Ways to Spend Quality Time with Your Children When Life is Busy!

One of the challenges of parenting is doing several things at the same time. Somehow, once you turn into a parent, you're instantly designated to become a multi-tasker--and while it's often a real challenge, it's fulfilling in the name of the kids. Parents are always busy; that's a given. And while it seems that you don't have all the time in the world, it's still important to find that balance and spend some ample moments with your kids. How can you do that? We've listed some tips to help! 


Be around during bedtime 


One's childhood is often filled with memories of bedtime, so it's important to be there for them during those moments. You can help them get ready for bed and then read to them before they sleep. This chance allows you to cuddle, talk, and bond, and can also be your time to wind down from a long day. When they're fast asleep, you can then proceed to finish your tasks. 


Make conversations in the car 


Those mornings when you drop them off at school are precious times to catch up with them and get to know them better. Turn off the radio, ask them to put away their gadgets, and just talk and have fun. Take it also as a warm-up to have an energetic day ahead. Just make sure to keep your eyes on the road, of course! 


Watch a movie on weekends 


Watching movies together is a fuss-free way to bond, learn together, make conversations, and more. You can start a tradition of watching at least one movie on weekends so every member has that activity to look forward to throughout the week. You can make it extra special by taking turns choosing a movie or discussing your takeaways after the show. Don't forget to whip up some yummy snacks! 


Bond over breakfast or dinner 


Mornings are often rush-filled but every once in a while when you get the time to wake up extra early, you can prepare something special (perhaps your child's favorite hearty breakfast meal) and grab that chance to talk to them while they enjoy their meal. Dinners are also great to gather all the members of the family, eat, and catch up. 


Join their playtime 


Be there for the moments when they are learning and enjoying the most of their childhood--which means you have to be around during their playtime. Encourage how they play or act like their peer when they're engaged in an activity. When they know that you're someone fun to be around, they'll cherish their moments with you even more. 


What's your most effective way to bond with your kids even when it feels like you don't have enough time?

What Are the Best Types of Toys?

Toys are a great way to start and support a child’s growth and development. Just like playtimes, choosing the best toy for your child requires knowledge and attention.

Toys help a child in many ways - may it be in physical, cognitive, and emotional development. They spark a child’s interest and curiosity that encourage them to use their imagination, creativity, problem-solving and social skills.

In choosing which is the best toy for your child, some things must be considered such as their age, interest, and stage of development. There are different types of toys for babies, toddlers, and older children. For babies, it's all about interaction with the parent and other family members. They get to enjoy play activities like listening to your voice or music or looking at brightly colored objects. Toddlers likely enjoy open-ended toys such as building blocks, boxes, dress-ups, and crafts. Older children, at their age, would often like to deal with puzzles and problem-solving toys.

The way your child uses and plays with the toy and their safety are also important things to be considered. The Michigan State University Extension identifies best types of toys for children:

Blocks and building toys

In a research conducted among preschoolers, block play has been found to stimulate brain development. Children who play block regularly will do better in math and numbers.

Puzzles and problem-solving toys

Toddlers as early as 2 years of age can do best with puzzles. It develops a child’s memory, motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and many more.

Materials that promote art and play-pretend items

A variety of writing and drawing tools for older children, as well as musical instruments, will help in developing their open-ended creativity and let them explore and imagine. Play-pretend items will help children build their social and emotional skills.

Motor play items

Large play items such as balls, bicycles, toy cars, etc. will give an older child some physical activities to do and help them be more active.

Considering all of these and determining a toy’s effect on your child’s growth and development will guide you in deciding which is the best toy for your child.  Sign up today!

Why You Should Avoid Having Too Many Toys at Home


Toys help children, especially toddlers, to learn something new and discover their skills. But as much as the positive impact of toys on a child’s development, there is a downside in having “too many” toys. At times, parents are responsible for this. If you’re thinking of buying another set of toys to keep your child busy, then think again.

According to child behavior experts, too many toys can affect the concentration and focus of a child. Having too many toys in their spaces can be overwhelming and impact their ability to learn and play creatively. Children with too many toys get distracted easily and cannot enjoy a quality playtime. A study led by the researcher at the University of Toledo, Ohio found that children with fewer toys are actually far more creative and develop their ability to think of other ways to play with the toys they have, expanding and using their imagination for a more enjoyable playtime.

