How to Select Educational Children's Toys

Educational children's toys are a popular addition to playrooms due to their multifaceted ability to teach and occupy kids. Children's toys can teach simple concepts from colors and shapes to complex skills like tying shoes and reading books. Due to the vast amount of children's toys on the market, finding toys that educate is easy. Think about the types of toys that are right for your children before you select them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Where to Find Educational Toys

1. Take a trip to the museum and visit the gift shop. Many museums have an excellent selection of educational children's toys, from board games to lifelike animal replicas.
2. Visit an online store known for educational children's toys, like Wonderbrains (see Resources below). Wonderbrains has over 20 categories of educational toys to choose from with a wide range of prices.
3. Find a store that carries musical instruments for children. Musical toys and instruments are an educational addition to any room and keep children occupied for hours learning lessons in sound.
4. Look in bookstores for educational children's toys like puzzles. Many bookstores carry puzzles for all ages. Call ahead to ask about inventory.

Select Educational Toys by Age

5. Get educational toys that have been pre-screened by child experts and mothers at Ebeanstalk (see Resources below). This site is geared towards parents trying to select age appropriate toys for children under five.
6. Select educational toys that entertain and stimulate older children by purchasing Internet and computer learning games. Many games that include monetary transactions and quests are teaching math and logic skills while fostering imagination.
7. Keep educational toys for infants soft and huggable with cloth alphabet and color blocks. Babies that can barely crawl will marvel at the bright colors and solid shapes. Blocks encourage crawling and movement when placed just out of an infant's reach.
8. Choose educational toys for toddlers that are challenging but easy enough to master. Select puzzles, toys and games a few months in advance just in case your child masters skills quickly and gets bored.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy toys that are educational on a variety of levels. Toys that teach something while also providing an interactive game stimulate children more than one-dimensional toys.
• Choose toys that are well constructed. Learning can be fun, but it is challenging when the toy breaks or the educational component is a sticker that can easily be pulled off.