Holiday Gifts

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  Educational Toys (The Best Toys for Tots)

When you see a toy labeled “educational,” will it really make your child smarter?

Will it prepare her for preschool? Turn her into a violin virtuoso?

The jury is still out on whether the toys we give our children will improve their IQ points or get them into Harvard. But there are many toys that can help with your child’s development.

We asked our favorite Occupational Therapist (and mother of three and grandmother of six), Peggy Lind for a list of her “must have” toys that can help preschoolers meet their developmental milestones.

Blocks
Although they won’t necessarily lead your child into a lucrative career as an architect, a set of building blocks can help Junior develop in several other important areas such as spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, logic and social skills. Get a nice, big set and keep them in a large bin for easy clean up.

Puzzles
Start with wooden puzzles with big, clearly outlined pieces. It’s easy to find them in your child’s favorite topic – Sesame Street, dogs, horses, superheroes. Puzzles help children develop cognitive and problem solving skills, hand- eye coordination, fine motor skills and self-confidence. High-quality wooden puzzles may be a bit pricey, but it’s easy to find them at thrift and consignment stores.

Board Games
As silly as its name sounds, Candy Land and other simple board games are actually excellent tools for teaching basic skills that a child needs to learn before kindergarten. Look for games that involve turn-taking, color recognition and sequence building (Cooties and Mouse Trap).

Manipulative Toys
Play Doh, Lite Brite, lacing cards and Legos develop hand strength and a mature grip.

Outdoors
Your mother said it to you, and you will say it to your kids: “Go Outside and Play.” Make sure you have plenty of outdoor toys to develop your child’s large motor skills such as balls, bats, hula hoops, riding toys, climbing toys, child-sized gardening tools and anything that can make an obstacle course.

Disney Company Offering Refunds for Baby Einstein
The Walt Disney Company is offering refunds and exchanges for their Baby Einstein videos after pressure from The Center for a Commercial-Free Childhood. The CCFC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, asking the Baby Einstein Company to remove claims in their ads and packaging that watching the videos could increase a child’s intelligence. No evidence backs that claim.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV time for children under 2 years of age saying that “research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and other significant caregivers for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional and cognitive skills.”

Although there is some evidence that children over the age of 2 can learn from high-quality educational programs, a number of studies have shown that in children younger than 2, exposure to television at home is associated with slower language, cognitive and attention development.

The theory is that time spent in front of the TV is time NOT spent interacting with caregivers, developing motor skills and exploring their surroundings.

To learn more about the Baby Einstein refund offer go to www.babyeinstein.com and click on “For Parents.”