There are also other reasons as to why there are downsides of children having too many toys:

Too many toys can result in boredom.

When children know that they have so many toys to choose from, playing with one toy for a long time can easily get boring - resulting in children always asking for something new.

It can spoil them and have less care for their toys.

Having fewer but special toys can teach your child how to value something they own. It will also help them understand the concept of “having enough” and being satisfied.

Too many toys means less space in your home.

Toys take up space - organizing and decluttering them can be a tedious task. It's better to give your child more space to play and be more active.

Most parents buy too many toys because of pressure and by thinking that it's the only way to satisfy their child and make them happy. The truth is, you can break this trend and become a smarter parent to help in the overall development of 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? 

Why having too many toys may actually make your kids more bored

As a grown-up, you know the overwhelm brought by the sheer number of choices you have to make in a day, whether it be at work, at home, and even through the mundane. The same is true for children, especially in the options they have to make at their "work", otherwise known as playtime. 


While it seems enticing to them at first, too much toys will only leave children unoccupied and bored more than ever. Quite consequently, having a limited amount of stuff to play with will get them more engaged and busy for longer periods of time. 


Bored with having too many toys? It sounds like a paradox, but we're here to lay out the reasons why it's better to be more selective and minimalistic with the toys that your kids play with. 


It curbs their creativity 

Getting too many toys for kids can curb their creativity and imagination skills as they will not experiment with everyday random stuff within their eyesight to create their own playthings. They are able to be more creative and flex their imaginations when given fewer toy choices. Studies back up Einstein’s claim that “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”  When their creativity isn't unleashed to its fullest potential, they will become less inspired to do things and in turn will make them bored. 


It doesn't inspire mindfulness

Setting up a less cluttered environment for playing is great preparation for mindfulness practices for your kids. There’s more mindfulness connected with this type of play and less mental fatigue, which helps create a more nurturing, calm learning experience.

It makes them complacent 

Boredom comes easily for kids with too many toys because they know they will get something new when they ask for it. Toys may turn into an addiction to fight boredom and stress. They may grow up and show the same traits.


It hinders their social skills 

Kids with fewer toys have better social capabilities as they grow up because they have more time to converse and communicate with friends and family. When their social skills are developed, they have fewer chances of relying on toys to occupy their time.


Have you noticed your kids' frequent boredom despite having too many toys? Maybe it's time to clear out the clutter and make a change in their environment!

Types of Toys that can Boost Toddlers' Attention Span

Improving a child’s attention span is not easy. It requires plenty of practice, hard work, and dealing with underlying conditions which may contribute to why they don't have focus in the first place. There are many ways to address this but we believe that toys have great power to assist with this process!

Here are some toys that can boost toddlers' attention span


Sensory toys 

Sensory toys help stimulate a child’s senses. That stimulation all goes on inside the brain and is closely related to tons of other skills that your child needs to grow into a fully functional adult. These are the motor skills like writing, cutting, and zipping their coat. Also, sensory toys can help give a child the sensations they want. When kids are busy trying to get the sensations they like, it distracts their brain from everything else it needs to be doing. That’s why when kids get the sensations they need through sensory activities and toys, it helps them do everything they need to do.

Dress-up materials

It seems that the art of putting on the dress ups and then acting out when wearing them motivates even the most distracted child to pay attention. It has several other benefits too--kids create situations and scenes and act out social events when they play dress-up. They're able to test out new ideas and behaviors in a comfortable environment. Dress-up encourages creative thinking and communication skills. It also helps kids practice language development and their social skills. It could be as simple as Mom’s old high-heeled shoes, a Superman cape or a Princess dress: any child’s costume is simply magic! 


Art supplies 

Concentrating on an art project for long periods develops focus and longer attention spans for kids. Time-dependent projects, like waiting for paint and glue to dry, encourage patience, which is tough for most kids. Not only that, mastering skills, completing art projects, and learning to express themselves in new ways all help them gain confidence and perseverance. These things also help kids come up with positive emotional responses to stressful situations.


Puzzles 

A puzzle teaches young children about the concept of a 'whole' and that each piece is a fraction of the bigger picture. In order to get to the result they want, they'll understand that they need to hone their concentration skills. Completing a puzzle also helps them with goal-setting, patience, and gaining a sense of achievement, which will stand children in good stead for school.
What kind of toys are you getting for your kids to help boost their concentration?

