Showing posts with label language skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language skills. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Traditional Toys Are Still Essential in a World of Electronic Devices and Apps
Technology is more advanced than ever, and children are often drawn toward the flashing lights, fun music and characters on a mobile device more than they are to traditional toys. Does that mean electronic devices and apps trump creative play and imagination? Maybe in some homes, but they shouldn’t in yours, and here’s why.
Social Skills
An ongoing concern for the upcoming generation is that many kids lack important social skills. Playing with traditional toys gives children the chance to learn communication, sharing and problem solving skills. These important social abilities get skimmed over when kids play on an iPad all day.Language and Speech Skills
Most children develop these skills around ages two and three. Traditional toys beat electronic devices again because, while apps may teach "speech," they don’t teach "language." Interacting with an image on a screen doesn’t allow the same feedback as interacting with another child.Motor Skills and Eye-Hand Coordination
With an app, the most involvement you get is a hand swipe or a tap of the finger. Compare that to building towers, playing catch or drawing a picture and it’s clear that traditional toys are superior for developing eye-hand coordination, not to mention providing the physical activity needed to develop motor skills and keep kids healthy.Imagination
Open-ended toys encourage creative play. A stack of blocks can become a house for a teddy bear; a few dolls can go on an adventure together; and a cardboard box can become a spaceship. Apps don’t allow the same type of creativity or imagination. For many, what you see is what you get.With this is in mind, it’s important not to completely ignore technology. Today’s electronics trump the button-mashing video games and one-button preschool toys of yesteryear. Some online computer games are quite thought-provoking and challenging, and apps are great for entertaining your child in the doctor’s office waiting room. Ultimately, it’s about striking a healthy balance between technology and traditional toys.
Browse through the extensive collection of age-appropriate toys available from ListenLoveLearn Toys. Then find out more about the importance of traditional play by contacting ListenLoveLearn.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Thursday, August 14, 2014
An Imaginative Child Is a Happy Child
Children who use their imaginations are not only entertained, they also learn something. It’s fairly commonplace to see a child pick up a stone and pretend it’s an airplane or hold out a stick for a swordfight. It’s this type of imagination play that serves as an important step in childhood development.
Many toys today are designed very realistically. While they are certainly beautiful to look at, they take the creativity and imagination out of play. To see some beautiful pictures of really happy, imaginative children having fun around the world with the toys they find around them, click here.
So why is imagination play so important? It’s not as simple as it seems. When your children set up scenarios with various toys in the living room, they are learning some very important skills, including:
- Social skills: Dramatic play, such as playing house, allows children to experiment with their social roles. Cooperative play teaches them how to take turns and share. Pretending to be someone else lets children see the world from another person’s eyes.
- Language skills: Whether playing alone or with others, children use words when playing. You might hear some phrases you didn’t know your children knew while they play. Imagination play also opens the door to learning new words and phrases.
- Thinking skills: Inventing stories, solving problems and finding the right toys to make the game play out just right are all thinking skills that imagination play helps to develop. Even a bit of roughhousing is okay for learning self regulation, as long as you monitor the situation.
At ListenLoveLearnToys, imagination play is very important. Toys are categorized by age and the skills they help develop. There’s an entire category for Creative Play toys in each age range. For example, in the 5- to 7-year range, you can find everything from a coloring castle playhouse and pirate ship to jumbo dominoes and PowerClix to let your children’s imaginations go wild. Check it out!
Then, if you want to learn more about the importance of imagination play in helping your children grow and thrive, please contact ListenLoveLearn.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
How to Play with your 18 month to 3 Year Old to Build Social Skills and Joy
Toys That Help Your 18 Month to 3 Year Old Learn
Toys That Help Your 18 Month to 3 Year Old Learn
This age group can be described two ways- the terrible twos
or the terrific twos, I choose the latter and it is all a matter of knowing how
to help your 18 month old to 3 year old learn!
Mobility
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| Wonder Walker |
Starting at 18 months of age you child has become mobile,
they are starting to walk or are already pretty steady on their feet and they are
ready to move! They love to push and pull toys and collect things. While pushing
the Wonder Walker they also have a place to select and collect their toys and
move them to where they want to play. As they become 2 -year olds they like to
ride and pretend. They can be a fire fighter on the Fire Engine or just ride and be anyone they choose on the Driver.
Learning
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| Bouncing Sorter |
Your 2 year old is very busy as he/ she starts developing
their hand-eye co-ordination. Playing with a Bouncing Sorter gives your child
the sensory input of touch and strengthens hand eye coordination while they learn about shapes through sorting. They also
continue to love music and playing a toy piano gives them the sensory input of
touch and sound, add words to their songs and language skills become enhanced.
A Deluxe Playcube will keep your 2-3 year old busy and learning all day long,
moving colorful beads, playing with the alphabet blocks or spinning the gears
and there is no clean-up because it is all self-contained.
 |
| Deluxe Playcube |
Language
 |
| Barnyard Activity Boxes |
Pretend Play
 |
| Corrugated Blocks |
“ A 2 year old’s imagination develops naturally, but there
is a lot you can do to spark it,” says Kristi Alexander, a pediatric
psychologist at Alliant International University in San Diego. “ As you expose
your child to new sights, sounds and sensations you open her mind to a bigger
world.” Imagination! It really begins now. Building with big blocks they can they can build a
castle, a city, a house, a road and play alone or with others to create a
make-believe world. Your child’s imagination through play builds a deeper understanding of the world around them. Ding- dong! Let’s play house. It is so much fun to learn all the names of the furniture and
rooms of the house while playing with a mini house with a doorbell that works. Social
skills of greeting and inviting begin here.
 |
| Doorbell House |
Although you could just sit and watch, it is even better if
your join in to your child’s play. By playing with them you are teaching them
so much while you learn about your child.
At each stage of your child’s imaginative development,
listening to him and taking part in his games will help you keep up with what he is thinking. You might revitalize your own imagination in the process.
As always, wishing you lots of fun through play!
Lois Kam Heymann, M.A. CCC-SLP is an expert Speech, Language and Learning specialist with over 30 years of helping kids reach their full potential in communication and learning skills. She is a recognized leader in the treatment of children with language, learning and auditory challenges. She is the Director of Communication Therapy at the Center for Hearing and Communication in New York City. She has been a professor, is a noted author and a frequent guest speaker. Her book The Sound of Hope has been endorsed by Rosie O'Donnell and many others. Her mission is to teach parents about active listening and how to understand the developmental needs of their children. She's now delighted to be bringing parents the quality toys she believes will enhance children's development on her new website-ListenLoveLearn.com
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