Ways That Toys Help Your Child Learn

Playing with toys is literally all fun and games...but there's still so much more to it too! Toys, when designed with educational benefits, can help children learn about themselves and the world around them. It's a form of exploration that can effectively develop the skills that will get them ready for their growing years.

Allow them to have fun while learning! Here are more things that will convince you why toys are essential for your child's learning and growth!

Toys boost their IQ in a fun learning experience

Memory retention, coordination, literacy, and numbers are all important aspects to consider in developing a child's IQ. These are some traits that educational toys target--while giving kids the benefit of fun and entertainment. It's so much more effective when a child doesn't feel forced to learn. Let them develop the skills they need to grow their IQ while enjoying their childhood!

Toys help them develop their problem-solving skills

Some toys are designed with that mysterious factor that encourages kids to be curious, investigate and experiment with the knowledge they've been given. As for toys like building blocks and puzzles, these encourage manipulation and categorization as they see what piece fits where correctly, through trial and error.

Toys focus on their senses

As kids hold and manipulate toys, certain senses are maximized. Some toys are designed with texture and color to help kids have a better understanding of how to use their senses of touch and sight. Other toys have stimulating sounds which can also aid in a child's listening improvement.

Toys improve their concentration

The perception is that when a child is playing, it's expected to get rowdy and all over the place. However, with the right toys, they can develop their concentration too. Something that interests them will keep them sitting still, completely immersed in discovering what that thing could do. As they practice these long moments of sitting and discovering a toy, they can truly develop their concentration.

What kind of toys does your child enjoy playing with?

Why Educational Toys Are Important to a Child's Development

Kids are able to learn better when they are active and stimulated. When they are having fun, it's easier for them to remember the skills that they pick up. They can make sense of an activity they are engaged in when there is a component of play--because nothing should be bookish and serious when you're learning in your early years, right? Make learning fun for your kids through educational toys!

Here are some reasons why educational toys are so important!

They can boost their IQ

From hand-eye coordination, memorization, to fine motor skills, kids can develop these skills when they're playing with the right toys. And you know why these skills are so important to be developed at such a young age? Because these are essential for them to increase their IQ over time. In fact, some studies show that majority of kids with the highest IQ for their age are those who have spent more time playing with educational toys.

They develop their senses

Most educational toys are designed to help little ones make use of their senses. Senses like touch, sight, and hearing, are all used when a child plays with greatly designed toys. Toys are often colorful and this is obviously important for their sense of sight. Most toys are also very tactile, which helps them develop their sense of touch. Toys also produce various engaging sounds to help a child process their sense of hearing. As the child grows, they become more familiar with the kinds of sounds, materials, and colors that they prefer.

They keep them creative

Fun is an essential component of being creative. It allows that feeling of being unconstrained, giving someone the chance to express themselves without fear of being judged or corrected. Playing with educational toys has no rules so a child can have the freedom to be creative with an activity and play however they want.

They enhance their social and emotional development

Playing is a chance to interact with another person, whether that be an adult or other children. These interactions will help a child encounter social and emotional cues that they need to face one way or another as they grow up. Having this understanding can help them adapt to the real world. Most educational toys also instill values like sharing, leadership, patience, which are all essential for a child's development.

What advantages have started happening to your child as they play with educational toys?

Reasons Why Renting Toys is Beneficial vs. Buying

Lately, in the modern parenting world, toy renting has become a buzzword, and for good reason. Between helping with the clutter at home, helping parents save more time and money, and keeping kids entertained with new toys, this concept has been favored by modern parents because of its benefits. Take a closer look at how renting toys can help you as a parent, so that next time, you don't have to keep buying new toys for your little one!

Reduce the clutter and waste

It's only natural for a house with kids to be cluttered and chaotic at times. As the parent, you don't have to feel pressured to keep it perfectly tidy at all times. That said, it doesn't mean you can no longer do anything about it. Start by reducing the actual things that come inside the house. For instance, new toys. When you rent toys instead, you avoid the buildup of forgotten and unwanted toys that are turned into clutter at home. And truth be told, the waste and environmental damage it takes to produce typical new toys is very discouraging. Share and reuse toys so you can help preserve the environment!

Keep the kids entertained and learning

Kids have the shortest attention span. One minute they're in love with a certain toy, and the next second they already have their eyes on something else. It's cute...but it's also a struggle. Just how many toys do you need to buy to keep them entertained? The answer: don't buy, just rent. Renting toys means you can get new toys (typically each month), keep them excited and constantly looking forward to something new, but at a more affordable and practical way. One more thing, when they're constantly excited over something, they have more motivation to learn from it!

