Playing Is Educational

Dramatic play should be a primary part of every child’s early childhood activities.  This pretend play encourages a child to explore and expand his imagination by allowing him to invent and create his own scenarios.

As a child explores various ways to play, he will increase his problem solving skills, langauge skills, vocabulary skills, and story telling skills. 

Dramatic play also promotes a child’s willingness to cooperate and share with others, which will increase his communication skills and other social skills.

Dramatic play is only limited to a child’s imagination, and little children have very big imaginations.

Children learn through play.  As the toddler grows into the young child his interest widens.  More and more, educational kids games will interest him.  Puzzles and simple crafts will catch his attention and he will spend longer hours working on them.  Even at this age, the child will still need parent supervision but clearly, he is on his way to discovering independence.

Educational games for kids are bonding moments, with the parent, sibling or friend.  They are obviously using their minds when putting together a puzzle but there are benefits that are not immediately apparent. The game appears to be simple, yet experts say that they nevertheless require conceptual and social skills. Dealing with a playmate, for example, can be stressful at this stage.  Suffice it to say that even the simplest of games can be a learning experience.

The toddler is naturally curious. Looking for toddler games to interest the little one is a bit challenging.  First, it should be safe and fun. Fun is good but the game you choose should also be exciting. The child has short attention span and could be bored easily.  Second, it takes a lot of supervision.  Mommy is the playmate and also the mentor who helps direct the child toward an enjoyable experience.

Toddlers are usually started on board games and building blocks. He will be attracted by the shapes and colors but when he tires of them, it is best to change to a different game.  When he is older, the play dough or a tub of creative blocks will be an interesting diversion.  It will develop his creativeness and sharpen his imagination. Enjoy the toddler as he struggles with his little fingers because when he grows older Mommy will cease to be his playmate.

Unit blocks are the #1 must have early childhood toys because they are  imagination-building educational toys that are fun, creative, and educational.  When boys and girls build castles, villages, bridges, or  towering buildings, they are also building their imagination and fine motor skills.

Unit Blocks Marble Run, created by Guidecraft, provides for the combination of fun and lessons of marble runs with the traditions and educational foundations of unit block play.  They will be a instant classroom and home favorite.

This set can be expanded easily by integrating it with traditional classroom unit blocks.

We have all grown up with the familiar blocks called Lego!  These educational toys allowed us to increase our imagination and fine motor skills; building castles with towers and imagining who was in the castle made up part of our daily activity.

But, where did they come from?

In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen, a master carpenter and joiner, established a small business in the village of Billund in Denmark where he manufactured stepladders, ironing boards and wooden toys.  Then, in 1934, the company adopted the name LEGO for their products, formed from the Danish words “LEg GOdt” or “play well”.  Ironically, they later realized that in Latin the word means “I study” or “I put together”.

In 1947, the LEGO company dedicated itself to the toy business and purchased a plastic injection-molding machine for making toys.  Up to this point there were no LEGO bricks as we know them today.  The factory produced approximately 200 different varieties of plastic and wooden toys - but the predecessor of the familiar brick was created under the name of Automatic Binding Bricks; they were available only in Denmark at this time. 

By 1951, the plastic toys accounted for half of the company’s orders, signaling the subtle shift from the familiar wooden toys to the new and more popular plastic. Because of this, the Automatic Binding Bricks were renamed “LEGO Mursten” or “LEGO Bricks” - the familiar term we all know them by today.

Eventually the “LEGO System of Play” was released, allowing an owner of a LEGO System to expand and create without a strict set of guidelines to follow.

In 1967, LEGO released the DUPLO brand - a larger version of the familiar block but for children under five years old. In 1969, DUPLO was released internationally and took off like a rocket as parents everywhere take advantage of the opportunity to let their children play with the safe and creative early childhood toy.

Today, LEGO remains a family business, with grandson Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen currently at the helm.   LEGO has sold over 200 million sets in over 100 countries.
 
LEGO sets are used for early learning activities everywhere.  LEGO Sets range from Community Building Sets to Wild Animal Sets and even Fire Rescue and Hospital Sets. 

By investing in a wooden play structure, you invest into your child’s physical development, social development, and imagination skills.  Keep your child safe as he or she is playing and learning.   

