Alphabet-Painted Rocks

Have you been looking for some fun new ideas for arts and crafts time? We are always trying to think of fun ideas to do with our kids, and we have found one that is going over really great. Try painting rocks with letters from the alphabet! It can be a great learning experience for your toddler, and it’s fun for boys and girls!

You can make a game out of it too! Have your kids see who can spell the most words in 5 minutes, or who can use all the rocks to spell different words. The options are endless!

Time to Wash Those Hands!

Okay, so it’s no secret that germs are all around us. They are in our food, on doorknobs, and virtually anywhere else we can imagine. Scary, right? The good news is that we can prevent many harmful germs from ever getting to us!

Hand washing is our first line of defense against the attack of germs. Our hands go with us everywhere, and touch EVERYTHING. That includes our eyes and our mouth, which is where many germs enter our body. By cutting germs off at our hands, we dramatically decrease the amount that enters our body.

So, we get it, hand washing is great for fending off germs. Turns out, knowing is only half the battle! We can be great at washing our hands consistently, but how are we supposed to convince our kids to wash their hands too? One technique we’ve found that helps with our children is having them sing their ABC’s as they wash. The kids love to sing, and it takes long enough to where they get a healthy productive wash in. Now they have more fun, they learn, and they stay germ-free!

Attention World Travelers!

Are you raising a little Magellan or Columbus? Does your child talk about traveling the world? Perhaps someday they will, but for now, a globe is a great start!

A Raised Globe can help your young explorer map out their future voyages! To help them better understand where the countries and oceans are, make a game out of it! Spin the globe and have them stop it with their finger; once they do that, have them guess where it is! Kids can have a great time learning about our planet, so when they are ready to travel, they already know where they’re going!

It's a Scientific World!

Science can, and should be fun! The act of exploration and discovering new things is enough to excite any scientist, no matter what age. There is so much out there to learn about; it’s best to start now!

One of the most fun and educational ways to learn about and discover new things is playing with a Microscope! Everything looks different when it’s magnified to 300x, 600x, or even 1200x. Your children will have a blast looking at different household objects through their Microscope. You can even make a game out of it! Put items underneath the Microscope and see if they can guess what they are.

If you run out of things to examine at home, consider the Microscope and Slides Set. It includes slides that are pre-made, as well as blank slides for kids to create their own! Your kids will be building a laboratory in no time!

It's Garden Season!

Who doesn't love garden season? The sun is shining, and the birds are chirping, and we all get to go to our own outdoor sanctuary to harvest and grow our own fruits, veggies, and herbs. This year, perhaps you should consider getting your children involved with you!

The benefits of youth gardening are vast. It teaches kids the importance of taking care of the environment; it promotes healthy eating (we all know how hard it is to get our kids to eat their vegetables…that is until they grow their own); it is incredibly educational; and of course, you get to spend quality time with your children! And let’s face it…your kids are probably going to play in the dirt anyways…they might as well do something productive while they’re at it!

It can be good for the kids to share mom and dad’s garden, but they will enjoy one of their own much more. The Culinary Herb Garden comes with everything your kid needs to start their very first REAL garden, and they get to work on it right next to yours! With your help and the Culinary HerbGarden, they will be growing cilantro, parsley, and other herbs in no time.

Time For An Exciting Scavenger Hunt!

Do you live with a little explorer? Is your little boy or girl constantly going on little “treasure hunts”? Why not make a game out of it! Here is a fun idea for a two-part “distance” scavenger hunt to do with our Big Tape Measure that can be exciting AND educational!

First, hide little “prizes” or “awards” around your house and yard. After your child finds the items, they have to use their Big Tape Measure to record how long it is.

Second, have your kid use their tape measure to go find items that are a certain length that you specify. After they successfully do all that, have one grand prize they get for completing the hunt!

It can sometimes be difficult to help your kids learn, but in the right scenarios and with the right tools, learning can be easy and fun!

