Best educational toys for children

How the definition of toys has evolved from the olden times?

We want our kids to learn while having fun at the same time. Gone are the days when parents wore nonchalance in their attitude and were less mindful about getting quality toys for their kids. Cut to this generation, parents are rummaging through vast expanse of toy library and drawing out the toys or activity kits which will impart knowledge, help in creative thinking and tune their kids’ fine motor and social skills. Also, parents are keener to check out the indigenous toys to get their kids connect more deeply with the world and the surroundings around them.

Recently we had a report by NCERT saying toys play a great role and have a huge potential to help kids in holistic development. They have also issued a handbook on toy-based pedagogy which is replete with inferences, all singularly pointing out to the significance of toys in transforming the prevailing education pattern into a creative process. Even NEP 2020 clearly states that educational toys bring experiential learning and fun together.

Different learning style in kids

Every kid has different learning style – auditory, visual and kinaesthetic. Information is perceived using learning styles based on their preference. Educational toys are designed in such a way that it can be attributed to all type of learning styles.

What is the significance of educational toys?

Downing and Demchak, 2002 says “One must allow extra time for the presentation of tactile information so the child has the opportunity to touch, handle, examine and eventually synthesize and understand information”. Educational toys stay true to each word expressed above. The touch and feel element in them hone their higher order thinking skills.Educational toys are remodelling the thinking patterns, improving cognitive behaviour and boosting decision making skills in kids.

What is the significance of educational toys?

• Texture oriented crafts, books and learning resources
• Task cards, flash cards, cut and paste stickers
• Touch and feel books
• Sketch and learn resources
• Simulation based projects
• Props, puppets and posters
• Play dough
• Tactile graphics and 3D models

Momly’s recommendations:

We asked our mom community about educational toys and many of them were more than eager to help us with their choices. It was so hard to pick and choose from them so we thought of adding all of them here. Each of the below names have been explored and used by their kids.

A word from Momly

Shumee toys

Shumee toys is a big name in the sphere of wooden toys. The toys are made in India and are deeply connected with our history and heritage. There are lot of options in Shumee for kids. Their Indiascape combo includes India puzzle, memory card set and activity book best suited for 5-8 years kids. This activity set is steeped in India’s tradition, offers kids an opportunity to connect with the country’s states and its treasures, and improves their reasoning and creative skills. For toddlers, there are multiple choices like rocking horse wooden toy, baby activity walker, playhouse, sorters and stackers etc, each of them focussed on hand-eye coordination. Richa, Momly mom, says it is best choice for toddlers as wooden toys are safe compared to other material.

Edu spark

If your kid is into open ended play or pretend play, Eduspark should be your pick. Eduspark brings in open ended play toys for kids to boost their imagination, improve their creative thinking skills, and give them agency to independently make decisions. As it says there are no pre-set rules and sequential guides for kids to hang on to, they enjoy the blank canvas to paint their imagination. The toys include wooden city blocks to teach them sorting, stacking and helps in fine motor development, wooden rainbow learning board, Montessori toys like wooden sensory board, logarithmic sorting game to enable the kids to master hand-eye coordination. “Edu spark sparks kids’ imagination and is wonderful choice for preschoolers”, says Chandni, Momly mom

Curious cub

iIf you are interested to put your kids in Montessori based learning institution then you can start training them early on. Montessori toys stimulates the kids to experiment and envelops all learning styles in its fist. Curious cub toys and activity kits are designed keeping that in mind. They have age wise Montessori boxes for kids and are crafted by educators itself. Divided into various levels, their activity kits are very immersive and lean toward tactile based approach. “Curious cub is a wonderful choice for kids and their Montessori furniture is a must-try”, says Nidhi, Momly mom.

Einstein Box kit

Science and maths lovers – Einstein kit is for you. STEM learning should happen in a fun and engaging way. Einstein box designers have given it a lot of thought and have come up with toys and skill-based kits which will make your kids gravitate towards science and maths subject easily and without you nudging them. There are IQ enhancing activity sets, wipe-clean books to encourage children to write on their own, logic building sets to boost their thinking skills. You can also opt for their 6 monthly program to enjoy the kits based on different themes. Surpiya, Momly co-founder, says “Einstein box has lot of interesting activities and was introduced by a friend and my kid seems to have quite liked it”