Educational Toy
Educational Toys for Babies
Educational toys are fun for babies and provide another tool to stimulate learning and brain development in your infant. There are many ways to teach a child and tens of thousands of educational toys on the market to help parents in the endeavor. The challenge for parents, child care providers and educators is to choose from the vast array of educational toys available in a way that creates a balance of learning techniques, is age appropriate, and most of all fun. This article will provide basic facts about; how babies learn, types of educational toys available and examples of each.
How Babies Learn
It is quite surprising the rate at which babies learn and develop. Learning begins in the womb and continues throughout childhood. In early life how a child learns centers largely around the relationship with the parents. At least until the child starts preschool, the job of stimulating and satisfying baby’s desire to learn falls primarily to the parents.
While babies respond to their parent’s voice there are many other sounds they find interesting. When parents are choosing educational toys for babies they should look for toys that have sound, colors that are bright and contrasted like red, black and white, and have interesting textures that babies like to touch.
Sounds
Babies’ respond to sound and some of the best educational toys include rattles and musical toys. Soothing music such as lullabies is usually best. Auditory and musical toys are known to stimulate logical thinking and imagery in babies and in adults for that matter.
One good educational auditory toy is the Electronic Metal Keys. These keys are good for a child 6 months and up. The Electronic Metal Keys are an imitation of the parent’s car keys. However, the Electronic Metal Key toy is safe for the child to chew on and has a push button that emits sounds like a car horn, doorbell, ignition, and remote control door.
Sight
Bright colors in educational toys stimulate baby’s vision. Look for toys with strong color contrast and patterns. A good one to look for is a colorful crib mobile that emits music, has different textures, curves and symmetry.
One such educational toy is the Bath Time Fishing toy. This item is appropriate for babies 12 months and up. It’s a great prop to use during a baby bath. Making the bath as fun as possible can also help overcome any resistance or fear your child may have during the bathing process. The toy is bright in color, has a rod and reel, and the strong magnets attached to its tails allow for easy catching. Bath Time Fishing is priced at around $16.00 dollars.
Fine motor play
Fine motor play educational toys are used to stimulate coordination in baby’s finger and eye movements. One such toy aimed at developing the hand-eye coordination is “Counting Pals”, which is aimed at babies 6 months and up. Counting Pals are 10 soft and squishy colored blocks. They can be stacked, tossed, chewed by the baby. Counting pals also provides animal illustrations that will enchant the baby. Counting Pals educational toy is priced at around $12.00.
Cognitive Skills
There are some educational toys that promote cognitive skills in babies, which is to say they stimulate the child’s memory, how they picture things and their problem solving skills. Educational toys like building blocks, activity boxes or puzzles are a good purchase for your child. The puzzles can deal with numbers, letters or pictures; it does not matter, but they should be fairly easy for a baby to grasp and manipulate.
About the Author
Tim Lawrence is a father of two and co-founder of Colic Calm Gripe Water for Babies. Tim has written and been published on several topics related to parenting, education and family. His website is Gripe Water for Infant Colic.
Do “educational toys” really teach?