Each year, about 50,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms because of injuries on home playground equipment.  About 80% of the injuries occur when children fall from play equipment.  To reduce injuries and protentially life-threating injuries, one of the most important things you can do is install the proper protective gound surfacing under and around your wooden play structure.  Your lawn, grass and dirt,  IS NOT considered protective ground surfacing because wear and environmental factors can reduce their shock absoring effectiveness.

No matter what ground surfacing you have, injuries from falls may occur, including broken limbs.  However, with the proper shock absorbing protective ground covering, it is less likely for your child to aquire any serious injuries including protential head injuries that could be life-threatening or life-altering.  

Protective Surfacing:

You wooden play structure should never be installed without protective surfacing of some type.  Contrete, asphalt, or other hard surfaces should never be directly under your wooden play structure.  Grass and dirt are not considered protective surfacing because wear and environmental conditions can considerably reduce their shock absorbing effectiveness.  Certain manufactured synthetic surfaces, carpeting and mats,  are acceptable; however, test data on shock absorbing performance should be requested from the manufacturer.  These test results should comply with ASTM F1292.  (ASTM F1292 Standard Specification for Impact Attenuation of Surface Systems Under and Around Playground Equipment)

ASTM F1292 ratings provide the “critical height” rating of a surface.  This height can be considered as an approximation of a fall height below which a life-threatening head injury would not be expected to occur.  This rating should be greater than or equal to the fall height - the distance between the highest part of your wooden play structure and the protective surface beneath it.  

Certain loose-fill surfacing materials are acceptable, such as the types and depths shown in the table below.  To determine the proper types and depths of recommended protective gound surfacing, determine the “critical height” for falls, as noted in the above paragragh, and view the chart below.

FALL HEIGHT IN FEET FROM WHICH A LIFE-THREATENING HEAD INJURY WOULD NOT BE EXPECTED (Minimum Compressed Loose-Fill Surfacing Depths)
Type of material	6” Depth	9” Depth	12” Depth
Double-shredded bark mulch	6 Feet	10 Feet	11 Feet
Wood chips	7 Feet	10 Feet	11 Feet
Fine sand	5 Feet	5 Feet	9 Feet
Fine pea gravel	6 Feet	7 Feet	10 Feet

Fall Safety Zones:

Your fall safety zone, covered with a protective surfacing material, is essential under and around your wooden play structure.  This area should cover a minimum of 6 feet in all directions from the perimeter of the play structure and also be least 6 feet away from any buildings or obstacles, and that includes fences, sheds, trees, or poles.  In the swing area, you should have a larger safety zone to the front and rear of the swing.  This distance should be equal to or greater than twice the height of the top beam from which the swing is suspended.  (For example: If the swing beam is 10 feet off the ground, the safety zone should be a minimum of 20 feet in front and 20 feet behind the swing.  So, the total play area should be a minimum of 40 feet wide.)

The above information is supported the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) at cpsc.gov.

Unfortunately, about 50,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms annually because of injuries caused on home playground equipment and about 80% of those injuries are from children falling off of the equipment.

To ensure that your child has a safe and entertaining experience while playing on their wooden play structure, make sure that you select and/or create a safe location for their play structure.  Your child’s wooden play structure should be placed in a location where it visible from inside of your home, patio, or porch.  This location should also be clear of obstacles that could cause injuries.  This location should be away from roads, driveways, and low over-hanging tree branches.  You should also make sure that are no overhead wires, such as power lines or cable wires, by this play area.

To reduce the likelihood of your child getting hurt from tripping, you should choose an area that is level and free of tree stumps and/or roots and large rocks.  Having a level playing area will also provide an excellent well-drained play area that won’t get  washed away be heavy rains.  (If your desired play area isn’t level, you should have it re-graded for the proper installation of your wooden play structure and to provide for proper water drainage.)

This location should also be least 6 feet away from any buildings or obstacles, and that includes fences, sheds, trees, or poles.  In the swing area, you should have a larger safety zone to the front and rear of the swing.  This distance should be equal to twice the height of the top beam from which the swing is suspended.  (For example: If the swing beam is 10 feet off the ground, the safety zone should be a minimum of 20 feet in front and 20 feet behind the swing.  So, the total play area should be a minimum of 40 feet wide.)

As mentioned earlier, 80% of the injuries that children receive while playing on their home playground structure are caused by falling.  To help protect your child from falls, you should provide a shock-absorbing protective surfacing material, such as mulch, sand, of other rubberized compounds underneath and around your wooden outdoor play structure’s safety zone - that was discussed earlier.