Save more money and time

Parents of all people know how costly toys have become in recent years. What's more, after you get past trying to buy a toy--hefty price and all--it only takes a little while before your child moves on to another one, and that costly toy ends up in the dust. On the other hand, when you rent a toy, it's treated as brand new by your child, they can enjoy it for a certain period of time, and when they're no longer interested, you can return it back. No toy is wasted and left in the dark. This, for as low as AED 80/month for 1 child! Also, when you do toy subscriptions, experts will do the selection of toys for you based on your child's age, development, and interests. That saves you so much time and stress picking out toys that your child will not only enjoy but also learn from!

Do you want to try toy renting? What are you looking forward to experiencing through it for you and your child?

Benefits of Ride-On Toys for Kids

Your kids playing around and riding their ride-on toy. It's a nostalgic scene that brings you back to your own childhood, and it's such a thrill to see your child experiencing the same joy as you did when you were young. Ride-on toys have been around for generations but are rarely seen as an educational toy with lots of learning benefits, so here we round up the advantages that they hold for your child's growth development.

It will help develop their gross and fine motor skills

How can they tune up their fine motor skills with these toys? By operating the toy on various types of terrain (whether grass, concrete, uphill, or downhill), opening and closing doors, fitting themselves on the compact seat, or manipulating the dashboard, their gross and fine motor skills will certainly come in handy.

It encourages spatial play

When kids are exploring open spaces, their spatial play is stimulated. Along the way, they get to improve their observation skills and make use of their creativity and imagination.

It builds their confidence

There's always a sense of pride and confidence once a child gets through the necessary movements for playing with a ride-on toy. Pushing their feet, using the pedals, balancing, stirring the wheels...all of these are milestones that they can celebrate, giving them that confidence that they can take on a challenge. The more they get comfortable with riding, the more they get comfortable with facing challenges, and this attitude also applies in other areas of their growth.

It can be enjoyed for many years

How many years can a child enjoy a ride-on toy? According to research, enough years to make it a wise investment for you as a parent. Trendy toys come and go, but a child will always enjoy the simple concept of a ride-on toy. Some ride-on toys even have adjustable seats; some bikes also have removable training wheels for when they're ready to balance a bicycle. These adjustments make it certain that the toy can stay with them as they grow older and increase their physical and mental capabilities.

What kind of ride-on toy does your child enjoy playing with?

Best Activities for Children to Learn Through Play

In the eyes of a child, playing is fun and exciting. It's something that they naturally do and it's easy for us to take such an activity for granted. At its core, play is actually the most effective way for learning essential skills that children need as they grow up and start preparing for school.

These are some of the best activities your child can do to have fun while learning.

Encourage your child to do more of these more often!

Here are the best activities for Children to Learn Through Play

Dress up and role play

Children get to learn a lot when they act out situations based on real life. When they do role playing activities, they get to apply their own observations and use them to express themselves in a creative way, while developing their communication skills along the way. Having them dress up into their favorite characters or as people they want to become when they grow up, they also develop their confidence and sense of identity.

Get the senses involved

Sensory activities have become very important in many pre-schools, and for good reason. With everyday materials like foam, dry noodles, uncooked pasta, water, sand, and other materials with unique textures, your child can explore their senses, having so much fun, all while learning. Using materials like these, have their fingers move through a surface, drawing imaginary letters, shapes, numbers, faces, and whatever figures that inspire them. You can also ask them about how they feel about touching such materials.

Blocks, jigsaws, shape sorter activities

Making activities that have to do with blocks, jigsaws, shape sorters be a part of their play routine is key to laying out the foundations for spatial thinking and logical reasoning. They get to familiarize themselves with shapes, sizes, colors, and math concepts that they need to understand once they start going to school. It may seem like they're just having fun stacking up blocks, or organizing colors, or filling out missing pieces of a puzzle, but all these seemingly simple activities are very effective in shaping their brain.

Stretching, jumping, and other physical activities they can do right inside a space at home

Albeit current situations that prevent most kids all over the world from going outside and exploring all the great things that the world has to offer, you can still give your child the chance to move and use their energy right in the space they are in. Their gross motor skills get a mighty boost from simple activities that allow them to move and use their bodies. You can simply provide a certain space for them inside their rooms, install some mats, and together you can do simple physical activities like stretching or following action songs, or even doing simple kids' workout routines.

What educational activities does your child currently enjoy doing? How are those activities effective in their learning journey?

Ways to Tame Your Kids' Clutter

Oh, the toy clutter. When it's present, you know the kids are around. And at some point, we've just started normalizing it. It shouldn't have to be. Keep the toy clutter at bay and achieve a more organized home and check out these tips!

