Educational Toys Guide
Educational Games for Kids: Stimulating and Fun
In Reviews of Editor (August 8, 2008 3:55 pm)
It seems that most people have heard the cliché about how you can lead a horse to the watering hole, but you can’t make him drink from it. It seems that this adage is quite appropriate when it comes to speaking about how to get kids to get excited and motivated about learning. In an era when most children learned how to play with electrical toys, like video and computer games, almost before they could walk, it seems to be a natural fit to make educational games for kids that use that kind of technology to grab their attention and hold their interest, while teaching them a thing or two.
There are a wide variety of learning toys and software educational games on the market today that parents can select to enhance and encourage learning and development of various skills and abilities. These specialized games can help children to improve motor skills, develop hand and eye coordination, encourage thinking and analysis abilities, and so much more that can help them in so many ways in their lives.
Educational games for children are typically created with a specific age group in mind. There are simple baby learning toys as well as toddler toys that are appropriate for those developmental stages. The electrical toys and software educational games will better challenge and stretch their mentality and skills as they grow.
Toddler toys are generally geared towards helping the child to identify shapes and colors and often start introducing letters and numbers as well. As the child gets ready for kindergarten, many of the learning toys and games that are available can help the child become familiar with and get prepared for the subjects they’ll be learning about when they begin their formal schooling.
Many parents become concerned and worry that their child is not showing a natural aptitude for math or reading, and in many cases the educational games for kids can help to improve and develop those skills so that when they enter their classroom they already have some familiarity with the basics. As time goes on these educational toys and games can help to reinforce the things they learn in school in a way that makes things fun.
There has been a great deal of research that has shown that kids learn and retain the information and the skills that they’re learning when they are enjoying the process of learning. This is where various types of developmental toys can really make their mark because well designed interactive educational games draw the child into the activity and makes them eager to participate and in most cases the kids are not even aware that they are learning, they just think they’re engaging in a fun and interesting pastime.
When it comes time to shop and compare various educational games for children, it will be helpful if you keep in mind that a game that is labeled as educational does not necessarily provide great value in terms of what a child can learn from it. You can gain a lot of insights into the value of educational toys and games by searching in forums for reviews of games by other parents so that you can purchase the games that’ll be able to deliver learning and growth opportunities, while also entertaining your children.
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There are many educational games used as teaching resources in school that are ideal for use on the home. These have been developed by educationalists to meet the curriculum, and have the added advantage that they are fun and meaningful. They also avoid the pseudo educational games you mention. You can see examples of educational games and toys
Comment by Alistair Owens — September 26, 2008 @ 10:14 am
The MediTouch HandTutor treats children with ADHD and ADD
HandTutor is being used to treat children who have fine motor skill problems characterized by poor handwriting, cutting and painting skills and other functional tasks. These children have been diagnosed as having ADHD or ADD.
It has been found that fine motor training will improve the brain function of children with ADHD and ADD and improve academic achievement. Children are required to successfully do progressively more difficult fine motor tasks during their pre school and school careers. Children are therefore taught firstly to cut and paint before being taught to write. Thus their is a progression in the complexity of the task and the fine motor skill ability required to carry out the task. At the same time their is a progression in the concentration and attention to small details required to successfully complete the task.
The HandTutor provides sensory motor impairment orientated training by giving the child games that require isolated, co-ordinated and accurate finger and wrist movements. At the same time the HandTutor computer games motivate and improve concentration and allow for intensive practice. This practice will lead to better eye-hand co-ordination, and improved fine motor skill ability. This will allow the child to better perform the required functional task and encourage them to continue functional activities as they will begin to achieve better results. The HandTutor is suitable for children from 5 years old and upwards.
Comment by Alan Waterman — February 18, 2010 @ 9:48 am