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Discovery Kids Multi-colored LED Animated Jellyfish Lamp $28.99 The Discovery Kids Multi-colored LED Animated Jellyfish Lamp brings simulated marine life and colorful LED lighting to any room. Watch in amazement as three life- like jellyfish gently float and sway through the tank. |
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National Geographic Kids Junior Digital Metal Detector $30.93 Get out and explore with this National Geographic Deluxe Digital Junior Metal Detector. This durable expedition tool features a telescoping handle and is resistant to water, mud and sand so your boundaries are limitless. |
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Kidz Delight Light N’ Sound Phonics Toy $19.57 Your kids will love to see, hear, play and learn on this educational toyLearning toy teaches phonics using visual and auditory stimuli to gently encourage and direct the childHandheld electronic toy includes eight fun activities |
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Lonpos 3 Dimensional 505 Brain Intelligence Game $18.28 Test your thinking skills with this 505 Brain Intelligence board game. This fun, all-ages game improves concentration, analytical skills and memory. |
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Kidz Delight Interactive Animal Cubes $18.52 Challenge your child’s intellect with these interactive animal cubesEducational toy includes five cubes and a main platformLearning accessory lets your child learn by inserting a cube into the platform to create a realistic farm sound |
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Crayola Sit N Draw Play Table $34.45 Give your kids a safe place to create with this Sit N Draw play table from Crayola. This fun table includes two small chairs, a dry erase board and features easy to access storage under the table top. |
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Rubber Piggy Bank $18.23 This piggy bank is a wonderful way to get children excited about saving their money. This piggy bank is so soft and cute with his detachable scarf and movable head. |
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Giant Ant Farm $22.59 Fascinating, organized, and busy, ants are truly remarkable creatures, and Uncle Milton’s Original Ant Farm allows you to peer into their zany little world. This set has everything they need to get busy. |
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Discovery Kids Extreme Weather Tornado Lab $17.99 The Discovery Kids Extreme Weather Tornado Lab allows children to study extreme weather systems hands-on by looking inside the vortex of a liquid whirlpool. You can adjust the twister from a level 1 to a full blown level 5 storm in seconds. |
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Kidz Delight Bilingual Light N’ Sound Phonics $22.16 This Bilingual Light N’ Sound Phonics Educational Toy from Kidz Delight features eight intuitively structured activities to teach phonics using visual and auditory stimuli. This toy features a Seal of Approval from the Educational Advisory Council. |
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Kidz Delight Light’N Sound Animals $25.03 Teach your child the names and sounds of animals with this fun toyEducational toy comes with seven fun animal activitiesToy comes with cute images, colored lights and great sound effects |
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Kidz Delight Light N’ Learn Play Set $30.49 Using a dry erasable pen and magic flashlight, your little one can answer questions about everything from spelling to shapes with this Light N’ Learn set from Kidz Delight. This fun play set features an automatic shut-off to preserve battery life. |
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One Step Ahead Boy Dress Up Doll $31.99 Buckle, button, zipper, snap and learn to dress this boy Dress Up Doll from One Step Ahead. This soft and huggable doll makes a terrific pal that teaches important self-dressing skills. |
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National Geographic Hear It, See It, Detect It Explorer Kit $43.8 Get out and explore the world around you with this National Geographic Explorer Kit. The advanced explorer kit provides the opportunity for the young explorer to hunt for hidden treasures, listen to distant sounds and view objects and animals from afar. |
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Kidz Delight Explore the Farm Educational Toy $19.29 Let your kids learn and have fun with this cute animal-themed toy. This educational toy boasts five animals placed around the unit to help develop your child’s fine motor skills. |
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Spa Science Kit $18.4 Whip your bath into a frothy fizzing sea of color and fragrance. Make colorful, fragrant bath gels, bath fizzers, spa lotion, bath balm, a face mask, and shampoo. |
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One Step Ahead Girl Dress Up Doll $34.49 Buckle, button, zipper, snap and learn to dress this girl Dress Up Doll from One Step Ahead. This soft and huggable doll makes a terrific pal that teaches important self-dressing skills. |
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Boogaloo Carlo Cow Booga-Bud Stuffed Animal Educational Toy $11.84 Give your kids a fun and friendly way to learn about their face with this Carlo Cow Booga-Bud stuffed animal. This educational toy from Boogaloo will name parts of his face as you place his hand over them. |
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Uncle Milton’s Classic Ant Farm $23.99 Watch ants plan and construct highways and subways, moving mountains right before your eyes. This ant farm includes four connecting antports, tunneling sand, antway travel tube, ant watcher’s manual and stock certificate to send for ants. |
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Kidz Delight Magic Mirror Laptop Educational Toy $25.99 This Magic Mirror Laptop Educational Toy from Kidz Delight features four friendly characters to learn their names and hear the sounds they make. This educational toy helps kids learn animal names and sounds, while developing hand to eye coordination. |