Train them to be more organized and clean after themselves

Playing has a lot of aspects involved that are important for a child's growth development. This includes the shaping of their character. To raise them to become organized, responsible and neat as they grow older, use their playtime as an avenue for training. Make the message loud and clear: that it's not every day that someone can clean up after their mess. Teach them the rule of always putting back things to where they belong after they are done playing. Make sure that the storage spaces for their toys are easily accessible for them.

Make a rule that toys shouldn't be allowed in certain rooms and areas of the house

Be firm about this. Finding pieces of toy action figures by the skink or a huge toy truck by the laundry certainly signal more work for you, so to make your days easier, be clear with your kids about the rule of having their toys only in their playroom, or their designated space. Once their toys are found where deemed off-limits, you can negotiate on a task they need to do.

Have a toy rotation

Don't take out ALL the toys all at once. You can do rounds for them instead--just have a couple of batches readily accessible for playing while other batches can be organized in your storage room. Once they're bored with the toys they currently have access to, you can take out a new batch and exchange it with the previous. This way, it's less cluttered and your kids are never tired of playing with the same things over and over again.

Limit the new toys without depriving them of their interests

Having new toys ever so often but no toys being disposed...of course the clutter is going to pile up. As a parent, we know that the new toys do keep coming because you don't exactly want to deprive them of their wants either. They want a certain toy...you are naturally going to give in. So how do we resolve this? Well, welcome to the club. The KIDDOS Toys Club. As a member, your child can receive toys suitable for their age and interest every month! But here's where it gets even better: once they're bored with the toys we send (you know how familiar that scenario is), simply return those toys so we can send them a new batch of toys they can play with. The result? They're always playing with new toys, but the clutter doesn't add up at home!

Want to know more about the KIDDOS Toys Club membership? Visit our homepage for more details!

How Sensory Toys Help Children With Special Needs

Children with special needs see and experience the world in a different way. Because of this, their senses also function a little differently. Sensory toys are meant to activate the senses and this is exactly what a child with special needs should have. Bright and vivid colors that attract attention, textures that stimulate the touch, scents, and sounds that uncover curiosities and learning.

How do sensory toys help children with special needs?

Let's find out.

Sensory toys can help them relax

Some stimulants can cause a child to be overly responsive or hypersensitive. With sensory toys that allow them to vent or express their pent-up emotions and discomfort, they'll be able to relax, calm down and reestablish their focus over a certain event.

Sensory toys assist in their physical growth

From lifting to splashing, to throwing and shaping things, sensory play involves a lot of action on their part. This constant movement helps in developing their muscles, as well as their fine motor skills, strength, and coordination.

Sensory toys help develop their social skills

Learning how to negotiate, plan, and most importantly, share, are just some of the great social skills a child can develop and learn while playing with a sensory toy.

Sensory toys can help reduce anxiety

Playing with sensory toys does not only help special needs kids develop their social skills and gross motor skills, but it can also reduce anxiety and stress. Sensory activities and toys to help children focus and calm. As they play with sensory toys they start to feel confident and calm which reduces anxious habits.

Sensory toys allow them to make sense of their curiosities

When a child is overwhelmed by their senses, they cannot easily understand the message these senses are providing them. Sensory toys can help them process these messages and give them skills to use those senses for their own benefit.

What kind of sensory toys does your child enjoy? How do these toys help in their growth and development?

Reasons Bedtime Stories are More Important Than You Think

It's a routine that parents all over the world practice with their children almost every night. It's a chance for them to bond, catch up, and get to know each other better in a safe, secluded space during the perfect time of the day--just right before a little child goes off to dreamland. It's such a routine that it's also easy to forget its purpose; why it's being done in the first place. But here's a reminder of why bedtime stories are so important and why you should never skip them for your child's own good.

It encourages your child's love for reading

Readers are great learners. They are well versed about many topics, their vocabulary is impressive, they are imaginative, creative, well-rounded about life. A habit of reading really is one of the best foundations for a life of success and fulfillment. So, how do you ever raise a reader? Many times, that love for reading is developed during their bedtime story habits with their parents because reading is associated with comfort and happiness.

It trains them to be more empathizing

When they relate to a character, they get to understand the joys, sorrows, fears, and other feelings that the hero goes through. They are able to make sense of why certain things happen, as well as the cause and effects of each circumstance that they encounter in the story. With a deeper understanding of such emotions, they can better empathize with the people around them.

It enhances multi-sensory integration

Studies show that children who are used to bedtime stories and reading have significantly greater activation of the parietal-temporal-occipital association cortex (the area that processes visual association) in their brain. This greatly benefits in building their brain networks to have the capability to transition from talking to reading.

