5 Toys That Can Increase Your Kids Creative Skills
We all want the best for our children. I mean, who doesn’t want to have their little ones producing some magical ideas and emerging top of the class month after month? Well, as it turns out, the kind of toys you expose your kids do actually determine who they grow up to become. So to help you mould them into little Albert Einsteins, let us let you in on five types of toys that are known for helping kids unlock their creative juices like never before.
3D Colouring Books
These modern-day colouring tools allow your kid to do what creatives do best “create things” e.g. by colouring pre-made figurines and scanning them using a Smartphone thereby bringing them to life. Sounds complicated? Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. Provided your kid loves colouring objects, the use of augmented reality (AR) technology can come in handy in helping relay any drawings made.
Of course, that goes a long way in helping your little ones conceptualize ideas and see them mature into reality. This technology improves on hand-eye coordination and at the same time enhances your kid’s problem-solving skills. All these are important when it comes to their development.
Moreover, colouring games have been a great component of nurturing kids’ passion for arts – and therefore by incorporating AR; you will only be taking the fun to an entirely new level.
Learning Toys
You don’t have to spend the whole day trying to help your little one understand how to study the map of the world. Likewise, you don’t expect your kids to understand complex things such as the history of the pyramids or the Burj Khalifa. That’s precisely why learning toys exist. They make things absolutely easy for your little ones allowing them to learn new stuff but in a new, interesting and tangible manner.
The early years of your kid’s development (particularly between the time they are born and when they turn 6) is a time of rapid development. You, therefore, want to utilize every opportunity you have at this juncture to help them to grow. Think about toys that come with 3D cuttings of different skyscrapers of the world or even ones that allow your kid to complete a jigsaw puzzle.
These toys tap into your child’s natural curiosity helping them combine their play-time with learning time. The problem with other toys is that they only encourage your kid to play. Learning toys, on the other hand, help them to learn and play at the same time – and as you know, that can help them acquire key skills right from an early age.
Scrap Books
You can never go wrong with scrap booking. This timeless art allows your kid to capture and preserve their awesome memories, converting them into a showcase that oozes with creativity. For instance, you can have your child mark each city they visit with a sticker on a map.
Get them to put some fun photos taken during these trips. It may sound like a routine thing to do, but it indeed plays a role in improving your kid’s ability to gather and preserve memories. This also jogs their minds and allows them to develop a photographic memory. We live in times where visual-learning is gradually taking over learning.
Rest assured, learners of the future will be interacting with more graphics than we did. In that regard, it would be a good idea to have your little ones interacting with graphics from an early-onset. In order to make scrap booking even more enjoyable, you can always make it a special thing that you and your child spend time doing together. Of course, this is also a wonderful way to keep your kid away from the TV so they can do stuff that engages their cognitive abilities.
Play Dough
You can never go wrong with moulding, sculpting, rolling and squishing, especially if your kid is a hands-on king or queen. The only thing you need to do is order a supply of dough and some moulding tools (most dough suppliers provide the two). This simple, pre-school routine lets your little one use their imagination, and some muscles create some props.
You can, for instance, have them design some food items they see at home. Have them use the yellow dough to mould some yellow bananas. Likewise, have them use red and a bit of green dough to create some strawberries. There is really no limit as to the number of experiments your kids can undertake with playdough. And the best thing about it is that it exposes them to a myriad of social skills especially when their friends come over to visit and they have to take turns in the squishing, rolling and sculpting routines.
The power of play dough is not just limited to play time; you can use the dough to create letters and numbers. Having your kids learn how to combine letters and numbers can boost their math skills, literacy, and even science.
LEGO
LEGO toys are a kind of a big deal nowadays – we even have Lego cartoons these days. Even Scooby-Doo has gone Lego. Well, the good thing about these plastic, interlocking toys is that they let your kids learn, make mistakes and learn again.
These tiny bricks are perfect for enhancing your little ones motor skills as they involve a lot of manipulative work which can keep your little kiddos busy for hours. By themselves, LEGO minifigures are an interesting form of storytelling. Whether it’s a lost horse trying to find their way into a stable, Scooby trying to run away from monsters or a mom preparing their son for school, there is no limit to the kind of cooperative play these toys can bring.
One unique thing about LEGO bricks is that a few mistakes here and there can lead to disastrous experiences such as an entire tower tumbling down. That alone teaches your kids a vital lesson – that failure is part of life, and it is important to keep going even after one has fallen.
Final Word
Kids are some of the best innovators you will ever come across. Their powerful imagination can offer a bounty of cognitive and academic benefits. So besides getting them loads of toys to play with at home, it’s always a good idea to get them stuff that supports their creative energy. Who knows, you might just discover some of their hidden talents in time and start nurturing them to fruition.
Ahmed
Award Winning Advertising Professional
Ahmed is a Kenyan with a passion of marketing and keen interest in social development. Known in the Kenyan advertising scene for making a difference in people lives using social media and also for being part of award winning work.