Tips for Choosing Toys for Babies

Play is children’s work, and toys are their tools. Children can best learn reasoning, concentration, and motor, social and language skills from toys. When choosing toys for a child, consider toys that are developmentally appropriate, that build on skills that the child already has, and provide a few challenges. Think this way: What does your child enjoy playing right now? Give them the tools—the toys—that will help them do and enjoy it better.

Ready to get started with choosing the best toys?

We've listed down some tips to help you find what your babies and young ones will love. 

Safety is crucial 


It can't be helped--kids will bang, drop, kick, pull, throw, bite, and suck on any toy you give them. To hold up under this kind of treatment, a toy needs to be durable. It is also very likely that kids will chew on their toys at some point, so they should be painted or finished with non-toxic materials. And also to prevent choking, avoid toys that have any parts smaller than two inches in diameter. The toys must easily washable too so that you can keep them relatively clean. 


Another thing is to consider the weight of the toy. Avoid a toy that will hurt your child when they drop it or bang it on surfaces. It's also needless to say that playthings with sharp edges or with strings long enough to wrap around a child's neck are not advisable for use. 


Make sure it's age-appropriate 


An age-appropriate toy encourages or challenges the young ones to use and improve one or more developing skills. A toy that doesn't offer any challenge may bore them. On the other hand, if it's too hard to use, a toy may end them with frustration, and that by the time they develop the skills needed to enjoy a toy they received prematurely, they may have already lost interest in it entirely.


It needs to stimulate the senses 


Toys are tools for fine-tuning skills. If used correctly, a good toy will do something to stimulate a child's senses like touch, sight, sound, or taste, or their developing abilities like hand-eye coordination, gross motor control, fine motor control, etc. 

Find something that you will enjoy playing with too!

Your children enjoy playing with you. It's important to fill their childhood memories with happy moments with you. Also, you’ll learn more about how your child thinks and feels by getting on the floor and playing with them.
What kind of toys are you thinking of giving your young ones? Share your plans with us! 

Why Play Matters

Play is a child’s work.” This adage comes from the early childhood education proponent Maria Montessori. This is the working principle on how she operated preschool education and caring for children. In this fast-changing world, children of kindergarten age often have high academic expectations. The question is whether play still is a significant as it was once thought of?

Here's why play matters.

Improves cognitive skills

When children interact with their peers, the prefrontal cortex develops and boosts connections among the neurons involved in cognitive, emotional, and motor processes. This is a significant process as the prefrontal cortex takes control of impulses and sustains attention. Play supports the development of a wide range of skills. Unstructured play, a game where negotiation of rules and consequences occur, is pivotal in the development of the prefrontal cortex. Play also strengthens thinking and memory. The use of educational toys also can help children in developing cognitive skills.

Enhances interpersonal skills

Play helps children develop skills in socialization. It helps them learn skills on how to handle difficult situations as they grow into adulthood. These interpersonal skills include how to converse and communicate with others effectively and how to share and take turns. Children usually follow rules which means that children do away with deception. If this happens, the dishonest child is isolated from the group while others strengthen their bond. Play also helps in children learning morals and values.

Boosts physical fitness

Research also shows that play improves physical fitness. Children get to benefit when they do outdoor, unstructured play. Play is one of the best ways for children to exercise as childhood obesity is a growing problem.  According to CDC, “children should spend at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily which includes exercise, muscle building, and bone strengthening.”

Facilitates emotional well-being

Play boosts children’s creativity, mental flexibility, and empathy. It allows children to process negatives situations and express their interests. Children feel disoriented and at a loss if they feel play is being limited. They feel that they do not control their lives. Children feel their capacity to be independent if they play and find success in games.

Helps them develop skills on learning

O. Fred Donaldson said “Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” Play helps children to develop their social skills, creativity, and their language skills. Children tend to expand their imagination when they feel a sense of adventure.
Parents should encourage their children into play. Through play, children develop language and reasoning skills, encourages autonomous thinking, problem solving and other critical lifelong skills that cannot be taught within the four walls of a classroom.


Your children's safety is our utmost priority. This is why here at KIDDOS Toys Club, we meticulously choose educational toys that are not only fun to play with but are also safe and toxin-free. We only chose from trusted toy brands put their toys through testing and passed international toy safety standards.