Playing Is Educational

The early childhood stage is crucial for a child’s future development, and during this time, parents should make extra effort to educate their children. It’s often said that we learn a majority of what we will know in life before the age of four, and it’s during this phase that children can develop the skills that will follow them into adulthood.  Early childhood development can be improved with educational games including those involving reading, language, and arithmetic. With these games, children develop essential skills of creative problem solving and deduction; skills which translate into higher learning in the future. It’s important for kids to have these skills before they’re in school as they will not be able to excel without them.

With a little encouragement, you might even find that your little one has a brilliant mind. Early childhood is the most crucial time for learning. Parents, make sure you take an active role in your child’s future! The importance of Early Childhood Development is essential when it comes to raising children.

Research over the past 20 years shows that music has a positive, tangible influence on everything from brain development to physical and mental health therapies. In terms of child development, it has been found that listening to music and participating in musical endeavors helps kids better understand math. Children who are exposed to music or learn a musical instrument also tend to have higher self-esteem and higher grades throughout their academic careers. It’s no wonder that products like Baby Bach from Baby Einstein are flying off the shelves.

Music is easily injected into early childhood development. Think of all the songs and rhyming games you played as a child. All of those ditties from singing ABCs to playing musical chairs help to develop areas of the brain used for reading and math. Games set to music and sing along videos are ideal for younger children, and participation in band, orchestra, choir, or private lessons can give your child a boost as they grow older.

Too often these days kids sit around playing video games in dark, cramped, and musty rooms. There was on kids I knew that ate nothing other than birthday cake for a week because he was so engrossed in playing his video games! I don’t want that to happen to my kids, so I have made sure to introduce them to educational games that are fun, yet informative.

At first my kids wanted to know what made these games educational and why they couldn’t play video games like all the other kids. After a while they became used to the new games. Now they look forward to playing the games, and even ask me if they can take them over to their friends’ houses!

If you’ve been reading newspapers or checking online news sources in the last few years, you may have noticed a series of stories detailing the downfall of Americans’ geographic knowledge. In 2006, a National Geographic poll found that almost 33 percent of young Americans couldn’t locate Louisiana on a U.S. map. This came less than a year after Louisiana was grabbing headlines in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Of course one could cite sample size and other statistical problems with the study, but there’s no denying that young people could benefit from learning more about the world around them. Educational childrens books like Merriam Webster’s Notebook Atlas are an indispensable resource that kids can use at home as well as at school. It seems that our public education system is leaving a bit to be desired, so it’s up to parents to help fill in those knowledge gaps.

When most kids arrive in kindergarten class, their reading skills are virtually nonexistent. Teachers spend hours trying to instill the ABCs and the basics of pronunciation in their young charges. Imagine the academic advantage your toddler could eventually enjoy if you give him a reading head start. By the time he gets to school, he’ll be advanced beyond his years.

Phonics games appeal to a child’s developing senses in a way that’s virtually unmatched. Some phonics books even feature a multimedia CD, which allows kids to hear other children attempting pronunciations right along with them. It takes only a few minutes of a conscientious parent’s time each day to make a noticeable difference in the academic life of a child.

A kindergarten teacher’s job isn’t easy – just consider the rambunctious children, long hours and minimal pay. As they undertake one of the most important societal roles – molding the minds of our children – many of these teachers would take any help they can get. By continuing the learning process at home, parents can take a bit of the burden off overworked teachers even as they give their own children an educational advantage.

Parents can remain an active part of their kids’ educational development by reading stories and playing games with them. Children acquire most of their vocabulary at a very young age, which is why it’s crucial to introduce progressively advanced reading material. Early childhood education only feels like a parental chore for a short time; soon enough, the child will begin to pursue knowledge without much need for guidance.

During the day, children observe their surroundings and then role-play their observations during their pretend play.  With the use of childrens educational toys, they can play out working in an office space, a supermarket, or an animal hospital. 

When your children engage in pretend play, they are also improving their problem solving skills, oral skills, and writing skills.  Their self-esteem will increase as they discover that they can be anything, just by pretending.

It is amazing how much playing puppet show theater can increase your child’s ability to express himself.

If your child has difficultly expressing himself, you should try puppet theater.  With the use of finger puppets, hand puppets, and hand-operated rod puppets, your child can learn to express himself through role-play.  Through puppet play, your child can express his feelings through different puppet characters, from animal hand puppets to community helper puppets.  He can be a surgeon, a fire fighter, a police officer, or even a construction worker.

Try puppet theater to help your child express his emotions; you’ll be impressed on how he will open up and share his feelings.

While having fun playing with a play parachutes, parachute games encourage cooperative play, noncompetitive play, and reinforces sharing and taking-turns.  Play parachute games also helps with strengthening upper body muscles, primarily the muscles in the shoulders, arms, and hands, and gross motor skills.  When playing together, parachute games develop perceptual motor skills and a sense of rhythm.  Language activities can also be incorporated into most parachute games.

See-Saw Pull:  From a sitting position, pull the parachute back and forth in a see-sawing motion.

Make Waves:  While gripping the parachute, everyone moves their arms up and down to make small and large waves.

Wave:  Where one person puts hands up and person next to her follows action. (like the wave at a baseball game)

The Ocean:  Pretend the parachute is the ocean.  Try to let everyone who wants to have a turn ‘in the ocean’. Everyone is standing and one or two children (shoes off) go toward the center and lie down – then all make waves – it’s a neat sensation.

Mushroom:  From a standing position, ask all the children to bend down and take hold of the parachute.  When the leader calls “up”, all the children raise their arms lifting the parachute up as high as they can, then everyone takes 3-4 giant steps toward the center – making a mushroom shape,  pulling the chute behind them and then they sit on the edge of the chute. 

Ball Roll:  Try to roll balls into the hole in the center of the parachute.

Popcorn:  Start with everyone holding the chute stretched out.  Place a number of small plastic balls, beanbags, or small stuffed animals on the chute. Shake the chute to make them rise like popcorn.  See how quickly you can bounce them off without letting go of the parachute.

Poison Snake:  Place four to six pieces of yarn or rope on the chute. By shaking the chute, try to make them hit the players on the other side. Keep track of who gets bitten.

Do you want to provide your child with an educational toy that will increase eye-hand coordination along with shape and color recognition?  If so, we would like to recommend a shape sorting pounder.

As your child hammers away on the pegs of this shape sorting pounder, he will increase his eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.  While hammering, you can help increase his color and shape recognition by repeating the name of the color or shape of the peg that he is hammering.  Take turns, ask him to tell you the color or shape that he wants you to hammer.