Title: Educational Toys - Do They Help? Word Count: 845 Summary: Most parents complain that their child does not concentrate on his/her academic pursuits, but instead whiles away the time, playing with toys. For such parents, and for all others, educational toys have come like a breath of fresh air and a ray of hope. Keywords: educational toys Article Body: Most parents complain that their child does not concentrate on his/her academic pursuits, but instead whiles away the time, playing with toys. For such parents, and for all others, educational toys have come like a breath of fresh air and a ray of hope. Purpose As the name suggest, the purpose of educational toys, is to educate. They essentially make learning fun, and have helped many a child to grasp the basics of various subjects. Over a period of time, many teachers, education experts have also started prescribing the use of educational toys to increase the intellectual ability of the child. Developing a child's abilities Educational toys are instrumental in developing the child, both emotionally, physically, as well as, intellectually. While buying an educational toy, you must take into consideration the age of the child. For example, a baby needs an educational toy that will help it grasp concepts like stimulation and hand-eye coordination etc, toddlers might just enjoy toys that will help them indulge in various activities etc, older children need a different set of educational toys. Target the area of development of a child, and buy a toy accordingly. Stimulation of creativity Educational toys also stimulate the creative pursuit of a child. There are many such toys available in the market that help a child learn the basic of drawing, crafts, or any other creative activity. Look for toys that will give wings to the imagination of a child. In the modern world, be wary of toys that, in the guise of education, focus on the play, and not practical education. The best toys are those that make a child think and perform accordingly. They get rid of stress All toys de-stress children. However, these toys go one step further and not only entertain, but also mold the psychological tendencies of the child. This means that they positively affect the core of the stressful condition and try to eliminate it. Again, at the same time, they assist the mental development of the child. Enjoy the learning process Such toys are getting increasingly popular because they are vibrant mix of entertainment and learning. Children get tired of studying and learning, more so, when they are forced to do the same. With educational toys, children might never realize that they are actually gaining some valuable learning lessons from the use of educational toys. They will learn, but in a way that is natural and thus they will understand the concepts in a better way. Educational toys make learning fun. Building knowledge and interest One of the most important benefits of using educational toys is that they increase the knowledge base of the children. More importantly there are various curriculum based educational toys that are specially designed to cater to particular subjects, such as science, mathematics, language etc. If such educational toys are used at a very young age, they help in piquing the interest of the children in the subjects that they might study after a few years. Increasing intelligence As a general course of occurrence, educational toys also increase the general level of intelligence in a child. This is because they make a child think and then perform. In most educational toys, there is a set of instructions that a child has to follow. This also teaches the child a certain level of discipline. Cognition Many of the educational toys cater to the needs of children, who have not yet started kindergarten, focus on developing their cognitive skills. There are toys that focus on the use of fine motor skills, in a child, before kindergarten. This helps a child, to effectively help in learning how to hold a pencil and to write with it. Helps specially challenged children Educational toys help people with either physical or mental disability to grasp the basics of various day to day activities, which they might otherwise not be able to learn. Even at the classroom level, many teachers use educational toys to explain various subjects to disabled children. Many a dyslexic child has learnt how to read and write through the use of various educational toys that are designed specially for their use. Increases dexterity Not only do they help in increasing mental dexterity, but physical dexterity as well. This is important for people who have learning difficulties or are suffering from conditions like autism etc. Such toys, help in problem solving and at times, are so effective that even specially challenged children, learn to read better, get good test scores, and think faster then they would have done if traditional methods of teaching had been used. Extensible toys There are quite a few educational toys, available that have an extensible nature. Meaning, a child can use them through various stages of his/her development. Throughout this time, the toy does not lose its inherent educational value and the child can learn something new from it all the time. All, this answers the question in our topic. Yes, educational toys are useful and will continue to be an integral part of the educational process of a child.