Picture: La-Rel Easter / Unsplash
Toys are more than just fun objects we buy for our children to make them smile and stave off boredom. They are valuable educational tools that can foster curiosity and discovery.
When children play with toys, they’re not just interacting with objects. They’re improving their motor skills, using their imagination, and exploring creativity. The next time you purchase an educational toy for your children from an online baby store in Australia, you may be helping them build and develop these valuable skills and attributes:
Creativity
Educational toys like building blocks generally come with instructions. Still, children aren’t bound by them. They have the freedom to get creative and build anything that comes to mind. They can learn incredible problem-solving skills and improve their creativity when they use objects without constraints.
The benefits of purchasing open-ended educational toys can be two-fold. Given their creative potential, children may play with them for longer periods. This is because they can use different play methods each time.
Passion for Learning
How your children learn can sometimes determine their love for learning in later life. If learning is dull and unexciting, they may associate anything learning-related with those negative feelings.
However, children can develop a love for learning when interacting with educational toys. When they discover new things while playing with fun items, they may be more inclined to seek out knowledge later in life. It becomes something pleasurable rather than something boring.
Hands-On Play
Adults might learn and absorb information through reading, but children learn differently. Studies have shown that children learn through play to foster social, cognitive, emotional, creative, and physical skills.
Hands-on play with building blocks, puzzles, and other educational toys gives children the opportunity to work through problems, explore various play concepts, and manipulate objects.
Newfound Confidence
Children develop their own self-esteem by the time they’re five years old. They go to school with it rather than developing it once they start school. Parents can create confident kids by modeling confidence and practicing positive self-talk, but educational toys can also help. Your children’s access to such toys may contribute to their confidence levels.
Toys like puzzles and building blocks can challenge children. When they’re challenged, they can overcome those challenges and build confidence in their abilities. For example, a child might struggle with the last few pieces of a puzzle. After rotating the pieces to make them fit, they can feel confident that they’ve overcome a complex task. Now, they have new skills. The next time they tackle a puzzle, they’ll know what they need to do to make those last puzzle pieces fit.
A Desire for Exploration
The average educational toy can be used in so many different ways. Building blocks, for example, can create the largest tower in the world, the biggest castle, or the coolest race car. When children engage with these toys, they explore new ways to use the objects around them. They’re curious about their potential and can ask questions and seek answers.
This desire for exploration on a fundamental level can encourage children to show these same behaviors later on. After all, it’s this curiosity and passion for exploration that paved the way for some of the most incredible discoveries of our time.
Educational toys can certainly stave off boredom. However, that’s not all they’re good for. Your children may enjoy more confidence, a passion for learning, and creativity by having access to a broad range of fun, interactive, and engaging toys.
