Playing Is Educational

2008 will be a year to remember.  As the economy has turned against all of us financially this year, we all have to become wise about our money and purchasing decisions.  It is important to teach your child about financial responsibility.  When your child is young, teach him about the value of coins and dollars.  Teach him the math that goes along with the value: 10 pennies = 1 dime; 10 dimes = 1 dollar; etc… 

Pretend play store at your home.  Use groceries out of your cupboards or use pretend plastic foods, boxes, and cans.  Teach them about buying decisions and what is a good value and ones that are not.  You can be the cashier and your child can be the purchaser; allow him to pay for the groceries with play money.

Your child will learn the value of money and how to make buying decisions, which will be important in his future.  

If you want to have a little bit for fun with your children tonight, but you want to do something educational - consider playing Dominoes.

By playing with Dominoes, your children can increase their math skills, by learning about whole numbers and fractions in either pictorial or numerical forms.  They can also learn pattern recognition, color & shape recognition, and practice their fine motor skills.

So give Dominoes a try!

In a world full of electronic gadgets like TV, electronic hand-held games, and computers, sometimes us adults forget how important it is to allow our children to play with other educational toys.  Maybe we don’t even imagine how an ordinary toy is more then just entertainment.  For example, what is your first thought of when you hear of a lacing activity?  Did you just yawn? 

Well, lacing activities are very educational to your child.  By providing your child with a lacing activity, your child will increase his/her development skills like: hand-eye coordination; fine motor skills; and problem solving.  

Not only that, allowing your child to play with lacing activities can also help your child to learn about geometric shapes, colors, animals, and even the alphabet.  Check them out for yourself!

Does your child love horses?  Many kids begin their love for horses when playing with their “Little People” playset or from riding on their rocking horse.   

Well, now they can learn about the names, breeds, colors, and markings of fictional horses when they play with this educational game.

You might think you know what Bingo is, but do you know what Bingo could be? 

Most of us know about the standard Bingo with the numbers like B3, I8, N12, etc… 

But playing Bingo can be much more.  Can you imagine playing Bingo and learning about the human skeleton, learning about sight words, or learning about good food nutrition?  Well, you can do that and much more! 

Provide your kids endless hours of fun while they simultaneously learn. Purchase several educational board games to hone their problem-solving skills and other skills.

With these kinds of interactive games, kids also learn the concept of give and take and how to be a graceful loser. Choose from a wide selection of games that teach anything from basic letters and numbers to word constructions and puzzles that develop imagination.

Children learn through play and exploration of their environment. They love to squish things, put them in their mouths and touch textures to form their impressions of various objects.

Enhance learning in this curious stage by giving your child early childhood toys that are certified safe and child-friendly. Check each toy’s age appropriateness to ensure an optimum educational experience for your child.

As winter approaches, children need indoor play activities that are fun and educational.  We recommend parachute games.  Playing parachute games encourages cooperative play.  Children will learn how to share and take turns. 

While playing with a parachute, children can increase strength in their shoulders, arms, and hands.  It will help with their sense of rhythm and also improve their language skills, perceptual motor skills, and listening skills.

When children work together they can make playing with a parachute fun!  Incorporate songs, rhymes, and movement activities to energize them.

Activities to play:

1) Play see-saw/tug-of-war while sitting down

2) Make waves with the parachute

3) Ball Roll - make the ball roll into the hole in the center of the parachute

4) Parachute Tag - call out a child’s name and have him run under the parachute before it comes down

5) Chute Ball - Place the ball on the parachute and throw the ball as high in the air as you can

Learning about human body parts can be fun and educational for children. 

There are many books, games, puzzle cards, skeletons and other plastic models (where the body parts can be removed, observed, and arranged back into their correct position) that can help your child to learn about his/her body.

There are also many educational body parts songs that they could sing.

Try these for example: 

“Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”

(Touch Body Parts as You Sing)
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes,
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

“Me Complete”

I have ten little fingers and ten little toes
Two little arms and one little nose,
One little mouth and two little ears,
Two little eyes for smiles and tears,
One little head and two little feet,
One little chin, that’s me complete

“Brush Your Teeth”

This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth
This is the way we brush our teeth, so early in the morning.
Brush them up and brush them down, in little circles or round and round
Don’t brush them from side to side, for those sugar bugs will surely hide.

After a child is born, they are introduced to many new noises.  Just imagine all the sounds around your house, from the rhythm of the washing maching or dryer as you are doing laundry to the voices and sounds of their parents or siblings.  

At a young age, your child will start learning about rhythm and developing musical skills from their first rattle or scrunch toy. 

We all appreciate a good rhythm and good music. 

Help your child develop their musical skills.  Encourage them to play with different musical instruments like a horn, piano, drum, xylophone, or tambourine.  Who knows, your child might become a famous classical artist like Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or a popular artist like Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, or Celine Dion.