Do Children Actually Learn from Educational Toys?
Many baby toys claim to teach a skill, be it better reading or math ability, a larger vocabulary, or problem-solving skills. Parents, it appears, are buying into these claims, as sales of educational baby toys went up six percent last year. At the same time, though, experts are questioning the claims behind educational baby toys, particularly if children actually learn anything from them.
While skills can be learned in a number of ways, there’s essentially two basic approaches: classroom learning style with a direct goal or intention, or indirect discovery and explanation. Many educational toys, including Baby Einstein and Your Baby Can Read, take the former approach. While the educational claims of expanded vocabulary of Baby Einstein were disproved, plenty more toys assert similar results. At the same time, measuring how much a child learned from a particular toy is difficult.
Even if studies cannot be performed on all educational baby toys out there, the advertisements claiming increased learning can. Targeting both parents and their children, marketing for such toys is unregulated. Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, stated about this issue:
“Nobody checks the ads and says, ‘No, you can’t say that.’ That would be prior restraint. Unless it’s doing someone harm or grossly misleading, you have to give the benefit of the doubt to the people making the claim.”
That’s not to say that no baby toys are educational. Rather, toys without a specific purpose, such as blocks, may be better at teaching that a video geared toward learning words or math. Such toys specifically focus on exploration and creativity, and a child ends up learning both mental and physical skills as a result. The Early Years Institute President Dana Friedman stated about choosing baby toys:
“Generally speaking, the simpler the toy, the more complex the play. The more complex the toy, the more simple the play. You want to find toys where children have options for what they do with it. If it’s a toy that can only be used in one way, don’t get it.”
Considering Educational Baby Toys
We’ve discussed several times on here the importance of educational baby toys, particularly with what counts as an educational toy and what should be avoided. With Baby Einstein in question and baby computers still new, what types of toys should you consider for your child?
For those of you who are new parents (or about to become parents), you might be wondering what is considered an “educational baby toy,” also known as a learning toy. Generally, an educational toy is an object or game that teaches a child a new skill. But, before you start breaking out the multiplication flashcards for the eight-month-old, think about the skill associated with the toy first. You might not even think of such toys as being educational.
A recent press release talks about what educational baby toys do. These developmental or stimulation toys may be as simple as mirror or a set of blocks, but they all do one thing: stimulate your child’s senses. The time between birth and age three is significant for brain development. Children want to explore the world around them and, in the process, acquire new skills – whether they realize it or not. This may range from developing better hearing and touch senses in infancy to confidence, creativity, emotions, coordination, social skills, and language in the toddler and preschool years.
If you’re unsure which toys count as being “educational” and which aren’t, many baby stores have a separate section devoted to educational baby toys. Of course, the skill being targeted differs. For example, baby toys designed to improve an infant’s sight will be designed in black, white, and red, while a toy to help a toddler with coordination may be a set of blocks in a variety of shapes.
While a blog post is too small of space to fully discuss which learning toys are appropriate for each age group, consider the skills a child should be learning at the time, and base your choice for learning toys on this skill set.
Your Baby Can Read: Can He?
A new toy has appeared on the market called Your Baby Can Read and, according to the press release in the link, the toy has been named one of the top educational toys of the year. But, as studies have shown with videos like Baby Einstein for building vocabulary, children can become over-stimulated, and these supposed educational toys end up backfiring. In the case of studies done on Baby Einstein, the vocabulary of children exposed to Baby Einstein videos and those not was about the same. Your Baby Can Read has been on the market not as long, but the press release claims that helping a child learn new words during a time when they crave stimulation is better than waiting until elementary school.
Both the press release and the website for the Your Baby Can Read toy, however, fail to fully explain how this toy works. The website’s product selection includes various CDs, DVDs, and flashcards for building vocabulary and learning to read. Although children under five need stimulation to learn certain skills, over stimulation is also an issue. Another point, especially from studies done on Baby Einstein, is that these videos don’t use parent-ese or “baby talk,” which a baby responds to better.
The positive aspect of this toy is some aspect of interaction. Many educational toys simply involve putting a child in front of a computer or television, but the set of products for Your Baby Can Read incorporates colored flashcards, which require some interaction between the parent and child. Although asking a child under five to learn to read sentences might lead to over stimulation, the toy appears to help children with building vocabulary and identifying individual words. As parents are under pressure to have their child reading by or during kindergarten, this toy could help with learning words, although children who feel pressure or over stimulation tend to not absorb new information or skills as quickly as one who receives enough stimulation to still be curious.
Educational Toys: Infants
Filed under: Baby Gear, Baby Toys, Miscellaneous, Premier Baby Stores
When picking out infant toys, one aspect to keep in mind is the educational value of the toy. Educational toys for infants, however, don’t focus on learning skills, such as counting numbers, reading, or learning another language, but are used for stimulation. In fact, educational toys for children under three years of age can be considered indirect educational toys, as playing and using the toys themselves allows the children’s senses to be stimulated and to learn basic skills, such as motor skills, how to play with others, and coordination and balance. Infant toys are designed to stimulate the senses of touch, sight, and hearing and, as a result, many infant toys are geared toward at least one of these senses.
Have you ever wondered why infant toys are designed in primary colors, black and white, or patterns? The use of bright colors and vibrant colors is designed to stimulate an infant’s vision. For the first six months, a baby generally has blurry or unfocused vision and seeing things in black and white, or with brighter patterns, develops the child’s sight. Toys, or stimulation objects, are generally placed in the crib area. These can be black and white toys, baby books, or mobiles and, in fact, some specific stimulation mobiles combine black and white colors with bright patterns. In addition, for the baby to become more familiar with his or her reflection, a mirror can be placed in his or her crib for him or her to see his or her reflection often.
For stimulating touch, many baby toys, in addition to bright and contrasting colors and patterns, are made up of various textures. These can be harder or soft textures, while others are crinkly. Other toys, such as teething rings, allow a baby to grasp onto something to feel its shape and size. Some baby playpens, or play mats, combine both colors and touching aspects with various toys and surfaces for additional stimulation.
In addition to touch and sight, baby toys are designed to stimulate the sense on hearing which, much like vision, is cloudy and unfocused during the first few months. Baby toys, however, don’t play music, with the exception of mobiles, and are designed to make jingling or other sharp sounds when a baby touches, squeezes, or pushes the toy.