Learning toys are toys that allow children to acquire new skills while having fun. Educational games for children encompass a wide range of options: puzzles, lotto games, board games, memory games, dominos, and educational games. These educational games adapt to the child's age and follow their development from infancy to childhood, catering to different needs such as fine motor skills practice, observation of situations and logical scenario building, strategic thinking, vocabulary enrichment, and general knowledge development. Educational games contribute to a child's psychomotor development and should be part of their daily routine from an early age.
Encourage fun learning with educational games
By using educational games, children can discover, learn, and improve their cognitive, motor, and even sensory skills in a fun way. With educational games, children learn through the manipulation of pieces of different sizes, shapes, colours, and materials, as seen in puzzles or shape sorting games. Other educational toys are particularly valuable in helping children understand the world around them and gradually initiate fundamental learning during their preschool years.
From a young age, babies can practice screwing, lacing, fitting, or stacking, which helps develop their grasping abilities and wrist flexibility. As the years go by, children work on more advanced skills such as memory, hand-eye coordination, and even basic reasoning and logic, either alone or in a group.
For educational games to fulfil their purpose, it is important to provide an age-appropriate level of difficulty that stimulates and encourages children to progress comfortably. In this way, children will be more inclined to engage and learn effectively. Additionally, it is advisable to vary activities to keep learning interesting and stimulating.
Learning social skills through board games
With board games, children discover and refine their social skills, such as taking turns, following rules, and anticipating outcomes. Whether played with family or in a group, they learn to adopt appropriate behaviours that will be useful in a community setting. Educational games are an excellent way to learn concentration and cooperation. Beyond learning, the notion of pleasure is crucial. Educational games should remain a source of fulfilment and enjoyment for children.
Board games are a great way to help children develop logical strategies and cooperate as a team. Traditional board games such as Snakes and Ladders, Checkers, or Mikado can be used to exercise speed, accept the element of chance, and acquire new skills while having fun. Through these types of educational games, children work on comprehension, memory, and respect for rules.
Educational games allow children to experience various emotions such as self-confidence, empathy, altruism, teamwork, and accepting defeat with good sportsmanship, without creating absolute drama! Whether at home, day-care, or school, playing board games brings children and adults together for enjoyable moments.
Developing fine motor skills with puzzles
Puzzles and shape sorting games are essential educational toys for children. From around 12 month, babies can manipulate their first puzzle pieces and practice fine motor skills. Puzzles also help enrich children's vocabulary, introducing them to shapes, colours, letters of the alphabet, or numbers.
Puzzles come in wooden versions with differently sized pieces suitable for the youngest children, designed to withstand repeated handling. Puzzles can also be sensory, featuring different textures (smooth, rough) and raised elements that children enjoy exploring through touch. Finally, magnetic puzzles allow children to work on their observation skills.
Stimulating visual memory with lotto and memory games
Lotto and memory games are educational games that help children develop their visual memory. With different themes such as animals, seasons, emotions, children enhance their vocabulary and develop their language skills. Some
lotto or memory games offer sound versions to develop auditory perception. Lotto and domino games are interesting for encouraging children to count and visually recognize numbers while developing their logical thinking.
Educational games: a complement to learning
Some
educational games are specifically designed to have educational value. They serve as a great supplement to traditional schooling as they provide children with the opportunity to approach vocabulary, language, and mathematics concepts in a fun and complementary way to conventional classroom learning.
