Toddler Educational Toys

Kids love playing with water. Put some liquid soap in a small amount of water and watch them pouring and making bubbles. Older children will imagine washing dishes or making tea. Never leave your child unattended around water as babies and toddlers can drown in very shallow water.

Children love to paint and the messier it gets the more fun they have. Dress them in old clothes and put newspapers on the floor and let them get on with it. Just make sure you have bought water soluble paint - you will thank me later when you go to clean up.

My kids love cutting out and sticking things with glue. I find that solid glue that comes in a stick is easiest. But be warned, they need close supervision or suddenly you might find everything has got a bit sticky!

When the weather permits take your children outside and encourage active play. This will help prevent childhood obesity but it also is a great stress reliever, for parents as well as kids. Playing with a ball encourages your child's development. Their eye hand co-ordination improves as does their balance.

Toddlers love to chase after a ball although you may find they revert to crawling as it is faster than walking. Try not to get too caught up in how dirty they get. Despite all the adverts on TV, children need exposure to germs and dirt in order to build up healthy immune systems. Most parks have dog free areas so your child should be quite safe toddling along in the grass.

Try and take your child out in all weathers. Toddlers love splashing in puddles so dress them up in their wet gear. So long as you have a towel handy and don't let their wet clothes dry onto them, they are very unlikely to go down with pneumonia. Common sense applies in all cases. Trust your parental instincts.

Take your kids to the beach and let them paddle in the sea. Never let them swim away from the shore even when they are older as they can get into difficulties and deep water very quickly. It is much safer to walk out a little bit and then "swim" back in towards the shore. Children love building sand castles and this will keep them amused for hours. Bring a picnic - kids don't mind sand in sandwiches! The combination of exercise and sea air will make them hungry.

It is important to let your child have time to play on his own and use his imagination. Parents who fill their children's day up with activities generally find that it backfires. They end up with tired grumpy kids. It is much better to allow them to amuse themselves.

Young toddlers may copy your daily activities i.e. do some "cooking" and washing up. Kids also like to dress up and pretend to be mommies and daddies so it might be an idea to have a small box of old clothes for dress up.

Reading to your child is one of the best educational things you can do. Join your local library and make trips to get books a fun outing for all of you. Shape sorters and puzzles help develop their motor skills. Puzzles help them to learn how to solve problems.

You don't need tons of the expensive toys for your children. Most get bored very quickly with toys that just make the same noise when you push a button. Look for old favourites - building blocks for younger toddlers, age appropriate Lego for older ones. Plastic tea sets or shop accessories. Train sets and cars for boys. Dolls and buggies for girls although don't be alarmed if your son starts playing with dolls. This is all a natural phase of growing up.

Play is supposed to be fun! Don't go overboard in making it a learning activity. Children learn all day long from all sorts of situations.

Enjoy this special time with your children as before you know it they will be off with their friends. You won't be the centre of their tiny universe for long so treasure it whilst it lasts.