Learning Through Play - Skill Building Toys Preparing Kids For Pre-K

Giving children a head start in learning is one of the most important things that parents can do for them. This gives them the ability to enter school with more self-confidence and accelerate faster with a lot of the basics already in place.

Alphabet A-Z. Photo courtesy of PlanToys.

During preschool children will be expected to master a number of areas, according to prekinders.com, including literacy, which will involve learning the letters of the alphabet and their sounds; building listening skills; learning new vocabulary; sequencing items and events; and developing motor skills.

In math, some of the core skills that children will need to master, include: learning the numbers from one to 10; counting objects up to 10; sorting by shapes, colors, and sizes; being able to compare sizes; and noticing patterns.

Learning can be easy and fun for children if it’s done as part of play. The hardest part for parents and educators may be finding toys that meet children’s educational needs, which are also fun and safe for both them and the environment.

There are lots of benefits to buying toys that meet national and international eco-friendly requirements. To meet children’s health and safety needs, standards include using chemical-free woods, non-toxic paints, and safety-conscious ergonomic shapes.

From a social and environmental perspective, adults buying eco-friendly toys can also know that reputable companies also make strong efforts to assure that factory workers get paid fair wages in clean and safe work environments.

While there are numerous companies that claim to be eco-friendly, I found three toy companies that have both a wide selection of educational toys, as well as discuss in detail their social and environmental protection policies. In overview:

• PlanToys - makes eco-friendly wooden educational toys for children up to six years old. They include alphabet games, instruments, construction toys, board games, and counting games.
• ImagiPlay - makes eco-friendly wooden educational toys for children up to five years old. These toys include alphabet puzzles, animal toys, play food toys, push and pull toys, bead maze toys, and interactive pond and ocean lacing puzzle toys.
• miYim - makes organic plush stuffed toys based on storybook characters, which can be held by children during reading time. The company also makes other items like stacker toys, plush rattles, knit teethers, and blanket toys.

 Tumble Tower. Photo courtesy of PlanToys.PlanToys caught my attention for two reasons. The company has a comprehensive parent resource center on its website, which includes information like what are the most appropriate types of toys for each two-year age increment from birth to six years old.

In the resource center, they don’t suggest any particular toys, just the kinds of toys that would meet particular developmental needs. I like this section because even if a parent doesn’t like any of their toys, it still provides educational resource information that they can use elsewhere.

I also like the natural construction of their toys and their educational value. One of my favorite toy from their collection is the ‘Tumbling Tower.’ It’s a great way for kids to build hand-eye coordination, balancing skills, learning colors, sorting, and counting.

ImagiPlay also had a great parent resource center. The company is a lot more geared toward conservation education, so their resource center contains links to sites about animals including: brown bears, dolphins, elephants, giraffes, kangaroos, parrots, and penguins.

There are brief animals descriptions that are followed by more advanced information including their geographic ranges, physical descriptions, behavior, lifespans, and ecosystem roles. The resources give parents or educators an opportunity to enhance a child’s play experience by educating them about the animal toy they’re playing with.

Animal Paradise. Photo courtesy of ImagiPlay.

One of my favorite toys from their collection is ‘Animal Paradise.’ It’s a wooden, non-toxic painted animal alphabet puzzle. It gives kids the chance to play by figuring out how the animals fit into each other, and gives adults the opportunity to engage them in learning the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.

Cat in the Hat. Photo courtesy of miYim.

Adults can also engage the children by talking about the different animals in the puzzle using the resource information from the website.

The miYim toys are a little different in that they are less interactive and more to be used by children as stories are read to them. Stuffed toys such as the company’s Dr. Seuss’s ‘Cat in the Hat’ can be used to help bring stories more to life and grow a child’s love of reading. miYim also has a Jane Goodall wild animal collection consisting of a gorilla, hippo, and lion.

One of the things I like most about the collection of sites is that they all have their unique aspects, but they can also be used to complement each other. PlayPlan has great developmental information. ImagiPlay has great conservation information. And, miYim has stuffed toys whose value can be enhanced by information from the other two sites.

Reader comments and input are always welcomed!