Educational Toys On The Go!
You have seen them in restaurants, airports, and even next to you on the plane- little kids with their faces glued to their mom’s smartphone or tablet. The upside is that these digital devices help keep kids calm and distracted in public places. However, the AAP warns against using passive toys because they are harmful to a child’s development in more ways than one.
That leads us to the question, what do you use to calm your child down and keep them busy when traveling, eating out, or sitting in a public place?
Interactive portable educational toys
Unlike your phone or tablet, interactive educational toys require the involvement of the child’s brain, hands and mouth, so they are not just passively watching mind-numbing stuff. We are talking about things like ABC tablets, coloring books, and puzzles. Not only do they keep your child busy and calm, but they also teach them stuff and help in the child’s overall development.
Benefits of Educational Toys on the Go
It goes without saying that kids have limited patience, and they don’t understand what you are doing in a restaurant or queuing at the airport for hours. Once their ten-minute patience runs out, you can expect an epic meltdown that involves crying, rolling on the floor, and asking for things that don’t make sense. This is why you need an interactive educational toy on the go.
Something like this ABC tablet from Just Smarty will keep the child so occupied and entertained that they won’t even notice you’ve been sitting still for two hours. They get to learn letters, numbers, different kinds of animals, and even spelling, all in a simple and fun way.
That’s not the only thing interactive educational toys do, though. They also;
1. Develop and strengthen a child’s motor skills
As your baby plays with the toy, their fine and motor skills develop. The kid learns how to grasp objects, press buttons, hold tiny things using their fingers, and so much more. These skills will help them later when feeding themselves, writing, and doing everyday chores.
2. Cognitive development
The primary disadvantage of passive play is that it doesn’t develop the cognitive part of a child. In fact, screen time is associated with poor memory, low concentration, and poor problem-solving skills. With interactive educational toys, your child gets to work their brain off, which makes it grow in every way.
3. Strengthening the child’s self-esteem and independence
There is a joy that comes from solving a puzzle, coloring a picture perfectly, and identifying letters or animals in a kid’s tablet. What’s more, kids feel amazing when their parents say, ‘great job,’ and it raises their self-esteem and confidence.
While they may need a bit of guidance and assistance initially, kids will learn how to play with the toy on their own very fast. Soon enough, the parent doesn’t even need to be involved, and you have an independent child on your hands.
Portable educational toys are a lifesaver when you need to step out of the house with your child. Instead of handing them that mind-numbing phone that will leave them with a dopamine high and poor cognitive bandwidth, invest in something that will keep your child occupied with beneficial material