Educational Games - What They Can Teach and How

The philosopher Piaget was famous for his theory that children learn through play. A child's play is their work and they will learn through experiencing the world around them. Educational games and toys will aid a child's learning of their physical world and their body, their emotional and psychological world and their impact on the world in terms of their speech and communication.

Educational Games work on many levels, and choosing the right one or the right selection of educational toys will help you to build a collection that provides fun learning opportunities for your child.

How educational toys work

    Kinaesthetic Learning
    This simply means movement and the physical world. Toys that encourage a child to use their bodies to react, play or do, will stimulate a kind of learning that is not possible when simply watching or listening.
    Auditory Learning
    This is learning through hearing. Perhaps a child might not respond well to visual stimulation but may find listening to instructions, a story or sounds to be more interesting.
    Visual Learning
    This is learning through watching and looking. This might involve a child seeing colours, patterns or representations of the world in a book or game.
    Verbal Learning
    This kind of learning is when a child is asked to follow instructions or participate via verbal communication. This kind of learning teaches a child how to build vocabulary, learn to negotiate and better express themselves.
    Math Learning
    While not necessarily meaning mathematical toys or games, this type of learning will help a child to strategise, reason and estimate.

What educational toys and games can teach

    Cognitive Skills
    Cognitive toys are things like puzzles and games. This kind of play will teach a child how to problem solve and reason. It helps them to learn visual and special awareness and to learn about many different types of objects and themes such as colours, numbers, alphabet, vehicles, buildings, animals and many more.
    Fine and Gross Motor Skills
    Fine motor skill is the dexterity we develop with small muscles of the body like our fingers and hands, and generally occurs in direct coordination with our eyes. Games or toys that involve the use of little fingers and thumbs such as puzzles, sorting games, stacking and building toys will develop a child's fine motor skills. Gross motor skill is the development of our larger muscles and involves activities such as crawling, walking, running, jumping, catching and so on. Games and toys like balls, push along toys, wagons, tunnels and other physically involving toys will help your child to develop their gross motor skills.
    Hand-eye Co-ordination
    The development of hand-eye co-ordination is closely related to motor skills, as it involves the cooperation and better use of our hands and visual perception. Games like puzzles, shape sorters and stackers, or bowling, blocks and anything involving catching or throwing will develop a child's hand-eye co-ordination.
    Social Skills
    Social skills can be learnt through play. A child can learn to share, cooperate and negotiate through playing games and toys with other children. Most toys can be used to develop these skills, as long as the children learn to take turns and help each other to solve the problem or complete the task.

So choose your learning toys wisely and you will be helping your child to learn about their world more effectively.

Yogee.com.au is a leading Australian online toy store. Visit yogee.com.au for a wide selection of Kids Toys at discounted prices. To save money on your next purchase, please visit Toys Online.