Educational Toys for Child Development
Educational toys bring all children together
Educational toys are perfect for everyone to play with. They are great for exploring and experimenting and creating amazing ideas. They are not just for boys; they are not just for girls; they are for EVERYONE to enjoy together for learning fun. Apart from being aware of small parts for under 3s, there are no age restrictions either, and of course they are great for all abilities too.
Educational toys play an important role in the development of a child because learning toys stimulate cognitive, social and physical development. They bring joy and a sense of achievement to children, and at the same time they are great tools for us parents to teach our kids the foundations of knowledge.
They stimulate the development of your child’s brain and are great for learning through play. They are ideal for developing visual, audio and motor skills and will keep them occupied for hours too. Other benefits include critical thinking and problem solving, the list is endless.
So, it’s great to have a collection of learning toys at hand to get everyone together – and these will help cut down on screen time too! Here we look at the benefits of a few of the categories available of educational toys that are perfect for child development for everyone:
Balance Toys
Push toys are great for learning how to walk and improving already developed balancing skills. Our Go Wheelie is great for indoor and outdoor play, great for coordination skills, and communication skills when taking turns as a group activity.
Obstacle courses are a great balancing activity that everyone can take part in. Use planks or tyres, or mix and match with our Step-a-Stumps and Step-a-Trail, and your course is ready to go!
Another great item to encourage balance is our Whizzy Dizzy which will give hours and hours of fun. Great for developing gross motor skills and improving hand-eye coordination and promoting healthy exercise.
Role Play
From toddler years upwards, everyone will find their perfect place in a role-play world. Toy phones, car keys and remotes, kitchens and equipment, dressing-up clothes and medical kits are all ideal; they will all open up a world of possibilities. Children who use their imagination regularly, develop creativity and learn to think for themselves.
Pretend play helps children naturally develop and use their cognitive abilities along with many other important skills; empathy is developed through role play, and children will learn to sympathise and understand certain emotional situations. Even the simple acts of using coins and dishing up pretend food aid the development of fine motor skills.
Sorting Toys
Shape sorters are great for children to learn how to match the right shape in the right place, and then eventually start to manipulate the shapes by themselves, developing essential fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Kids love the bright colours and will enjoy shape recognition, counting, sorting, classifying, patterning, sequencing, construction and stacking.
Our Rainbow Pebbles set includes 36 pebbles in 6 sizes and 6 colours, and 20 x 2-sided activity cards. Young learners can copy the activity cards or create their own 2D and 3D objects, sort colours and shapes, and so much more.
Edx Education’s Sorting Bowls and Tweezers Set will give everyone hours of fun, and you can add in a competition element depending on your abilities. Who can sort the fastest, and who can sort all the red items first?!
We have so many different options you will find it hard to choose a counter to fill your bowls: Dinosaur Counters, Vegetable Counters, Farm Animal Counters, Aquatic Counters, Bug Counters, and Translucent Counters to name a few!
Construction Toys
Building blocks are a great inclusive toy which will help children develop creative skills, as well as motor skills. Edx Education’s Math Cubes Learning Set are a multifunctional manipulative that can be used for all levels of learning. They come together with a satisfying click and the building options are infinite.
Our Geo Links are a twist on the traditional building block. Children will play together sorting, counting, patterning, sequencing and using their colour recognition skills. They come in 3 shapes – square, circle, triangle and 6 colours – red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
Improve fine motor skills and develop creative thinking skills with our Junior GeoSitx construction set. It contains 8 different lengths of flexible sticks, quadrants and semi-circles that snap together. The set includes 200 flexible sticks, and 30 x 2-sided activity cards.
Water and Craft
Activity toys are great for inclusive play. Our multi-purpose Activities’ Tray can be used for sand and water play, art and craft, or for light box activities and planting. Children will explore, discover and learn with this versatile tray. Read our blog on Sand and Water Play Ideas for inspiration including measuring, emptying, pouring and filling, using sieves, syphons and hoses.
When the kitchen table becomes art and craft central, you may not realise that your child is developing lifelong skills underneath all the glitter and glue. Art and craft is ideal for everyone, especially if you bring in an element of messy play. Crafting is also proven to be beneficial for mental health and well-being, and so is a great way to help children relax and unwind. Simply grab some coloured paper, scissors and PVA glue and off you go! Read our blog on Messy Play for some great ideas.
Puzzles and Games
Learning games, like board games, will help your child develop language skills, through listening and speaking. It’ll also help their memory and cognitive skills, their ability to think and solve problems, and their sense of responsibility. Our ‘Early Math101 to go Number & Measurement’ ranges develop number sense, geometry and logical thinking through playing together.
Each kit has high-quality manipulatives, activity cards and activities, and is packaged in a hand-carry plastic case. Number & Measurement Level 1 aids teaching counting 1 to 5, Number & Measurement Level 2 teaches number recognition 1 to 10, counting 1 to 10, addition to 10 and beyond. Number & Measurement Level 3 teaches counting to 100 and beyond, addition and subtraction, place value concept of ones and tens, copying patterns, creating patterns, measuring, social skills by playing games and problem-solving skills.
It’s important to choose games that are appropriate for your child’s developmental stage. Look for themes that they are interested in and consider complexity and the amount of time it takes to play the game. Most games now publish the rules online, so it is easy to have a look through to make sure if a game is going to be complex enough or too complex for your audience.
Puzzles are great for teaching your child problem-solving skills and logic. Our Abstract Magnetic Puzzles are innovative and fun creative thinking and problem-solving puzzle that excites and will get everyone involved in advancing their matching, sorting and critical thinking skills.
View our full range of educational toys to aid child development for different age groups, abilities and developmental stages here:
Edx Education – Heather Welch
To find your local Edx Education retailer head over to Where to buy – Edx Education.