The above information is supported the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at cpsc.gov.

When you invest in a wooden play structure, you are making an investment in your child’s early childhood development by increasing her self-confidence, social skills, imagination, physical strength, and muscle coordination development. 

Self-Confidence:  At the beginning, your child will not know how to maneuver around a wooden play structure.  As he learns how to climb the ladders, slide down the slide, or swing on the swing,  she will increase her own self-confidence.

Social Skills:  A wooden play structure will provide a wonderful location for your child to increase his social skills and build life-long lasting friendships.  Your child can learn how to interact with her siblings, friends, or neighbors playing at his play structure, by sharing the swing or taking turns sliding down the slide.  They can plan their next imaginative adventures, tell stories, and play games in their own private fort deck areas. 

Imagination Development:  As your child plays with her steering wheel, telescope, and periscope on his outdoor play structure,  she can let  imagination run wild.  They can pretend that they are climbing a mountain, sailing a big ship, or flying to the moon.

Muscle Coordination and Physical Strength Development:  When your child plays on the climbing ladders or rock wall of the wooden play structure, your child will increase his balance, muscle coordination, and physical strength.

The key to investing in a wooden play structure is to make it a one time investment.  Make your investing decision as if your child is 10 years old.  Invest into a play structure large enough for your child to grow into, not out of.  That way you don’t have to purchase different playsets as your child gets older.

It is a well known fact that block play increases a toddler’s eye and hand coordination. Also, playing with toy building blocks encourages logical thinking and increases a toddler’s awareness of the space around him. Having building blocks as part of a toddler’s toys promotes appropriate social behavior. In addition, a toddler learns to share and build with parents, siblings, and other playmates. Language skills have also been discovered to greatly improve by playing with building blocks. This takes place when the child is encouraged to speak about what he or she is building.

Toddler building blocks are available in different kinds. You can use a set that has number and alphabets to initiate your child’s learning process. The child can be taught to be familiar with numbers and alphabets by choosing between two blocks. The child can also learn to distinguish alphabets and numbers by picking out a particular number or letter that has been asked for. In addition to these educational activities, these blocks can also be used just as plain toddler toys. The blocks can be stacked up to form a tower and then a ball can be used to knock the tower down.

The key to teaching counting to your child is to make counting entertaining. 

Start teaching your child about numbers and counting in their early childhood activities.  They can begin learning how to count in their everyday play, long before they even realize that they are being taught.  You must be interactive when you play with your child.    These techniques can even work long before your child can talk.  

Here are some everyday play activities that you can do to help teach counting skills.  

Playing with Blocks - Childrens Educational Toys:

When you are playing blocks, count them as your stack them together.  You child will be entertained, because they will 9 times out of 10, knock the stack down.  Smile and say, “oh no”, and then stack them together again as you are count them.

Ask your child to hand you some blocks and as they do - count them.

Sort out the blocks by color, shape, design, or size.  Count how many of each you have.        

As your child advances, alternate who stack the blocks together.  You can place the first block and count 1, then have your child stack the next block and count 2, etc…

You may even find things like flash cards, dominoes, or a wooden bead abacuses with beads that are different colors and shapes, very useful to teach your child their counting skills.

Around Your Home, Store, or Restaurant Games - Arithmetic Games

As you dress your child, count their fingers, toes, arms, legs, eyes, etc…  Count the buttons or snaps on their clothes.

As they eat their favorite foods - grapes, pepperoni, french fries - you can count how many they ate.   

Count the stairs as you walk up and down them.

When you are at the store, count the number of products that you put into the cart.  Tell your child that you need three boxes of cereal and count them as they load them into the cart.

Singing and Counting

Children love singing and dancing around.  Use songs to help your child learn about counting and arithmetic skills.  Start out by singing songs like: “5 Little Monkeys Jumping in the Bed” and then move into other musical tunes.  There are many CD’s or DVD’s that are focused on math skills like counting, addition, and subtraction.  Listen to them at least once a day.

As mentioned earlier, the key to teaching counting to your child is to make counting entertaining.  This can be achieved by using these early childhood activities and arithmetic games.  Remember to count out loud to them when they are young, and to do these activities thoughout the day to reinforce these mathematics and counting skills.