Play Kitchens: More than Just a Cooking Class

Educational toys are all the rage these days. Toys that subtly help a child learn don’t have to be directly related to school, like number games or books. In fact, educational toys can help prepare children for responsibilities that come later in life. It seems like a lot of children just can’t wait to be a grown-up, and a play kitchen will serve as a stepping stone to utilize their maturity while still playing like the fun kids they are.

The Wooden Deluxe Kitchen is a solid fixture in any home, with shelf space for your child. The kitchen clock can be set for mealtime, and the timer will go off when the pretend food is ready. Kids can practice tidiness and hygiene with towels and aprons to hang on the rack and hook when finished.

Another great option is the Uptown Kitchen with Breakfast Bar and Two Stools. The play kitchen feels very natural with places to sit for your guests eager to “scarf down” the food your child pretended to cook. The play kitchen has a sleek look with desired dark wood and faux granite countertops. It’s as close to the real thing as you can get!

The best play kitchen for your child (and you!) is one that fits right in to the rest of your home décor. The very sturdy and wooden As Cozy As Home Play Kitchen comes with two pretend burners, turning knobs and cloth curtains above the sink. It comes with all the accessories you need, from food to dishes, silverware, blender, toaster and the works! Just like the others, pretend microwave and oven are included. Your child will feel like a professional chef in the greatest play kitchen with all the fixings.

Importance of Educational Toys in Early Childhood

Children from the time they are born are sponges when it comes to their ability to constantly learn through interaction and play when using an educational toy as foundation. These toys help promote a child to develop all of their senses, they will start to understand that there are colors, objects have different textures and shapes, and even help them start the process of learning the alphabet and numbers. By exposing your child starting from the time they are infants will ensure that they learn early and pique their curiosity to learn more the older they get and the more advanced toys they are exposed to.

Children from an early age are encouraged to have playtime, research has proven playtime to be vital when it comes to a child’s development at home. Children play in many different ways and toys allow them to become engaged with what they are playing with and in the end learn a new set of skills and logic through the toy.

When considering educational toys for kids the most important factor is to realize that there are many different types. Consideration must be made with regard to the fact that they are uniquely made depending on the child’s age and the pace at which they learn. This is especially important since children starting as infants learn in a sequence and attempting to provide them with a toy way beyond their means of actually grasping the education benefit will provide no use.

Infants, for example, are not as developed as toddlers and need an educational toy that will stimulate their touch, hearing and sight. Most toys made for infants are very colorful, bright and full of an assortment of shapes and textures. These types of toys introduce infants to a world they are not used to and build a foundation for their development. A toddler on the other hand is more likely to engage in pretend play attempting to mimic the grown up actions you do so providing them with toys that allow them to interact with your activities are most beneficial.

Whether your child is an infant or a toddler using a toy for education purposed is one of the most important things a parent can do, your child’s education is very important and every parent wants to give their child the knowledge and assets to excel now and in the future.

Buying a Play Kitchen May Help Your Child's Development

If your child comes home with an imaginary friend or wants to pretend he's in a fantasy world, it's probably not a good idea to discourage it. Children have had pretend friends and played kitchen for a long time and this may help their growth. According to numerous studies, imaginative and pretend play aid in the cognitive development of children. These children are more adept at functioning in a social setting and conceptualizing complex ideas. There are multiple reasons for this.

Pretend play allows children to play with one another and act out in a role. This encourages children to engage in social interaction and learn how to act with others. It creates empathy within the children because these children who are playing pretend are acting like someone else. They are putting themselves in someone else's shoes, which may help them accept differences in others. One WSJ article chronicling a few studies on early childhood development stated how those with autism don't usually pretend play and were less able to function in a social setting. Researchers are figuring whether there is a connection here.

Moreover, educational toys like a play kitchen help your children make sense of reality. It's hard for children to understand how things work. A play kitchen allows the child to become an active participant. He or she can run wild with his or her imagination and pretend it's a real life kitchen with ingredients and cooking pans. Once the child uses his pretend kitchen enough, he will be able to apply what he experienced to what he sees in a real kitchen. Toys that support pretend play and imagination are beneficial tools to foster this growth.