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I believe that kids can learn something from just about any toy, but some toys are designed to teach. Here are some of our favorite intentional teaching toys:
- Pattern Blocks are the one toy I blog about over and over – we play with pattern blocks in play dough, put pattern blocks on our wall, stick contact paper on the floor or table to keep pattern blocks stable, build structures – you name it, we’ve probably done it! This is a toy I loved as a kid! I used these mostly to create pretty patterns as a child, but my more intellectually-minded brother used them to teach himself geometry. Said brother even used them to derive the equation for the total sum of angles of a polygon, and was super excited by his discovery, until he realized it was quite well known once you get to 9th grade or so. I still think it’s pretty cool he discovered it on his own! :)
- We love our GeoPuzzles! My kids are a little younger than their intended age range, but they love to put them together with a little help! Best of all, they are learning the shapes, locations, and names of the countries that make up our world in a very natural way.
- The Learning Resources Baby Bear Balance Set. Any bucket balance would do, really, but the baby bears are adorable – plus, I have fond memories of them from my own childhood. You can save money by buying the balance without the bears, if you don’t need bears (or don’t share my admittedly biased adoration of them). I am consistently happy with the quality of Learning Resources products. This week we’ve been comparing the weights of bears and rocks. I like bucket balances for little kids because they hold items easily, and you can even put liquids in them!
- Melissa & Doug Magnetic Letters & Numbers. I prefer these over traditional letter and number magnets, which have tiny magnets that tend to fall out.
- Kid-friendly magnifying glasses. Learning Resources doesn’t seem to make the one we adore any more, but these handheld ones are a nice compromise. We use these to explore our yard, and had an incredibly memorable camouflage lesson with them one day that my kids still talk about!
What are your favorite educational toys?
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Hmmm. Our tag readers and leapsters have been favorites
Legos. That’s for sure
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What a great list of educational toys! I always love when it’s fun AND educational.
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What a great list! I have been wanting to pick up some pattern blocks, those seem perfect! And I never thought of a balance toy, perfect!
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Great post. The best investment we’ve made into toys of any kind was definitely Magna Tiles. Since you have 3 (soon 4) I think it would be worth it, since this is definitely one of the sets that can grow with a child.
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maryanne Reply:
March 29th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve actually been contemplating getting those for a while – they look great!
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I couldn’t agree more. Geo-puzzles and other toys that teach are excellent. They are pretty much the only type of toys I buy. I also write about some of my favorite teaching toys on my blog – although I haven’t organized them together. You would find potholder looms under crafts, etc. Thanks for the recommendations.
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maryanne Reply:
March 29th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Oh, I bet my 6yo would love a potholder loom! Will have to check out your site!
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So true that all toys are educational. Thanks for balancing bear recommendation. I like it! Great picks!
We have the Tag reader too and like it, of course blocks too.
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maryanne Reply:
March 29th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Blocks are timeless!
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Great list. Abby loves Tinker Toys. They are made into all kinds of things. Today it was a wheelchair for one of her dolls that broke its leg. LOL!
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maryanne Reply:
March 29th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
I need to get my kids some Tinker Toys – maybe Christmas this year…
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Man do I want one of those magnifying glasses. I wonder why they don’t make them anymore :(
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maryanne Reply:
March 30th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
I heard they weren’t selling well. I love ours, though, and hope they bring them back!
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My kids love the huge floor puzzles. We have some with sea creatures, farm animals, the solar system…they are awesome!
Sandy
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maryanne Reply:
March 30th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Those are always a lot of fun!
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[...] for the mind: Toys That Teach: Educational Toys We Adore ~ [...]
Yep, yep, yep. We have all of these toys in our home. Children are natural learners and knowledge seekers. I agree they can learn with just about any open-ended type of toy. I like toys that allow for freedom and investigation. :)
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Love the list and the picture..I have one geography loving boy! He own every map he can get me to buy for him!
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[...] Toys like these will help your child to learn as they play, and get the most out of their free time.All children love to play with toys, often at the expense of doing their school work! Thankfully, pl…Making education enjoyable can be a great way to stimulate your child’s interest in learning. If [...]
We haven’t tried many floor puzzles yet, but we like the wooden educational puzzles. There are a lot of neat Montesorri puzzles (but of course, most of them cost an arm and a leg!)
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Great list! And I do share your love of adorable bears… :)
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