It strengthens your relationship with your child

Connections in the physical sense are very important these days and bedtime stories are a great avenue for you and your child to develop just that. Through the stories that you read together, you can both express yourselves and connect the scenarios with certain connections in real life. When both the parent and child open up, they get to know each other better and their relationship is strengthened with each time.
Do you often read bedtime stories with your kids? How does this routine affect your child?

Types Of Toys And Activities That Can Help A Child With Emotional Development

We can't expect children to be able to manage their emotions from the get-go. They will cry at wit's end, they won't express how they feel with their words, they will be self-centered, they will have trouble processing all the rage of feelings that they have, sometimes they might even be physically violent. When your kid is acting like this, it's easy to panic. But these are actions that can be changed--you can train them to be more gentle and able to manage and process all the emotions that they have. As parents, we have that responsibility but it's easier said than done. There are countless ways you can train your child for their emotional development, and guess what? You can even do that through their favorite time of the day...playtime!

There are some research-backed toys that can help your child with emotion training. Here are our favorites!

Dolls

What could be a better representation of humans and their emotional and thought processes than dolls? When they feed, dress up, and do other human actions with the dolls, children are building on their ability to care and empathize, making them more compassionate. What if a doll is hurt? They need to mend its wounds. What if a doll doesn't want to listen to them? They need to provide some form of discipline. When they have a representative of such situations encountered in their daily life, they can practice and be ready when such situations do happen to them in reality.

Arts and Crafts Materials

Best thing about making art is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. It's an open-ended play opportunity that allows your children to express themselves and their individuality. You can use this time to also let them release their emotions over a certain circumstance. For instance, were they reprimanded this morning for refusing to brush their teeth? Let their artwork evoke the reasons that led to their actions, how they felt from the consequences, and what they plan to do moving forward. Make sure to hear their explanation and create discussions for their finished masterpiece.

Costumes

Pretend play is a good thing because this allows children to step outside of the world that they know, and enter a world that is built using their own imagination. Their creativity and ability to express themselves are vital here. From fairies to princesses to doctors to firemen to animals, putting themselves in the literal shoes of others gives them a better comprehension of how diverse life is. When they are in the mood to put on costumes, you can even try hosting your own stage plays at home!

Cooperative Games

When we say cooperative games, think: puzzles, board games, building blocks...anything that will allow them collaboration with other people. When they're interacting with others, they have more opportunities to encounter more emotions and make sense of such feelings.
What's your child's favorite type of play? How is it helping with their emotional development?

Play Ideas and Other Activities to Help Your Child Develop Their Verbal Skills

Children all have their different ways and timeline of developing certain skills. When it feels like your child is staying at the back of the pack when it comes to their verbal skills, it shouldn't really cause you to panic. Be patient with them and provide them with ways they can eventually develop that skill without them feeling pressured. Playing is an efficient approach you can do to help them develop their ability to talk; they get to have fun while expanding their vocabulary and getting exposed to communicating with other people. There are many play ideas you can start with--here are a few you can try.

Open-ended play

Creativity and exploration go hand in hand for your kids to be able to express themselves and communicate. This is why open-ended games are so important for them to explore. This is a type of play that pushes them to be creative and use their imagination, making use of materials that are open to anyone's own interpretation. Unconventional toys like the ones from Moluk, Wobbel, and Grapat (you can check more about their toys on our site) are great options you can try to get them to play and learn.

Guided play

As a parent, you know that they need your assistance with a lot of things. This is also true with playing and expressing their feelings while engaged in that activity. Sit with them, guide their actions, and put a label on everything that they do. For instance, if they're playing with blocks, you can tell them that a piece of block's shape is square and that its color is red. Make them repeat the words you say. Make sure that you have an excited and even silly tone when talking (they love that!). This is also a chance for you to bond with them!

Read together

This doesn't just apply to the books you have during bedtime. Reading and speaking practices can be applied while playing too. Let's say they're playing with an animal bingo. When you're explaining the rules, you can read the instructions while showing it to them. You can point out the words in the flashcards and make them repeat and spell the words.

Indoor exercises

Children love physical activities. They need that release for their energy. Take advantage of that by doing some simple exercises with them. Put a spin on it by labeling all your actions and as usual, making them repeat the words that you say. Like if you're doing stretching with your arms, you can repeat the word "arm" over and over again while doing circular stretching motions with your arms. You can also try doing animal actions like bunny hops or turtle crawls while repeating simple sentences that describe what you're doing.

What activities will you try with your kids? Share with us your experiences!