Toys&Games

If you're looking for children's toys online, you'll find a range of sites that specialise in toys designed to help infants and toddlers develop their learning skills. However, with such a vast range of educational toys to choose from, it can be difficult to establish which are right for your child. If you find yourself in this situation, it's best to first equip yourself with some important knowledge: namely, which toys exercise which parts of your child's brain, and what area of their learning skills need to be developed the most.

For instance, if you're looking for educational toys for babies, it's a good idea to buy products that will help them identify sights and sounds. So, books and toys that help your baby distinguish sounds and recognise colours should be high up on your list. Similarly, toys that help your baby match certain shapes together, or create patterns, are designed to stimulate their capacity for learning and prepare them for future learning activities. Simple puzzles - including path finders, jigsaws and card games - fulfil this objective.

As your child gets older, teaching them how to identify letters and numbers becomes paramount. There are numerous educational toys that revolve around reading and writing: for instance, giant flash cards for three to six year olds help your child learn how to count and how to spell. These learning aids can make a great deal of difference to your child's learning potential, and can complement their daytime learning activities - whether in playschool or primary school.

Moreover, most educational toys combine thinking and having fun into one package. Buy your infant some magnetic numbers or letters that can be stuck to your fridge and you'll be able to help them learn how to count and make words while you're going about your daily chores. And if your child is showing a quick grasp of numbers, why not experiment with some more challenging educational toys? For example, how about a simplified version of Sudoku, the popular number puzzle game, which can help introduce your young child to the daunting world of problem solving.

You can also buy your child an interactive map to help him or her learn about the countries and landmarks of the world through a series of fun activities. By making your little ones aware of the world in which they live at a young age, you'll be introducing them to basic geographical principles while encouraging their reading skills at the same time.

With a simple set of guidelines regarding child-development, you can equip your child with appropriate - and fun - toys which will help them learn and grow to their full potential.

By : Andrew Regan