Educational Toys and Early Childhood Education
Early childhood education is basically defined as children learning through play. It is important that parents begin educating their children from infancy to six yeas of age through interaction and introducing educational play which will aid in the development of these crucial areas...
Physical Development: Developing fine and gross motor skills. Basically movement is the key, crawling, walking, running, climbing, throwing, touching and eye-hand coordination.
Social Skills: Teaching children how to interact with others, how to share and co-operate with others, how to build strong relationship that will last as well as social etiquette and good manners.
Emotional Development: Building self-esteem, self-awareness, self-confidence, as well as recognizing and understanding various feelings and emotions.
Language Development: The expression and or vocalization of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by an individual through the growing and learning process.
Creativity: Developing unique and special abilities and talents in your child
Cognitive Skills: Developing the ability to learn and solve problems, understanding the world around them, their environment and gain knowledge.
This may sound like a task that is overwhelming for the average parent and parents may be under the impression that they need an advanced education in early childhood development to help their children grow in these areas, but this is far from the truth.
Certainly knowledge of this caliber would be a great asset, but children in this age group actually grow and learn through their playtime.Years of research shows that educational toys actually promote and aid in the development of the above crucial growth areas.
Specific types of experiences stimulate various areas of the brain, which, in turn develop a child's physical and mental abilities. However, any toy will provide some educational and developmental benefits. So parents must keep in mind that not every toy that claims to be educational is in fact educational and may not necessarily develop these crucial areas of early childhood development. Even the most successful educational toys have their limits. Educational toys are most effective when parents provide quality interaction with their children.The educational and developmental success and advances of any society depends upon a parent's desire and ability to foster the health and well-being of their children, the next generation. In other words, parents have a responsibility to their children to prepare them for what lies ahead. When parents fail to provide children with what they need to build a strong foundation for healthy, productive and successful lives, the future is at risk.
We all must remember that today's children will become tomorrow's adults, which also means tomorrows parents. So parents, spend time with your children, introduce educational toys into their playtime and have confidence that the investment you make in your children will produce successful, productive parents of your grandchildren.