Great Toys that Engage Parents and Kids in Play

Articles on Parenting | Topics: parenting, parent, parents

by Xenia Hensley

Parents today face the dilemma of how to limit the amount of time their children spend in front of the television, playing electronic games, or on the computer. This becomes increasingly difficult when the weather is not appropriate for outside play. This article will look at some of the other toys that are available to stimulate the mind and engage both the parents and children.

Science and nature is becoming very popular among parents and children. Children are very curious therefore; games, books, and puzzles with this theme are interesting to them. They are having fun and learning about the world around them at the same time. There are many astronomical projects available for children. They teach the child about our solar system in detail and the children will love to go outside and look at the night sky and try to locate constellations. You could purchase a telescope and use that to show them different planets as they pass near earth as well as take a close-up look at our moon and various stars. Children love to see the difference also between satellites and stars since to the naked eye they look very much alike.

How many parents receive tokens of love from their children that include bugs, spiders, lizards, and frogs? Many a parent has done the wash and checked their children's pockets only to discover some sort of "nature" jumping out at them. Parents can now purchase kits that show the child how insects and various bugs grow. They have tadpoles that the children can feed and watch become frogs! Of course, there is the beloved ant farm that many parents had at one time in their own childhood. There are also miniature archeological kits that are very engaging for the children.

Chemistry sets are quite popular among children. The kids have a great time seeing how the chemicals Ц something as simple as dish soap and oil Ц react together. They make microscopes for toddlers as well as the older children and aid in teaching them about the microscopic world that they cannot see.

Building toys of all kinds are always engaging to the child from Lego's to Lincoln Logs. For a child to spend time building a project, which can be as simple as stacking blocks on top of each other, they experience pride in their achievement and are even happier when they can knock it down! There are new toys out now that bring a different aspect to the building idea, Magnetics, are the new toy that allow the children to create different shapes, buildings, whatever they want and as they do so they are able to see the dynamics of magnets at work and learning about polarity and would you believe they are enjoying themselves.

A few toys that may be of interest for your children and you to engage in:

Х 1-2-3-Oy: This is a math game that will engage strategic thinking skills

аQuote of the Day

Relying on any one disciplinary approach—time-out, negotiation, tough love, the star system—puts the parenting team at risk. Why? Because children adapt to any method very quickly; today’s effective technique becomes tomorrow’s worn dance.

—Ron Taffel (20th century)

Х Cranium: This game requires children to accomplish several tasks that are engaging and stimulating.

Х GeoSafari: This is a talking microscope, how cool is that? It comes with an assortment of bug slides that the child will learn many interesting facts.

Х Snap: This cool game requires kids to put dragons together with tiles that resemble puzzles. The game has several different levels to challenge the player

Х Techno Gears Super Set: This game comes with over 100 plastic construction pieces that allow the child to build anything they want from a robot to an airplane and anything in between. Parents would definitely need to assist the younger child though the parents are bound to enjoy themselves just as much as their child will enjoy having them play with them.

Family times can also include playing cards, board games, and doing various types of art projects from beadwork, painting, and good old-fashioned coloring! This is a great way for the adult to find that child within them. It is not that difficult to draw the child's attention away from the television and other electronics when we consider that once they begin having fun with the family they will want to have that time more and more frequently.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Great Toys that Engage Parents and Kids in Play" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by FamilyBabyKids.com.

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