Children are creative, curious and love to use their hands. Educational toys are important in any phase of their lives. As babies, they learn by touching, listening and interacting with whatever or whoever is directly in front of them. As toddlers and preschoolers, and elementary school age children, they love sharing and interaction. That’s why, as parents and caregivers, we need to seek out fun educational toys and games.

We also need to pay attention to what they watch on TV. Don’t just turn on the TV to any cartoon show. Look for those that ask them to participate, to sound out letters, to count out loud, to sing along. Children also relate to cartoons that present children as the main characters since they will relate to them because they are young and are constantly exploring. For example: preschoolers and early elementary children may enjoy programs like Caillou, Sid the Science Kid, Dora and Diego. There are so many more programs that we as parents can take advantage of that will help our children become better prepared for school and to reinforce what they are learning in school.

When not in front of the TV set, supply them with toys that also educational, that encourage learning new skills. Here are a few tips: Think of the things they would need to learn in kindergarten, or what they currently working on at school. Educational tools to use like flash cards – that may be used as a visual tool and encourage participation.

I like using flashcards as a memory game. Use a set of flashcards that have a set of upper case letters and a separate set of lower case letters. Depending on the child’s age, start with 3 or 4 letters of the alphabet, like A through D, using both upper and lower case letters, so you should have 8 cards. Place them face down on the table, and arrange them so they are mixed up. The child will choose 2 cards and turn them over. If not a match, the child must return the cards face down in their original position. If the child does find a match – upper case letter A and the lower case letter a – the child places that pair off to the side, then the next child or participating parent takes a turn. Repeat the process until all the cards on the table are matched up. The child will learn the alphabet and the difference between the upper case and lower case letters. Progress to using more cards until the child has mastered all the letters of the alphabet. Children love this game because they like winning every time they find a pair. The best way to play is to have them take only one turn at a time, whether they find a pair or not, so they all have several turns or opportunities to play.

You can play memory games with just about any type of card sets: those with pictures of shapes, colors, animals or numbers. Or, you can look for the actual memory game card sets. You may also find electronic versions of the memory game. For older school age children, you can create flashcards to match spelling words with their definitions.

Look for educational toys and games that interest your children the most or those that cover their current school subject. If you want your child to learn as much as possible for their age, present them with quality educational toys, games and software. Look for toys that are durable, colorful, and appropriate for their current skill or age level. Then work up from there. Be creative and have fun.

Kids art easels are a great alternative gift to those high-tech toys that often lose appeal quite quickly. Easels can be seen as more traditional fun way of spending time away from a computer keyboard.

Sure kids do really enjoy computer games and some are even educational, but too many games seem to revolve around shooting, punching and kicking. Some would argue that they are only games and kids can tell the difference between games and reality. But kids learn by playing, so if kids are getting to learn anything from them, can it be anything positive?

Although painting and drawing are seen as traditional activities for our children, for kids to actually have an art easel is a more modern thing. Previously there would have been few young children with an easel, more often than not, a table or floor would have to suffice. However now there is a better option, good value kids easels are readily available.

Most children will be perfectly happy painting or drawing on a table, board or floor, that is up until the time they are presented with their very own easel. Giving them somewhere special to play around with paints, pencils, crayons or chalk can really make them feel very special. You could be surprised by the difference an easel makes and the results you see.

But painting and drawing is not really about how good the results are for young children, it’s mostly about them having fun. Plus if it keeps the kids entertained for long periods of time, there are not many parents that are going to complain about that.

There seems to be an urge in most children to paint and draw. Young children haven’t “learned” like many adults that they can’t draw, they are very happy and impressed by their own results. They don’t suffer with our inhibitions, nor should they.

A little praise about a child’s work can have a big effect on building a child’s confidence to express their creative self. Some children will naturally be more gifted artistically than others, but all are capable of learning and improving with a little help and encouragement.

Kids easels can also be used to aid learning in a number of ways, either structured or unstructured. However if that easel has first been associated with having fun, any structured learning on it later is also likely to be viewed in a more favorable light.

With structured learning I’m talking about learning the alphabet, spelling and mathematics. All of which can be introduced at different times and in different ways. Easels with magnetic surfaces can be used with magnetic letters and numbers, this can be a fun way of starting to teach and learn basic skills.

The blackboard is very traditional, but a very effective way of interacting with children, it is both visual, tactile and if you talk as well, auditory, thus employing all three methods by which we learn. Plus if mistakes are made they are easily corrected.

The very acts of drawing and painting are educational and developmental, even without any further input from adults. Co-ordination between hand and eye is required for drawing, like anything that is practiced early on in life it will improve. Making any form of art improves observational skills, as does viewing art.

We tend not to question what we see in real life very often, but we seem much more critical when we see other peoples versions of reality, this can make us question things we have taken for granted. So introducing art into a child’s life can spark curiosity about many things in life.

The old poem of “All I ever learned I learned in Kindergarten” does hold true. The ability to interact with others, the ability to share, say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody, wash your hands before you eat, take a nap every afternoon, eat warm cookies and milk and above all hold hands and stick together when you go out into the world. Now, I know this sound rather simplified, but those are the most important things your young child will learn. The act of playing with others builds self esteem, teaching basic social skills, spacial relationship by building blocks and building with blocks helps with later math applications. Put things back after playing. Be nice to others. What better life lessons could a three year old learn than to be nice to others?

These are the building blocks of education. While reading is all well and fine for a four year old the ability to get along with others and play nicely and share and have confidence in their own ability to draw, paint, manipulate puzzles, clay and other art projects are vitally important to the brain and social development.

Large and small motor skills are crucial at an early age. Things like drawing, legos, blocks, cars, anything that develops those small motor skills makes it much easier to learn to write. Keep things in their proper order. While it is impressive to tell your friends that your three year old speaks fluent French and can do advance algebra, choose a preschools in Orange Country that also places heavy emphasis on social development it is age appropriate and very important for development.