Are Simple Toys More Educational?

Many assume that modern toys are superior to the ones our we played with like toy blocks. Although most parents of small children in today's generation have been led to believe by toy manufacturers that toys with all the "bells and whistles" are more educational and promote more imaginative play than their simpler counterparts, the exact opposite is true.

Toys that sing, dance, flash, blink, and otherwise drive parents insane may come in pretty packaging, but they offer very little if any extra educational value in the long run.

Also, by offering toys that can "morph" right along with your child's games, you can buy fewer toys. Remember, quality comes before quantity. Giving him a limited number of items that will encourage him to use his mind and create his own worlds instead of a hundred singing puppies will not take away from his fun…it will add to it.
Very young children have short attention spans and are not well suited for making decisions. With a room full of singing toys all flashing and vibrating for attention, children can easily become overloaded. The fact is, when he presses the red square it's still going to sing-song the words "red square" back at him every time. And that toy tractor with real plowing sound effects? It just stays a tractor, day after day. This lack of real play value leads not to greater education and imagination but boredom.

Despite the fancy commercials boasting the educational quality of these toys, children actually learn best when they see, create, discover, and do for themselves. The toy tractor may be nothing but a toy tractor, but building blocks can be almost anything your child can conjure up. One minute he builds a bridge and the next a robot from outer space – all with the same set of blocks.

Pretend prop toys and costumes are equally beneficial at stirring a child's imagination because they allow him to visualize and participate in his make-believe worlds more vividly. That's why blocks, dollhouses, building kits, play food, and toy kitchens have withstood the test of time.

Kids particularly love to copy the people they love the most – mommy and daddy. This starts out early when babies pull out all the pots and pans from the cabinets in the kitchen. As kids reach preschool age kids they adore pretend kitchens and play food so that they can cook just like their mom and dad. They also love to dress up like people in their neighborhood and characters in their favorite books. Most quality preschools will provide fun costumes like policemen, firemen, chef, cowboys and cowgirls, princesses and more.

To get the most out of your child's toys, choose ones that encourage imagination and have the most function all in one item.

Blocks may very well be the best toy of all! Standard unit blocks are a main stay in preschools and homes across the country. The best blocks will last decades so they are gentle on the pocket book in the long run. Best of all they help promote vital skills like hand eye coordination, finger dexterity, cooperative and imaginary play. Blocks also stimulate thinking and planning skills. Through experiential learning children will grow to understand about sizes, shapes, weight and geometry which are the foundation of math skills.

Every preschool teacher knows that time on the rug with blocks will keeps kids entertained every day. That is why classrooms everywhere invest in good set of quality standard unit blocks. Teachers keep the blocks organized on shelves or block cabinets so they are easy for the kids to access and even more importantly a good storage case make blocks simple to clean up.