Educational Toys For Young Children

April 24, 2014 by

In an age of digital gadgets, there is still a place for traditional toys. Kids can have plenty of fun playing with classic types of toys that have entertained children for centuries. Some local brick and mortar toy stores may not carry a selection of unique items that could stimulate the imagination of young children.

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Doll houses are considered to be all time favorites among young girls. Miniature homes include replicas of realistic household furniture and other items. Of course, unique dolls are available to suit the characters of particular girls. Taking on the role of housewife is a great form of play for young girls. Such kids learn at an early age about responsibilities around the household. Perhaps, doll houses can inspire young girls to help their moms and sisters with various chores and other tasks around the house and outside.

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Trains and other locomotive toys inspire the imagination of young boys. Realistic replicas of actual railroad tracks, stations and other features create a fantasy world inside a child’s bedroom. Kids love to watch trains and other vehicles move around. A sense of space and other technical skills may be developed with play sets that include trains and other types of vehicles such as trucks.

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Parents can also shop for musical toys that stimulate the auditory senses and vocals of young kids. Small plastic toys are available to replicate realistic instruments that produce fun sounds. Toddlers can truly enjoy playing with musical toys that bring joy to the ears.

Filed Under: Busy Bees, PLAYhouse preSCHOOL, Resources, Toys Tagged With: ,

WINX BELIEVIX FAIRY: Making A Little Girl’s Wish Come True

December 30, 2012 by

I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!

My four-year-old still pretty much believes in fairies and the power of pixie dusts.  She never tires of dressing up as a fairy and doning those flimsy fairy wings.  It’s no wonder she was ecstatic to receive these from Richwell Club.

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Flora is one of the six Winx fairies in the Believix Dolls collection.  Her shiny glittery fairy wings are detachable and she comes with a butterfly shaped mirror and comb.  My daughter Jade loves to brush her hair and put her own clips on Flora.  She also gushes about how pretty Flora’s dress is and how she loves Flora’s pink boots.

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Here’s what my little girl has to say about her new doll:

She has been asking me to get another Believix fairy (actually, she wants all six of them!) because, according to her, Flora is sad because she has no friend and needs another fairy friend to play with. 🙂

When asked if she wants her friends to have a Believix fairy also, she said yes because they’d love to play with the pretty fairies.  So if you have a little daughter who’s as enamored with all things pretty, click here to buy Flora online at www.kidscompany.com.ph.  You may also want to check out the new Harmonix and Magical Hair dolls.

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ABOUT WINX

Winx are a group of magical fairies in the mystical dimension of Magix trying to make the grade in fairy school while fighting evil warlocks on the side. Join Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Techna and Layla as they save the world and the last fairy on Earth with the new power called the Believix.

Follow their journey in the Season 4 series of Winx Club every weekday at 4:30 PM on Nickelodeon. And watch these brave fairies in action as they discover new transformations, unlock secrets and go on countless magical adventures together.

Winx merchandise is exclusively distributed by Europlay Distributor Company, Inc. Available at all leading toy stores and department stores nationwide. For more information, call Europlay at telephone numbers 732-5141 to 47 loc 211.

Filed Under: Busy Bees, for the KIDS, Kids At Work, Products We Love, Toys Tagged With: ,

Learning While Playing With Building Blocks and Wooden Puzzles

April 3, 2012 by

I’m pretty sure all of us played with building blocks and puzzles at one point of our lives.  My sisters and I used to have hours of fun with these toys building fortresses and castles, figuring out how to put 500 puzzle pieces together   Nowadays, kids have dozens of choices with building blocks and puzzles manufactured in different materials and sizes.  There are Megabloks, Smart Stacks, wooden blocks, and of course, the legendary Lego of our childhood.   Kids, and kids at heart, nowadays can even find more challenge in 3d puzzles that come in unique designs.

Why are blocks and puzzles such great toys for kids?  Well, apart from the fact that kids love playing with them, these toys are great tools for enriching different areas of child development.  Aside from developing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, building blocks and puzzles develop logical thinking and cognitive skills.  They can even enhance language skills if you take time to talk to the children about the picture they’re putting together or about the structure they are building.

My little ones also have their share of wooden puzzles and building blocks.  They’ve got wooden puzzles for learning the alphabet, matching objects, and completing pictures.  They can spend hours building castles and trains with their Imaginarium block set and Megabloks.  Their play doesn’t stop at building structures, it extends to a different world of pretend play where they can be princess and prince or superhero and villain, and where absolutely anything can happen.

 

Filed Under: Busy Bees, for the KIDS, Kids At Work, Products We Love Tagged With: ,

Building Words With Speller Jr.

June 23, 2011 by

Learning toys always have room in our home.  With their help, we are able to teach the toddlers new skills without them realizing that they are actually studying.  Learning really doesn’t always have to happen in a classroom setting with only lectures and paper-and-pen tests.

 

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One of the most recent additions to our growing collection is the Speller Jr. which I got for a steal at only P200 at a nearby toy store.  It targets skills such as object and word recognition, letter recognition, letter matching, and of course, spelling.   It also teaches sorting and grouping while enhancing concentration and memory.  Since it is a game that can be played solo or in groups, it is also a great tool for teaching the toddlers to take turns and to share.

We are now using it to make our Thursday Talkies sessions more fun. Jakei is still working on mastering identifying the alphabet and building his vocabulary so the Speller Jr picture cards are mainly used for vocabularly building.  Since Jade can already identify all the letters of the alphabet and match similar letters, she’s able to build the words by herself.  We’re able to use the letter blocks and the picture cards to pratice reading and spelling at the same time.

 

 

Filed Under: Kids At Work Tagged With: , ,

Learning Teamwork and Developing Creativity Through Edmark Smart Cube

March 17, 2011 by

Electronic toys abound in toy stores nowadays.  Plenty claim to offer children hours of entertainment.  Some claim to be educational and would do wonders in improving children’s thinking abilities.  Although some are indeed very helpful in teaching some skills,  these toys are still quite expensive.  Add to that the costly batteries that need to be replaced often and you have a veritable money drain in your hands.

Another reason why we don’t usually buy electronic toys for our toddlers is that they seldom encourage imaginative play and are often meant to be played alone.  Puzzles, building blocks and even shape sorters on the other hand challenge children’s creativity and also encourage them to play together.  These types of toys are what my toddlers usually ask for during playtime.

One of their favorite toys is the Edmark Smart Cube which was given as a gift for Jade’s first birthday.  I once checked the store for its price and it costs only around 200 per set.   As for durability, we have been using our set for almost two years now.  It has withstood being thrown across the room, being smashed against the wall, being bitten by Jakei, and whatever else you could imagine a toddler doing with a toy.

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Jakei used to just throw the pieces around or smash whatever his Ate Jade has built.  But he has outgrown this destructive phase and can now create figures by himself.  I really love seeing them working together to build something.   They are now able to take turns putting the pieces together.




Filed Under: Kids At Work, Products We Love, Toys Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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