose the proficiency of some electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets, and gradually lose interest and enthusiasm for traditional toys.
However, the latest report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that simple toys can give children more freedom, let them fully use their imagination and creativity, practice problem-solving skills, and learn how to Interaction with others.
For those who believe that "advanced digital electronics or toys can better help children learn" and "let children win at the starting line," Mendelsohn, associate professor of pediatrics and population health at NYU Langone Health, said that in addition to play, There are very few things that children can learn in digital products.
At the same time, the American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends that infants under 18 months should stay away from electronic screens. Children between 18 and 24 months old can be accompanied by a small number of electronic screens accompanied by guardians. Children between 2 and 5 years old are advised to watch TV, computers and The time of the mobile device should not exceed one hour.
In addition to the children's requirements for the use of digital electronic products, experts also have more expectations for adults who love to play mobile phones. They think that the more time parents spend on electronic devices, the less time they spend with their children. On the other hand, this will also set up a very bad "example" for the child.
Toys are something other than silly buffoonery for children. Most toys give probably some chance to kids to learn. The best toys draw in a kid's detects, start their creative energies and urge them to cooperate with others.
Children and Toys Babies are anxious to find out about their general surroundings, and they have a lot to learn. Each new shape, shading, surface, taste and sound is a learning knowledge for them. Giving your infant toys that are protected and invigorating will enable him to find his detects. Rattles and toys that make music are top choices of babies. Toys with differentiating hues are interesting to babies and animate their creating vision. As they develop, newborn children can utilize toys to investigate object perpetual quality and circumstances and logical results connections. They likewise require articles, for example, squares to enable them to manufacture engine aptitudes and dexterity.
Figure out how to make a more advantageous, more joyful family that comprehends the significance of investing less energy stuck to their hardware and additional time imparting and interfacing.
Toys for Toddlers can play with a more extensive assortment of toys than they did when they were littler. They may in any case appreciate a portion of the toys they played with as children, and that is fine. Similar squares they played with a year or two back can furnish them with new and diverse instructive open doors as their insight extends. In any case, they likewise require toys that are structured in view of children their age. Shape sorters are extraordinary for babies. They show them how to coordinate comparative things and give guardians the chance to show them the names of the shapes. Lego squares give a chance to become familiar with hues and symmetry while they build up their engine abilities.
Toys for Preschool and School-Aged Children When kids achieve preschool age, it's a great opportunity to begin finding out about letters, numbers and dialect aptitudes. There are bunches of toys that energize this sort of learning, from basic letter set riddles to innovative electronic contraptions. These can give your youngster a head begin by acquainting her with the things she will learn in school. Children who are in school can enhance their learning with fun and instructive toys. Allowing them the chance to have some good times while rehearsing the things they are learning in school will expand their maintenance of those things. Furthermore, when your youngster finds an instructive toy she truly loves, she will be bound to play with it, strengthening the things she has learned.
Youngsters can gain so much from playing. When you give your kid instructive toys and play with them with her, it allows her to bond with you, learn, and have some good times in the meantime. Also, making training agreeable will enable your youngster to hold the things she learns and build up an inspirational frame of mind toward learning.
No doubt, there has been several toys stores operating online since years but when it comes to buy best quality toys at best prices, only a few of them meet the clients’ requirements. We are proving you the online platform in New Zealand for buying the toys for kids where you can find a splendid variety of toys that are specially designed for the kids of all ages. For example, our store include puzzles, games, building sets and blocks, music box, dramatic play, imaginative play, D.I.Y, clay sand, magnetic toys, tools and accessories, stationary as well as a wide range of educational toys which range from science, math, stem, language arts to various cognitive ability toys.
Now you are provided with the facility of buying any or your desired toy for your kid at the best prices in New Zealand. The best thing about shopping with us is that the toys are within a very affordable price range and none of these is over-priced. The good news is that we also offer you discounts or coupons and sales at certain occasions so that you can avail the price reduction opportunities and make your occasions memorable with us while doubling the happiness of your kids.
No matter whether you are in your office, in a party, on some trip, or in your bed, you can just visit the website and place the order for the toys for kids without any hesitation of fear of any kind. Our website is secure and safe for online shopping. We are also providing you the free delivery option if you order amount such as more than $100. The good thing is that we are providing you the option for cash on delivery as well as online payment. With all these facilities, we make your experience of buying toys online incredibly wonderful and mesmerizing.
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Play with the fun MEMO cards and get to know the most famous electricity scholars, learning lots of scientific notions through the illustrated manual.
Ages 8+