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Education
Views
Selecting Toys to Encourage Learning This Holiday Season
December 2007
By: Bonnie Prentice, Center Director
Sylvan Learning Center
During the holiday season, the stores are packed with a variety of toys and games, making it hard for parents to know which types are appropriate matches for their children. By selecting toys that offer a combination of fun and learning, parents can do more than just stimulate a child’s enjoyment – they can inspire and enhance his reading and math skills while nurturing problem solving and imagination.
Choosing the right toy for your child will give him the opportunity to think, practice a particular skill or learn something new, as well as engage him in hours of play. To strike a balance between learning and fun, parents should look for toys that fit their child’s age, skills, abilities and interests, and give him the opportunity to learn and grow. Take the time to understand how the toy works and whether it’s suitable for your child. You’ll help your child learn and have fun at the same time!
To help parents identify toys that nurture learning behaviors in key areas of development, Sylvan Learning Center, the leading provider of in-center and live, online tutoring at home to students of all ages and skill levels, offer the tips below and the corresponding clip-out shopping guide to help parents find toys that making learning fun:
Math
- Board games can show children how math is used beyond the classroom.
Take turns playing banker in Monopoly® or play a game of Yahtzee® and calculate the odds of rolling specific number combinations.
- Electronic counting games offer children number and counting
challenges.
- A toy cash register helps children understand math when making change
with money.
- Building blocks teach children about geometry and shapes.
- Dominoes are a great game for children of all ages. Smaller children
can use them to recognize similar quantities while older children can explore the concepts of probability.
Reading/Writing
- Books help children enhance their vocabulary and appreciate words and
literature. See if there is a certain author whose books your child likes to read and be sure to bring home a couple of his favorite books. For guidance on age-specific books in your child’s favorite subject areas, check out www.bookadventure.com.
- Find a special diary or personalized writing tool for your child and
she’ll have hours of fun writing journal entries every day. Before she realizes it, she’ll have set aside extra writing time that she’ll look forward to! Visit http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/learning-activities/writing-journal.cfm for online journals.
- Subscribe to a magazine for your child (e.g., Ladybug, Ranger Rick,
Spider, Your Big Backyard, Zoobooks, etc.) to learn about topics of interest to him. He will be excited about having his own reading materials that come in the mail addressed to him each month.
Imagination/Creativity
- Pretend play with dolls, stuffed animals and action figures can spark
a child’s imagination.
- Dress-up costumes, dollhouses and other pretend props encourage
children to tell stories and play make-believe.
- Young children love to pretend with child-sized versions of everyday
adult objects. Find activities and toys that are pretend versions of items you use on a regular basis. Children love to do what grownups do.
- Toys like the Easy-Bake® Oven introduce children to basic food
preparation skills, such as reading recipes and following cooking directions.
- Art materials, such as paint sets or craft kits, foster creativity and
help improve reading and writing skills.
Reasoning Skills
- For young children, toys like building blocks, LEGO’s®, and
Tinkertoys® actually help children acquire the reasoning necessary to learn math more quickly.
- Look into games like Connect Four® or Yahtzee® to teach your child
strategy and problem solving skills; he’ll have fun learning and playing before he even knows it!
- Science kits, chemistry sets and ant farms offer great insights into
the world of science and help enhance reading comprehension and critical thinking. They also encourage your child to follow the rules and strategy behind experiments.
- Video games are often not thought of as educational toys, but they
help build reasoning skills and logic as children navigate the different levels of each game.
- Project-based toys such as model airplanes, cars, ships and rockets
help children build motor skills, teach them how to follow directions, and encourage ideas about how things work.
For more educational resources for children in grades pre-K through 12, please visit http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com or call 1-800-31-SUCCESS.
Bonnie Prentice is the Center Director at the Eldersburg Sylvan Learning Center, the leading provider of in-center and live, online tutoring at home to students of all ages and skill levels. With more than 27 years of experience and nearly 1,200 centers located throughout North America, Sylvan’s scientifically-proven, personalized methods have inspired more than two million students to discover the joy of learning. Sylvan's trained and certified teachers provide personalized instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills and test-prep for college entrance and state exams. Sylvan helps transform unique kids into uniquely inspired learners with the skills to do better in school and the confidence to do better in everything else. For more information regarding the Sylvan AdvantageTM, call 1-800-31-SUCCESS or visit http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com.
Clip-Out Shopping Guide
To help parents identify toys that nurture learning behaviors in key areas of development, Sylvan Learning Center offer this clip-out shopping guide for selecting toys that making learning fun.
Math
· Board games like Monopoly® and Yahtzee®
· Electronic counting games
· Toy cash register
· Building blocks
· Dominos
Reading/Writing
· Books
· Diary or personalized writing
· Magazine subscriptions
Imagination/Creativity
· Pretend play objects such as dolls, stuffed animals and action
figures
· Dress-up costumes, dollhouses and other pretend props
· Child-sized versions of everyday adult objects, such as the
Easy-Bake®
Oven
· Art materials such as paint sets or craft kits
Reasoning Skills
· Building blocks, LEGO’s® and Tinkertoys®
· Games like Connect Four® or Yahtzee®
· Science kits, chemistry sets and ant farms
· Video and computer games
· Project-based toys such as model airplanes, cars, ships and rockets
Read
January 2006 Education Views
December 2005 Education
Views
May 2005 Education Views
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