Family Forum / Parenting / Parenting / November 2006

http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-10170-Learning-Friends-Phonics/dp/B00005MA07/sr=1
-2/qid=1164438379/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-0158294-2217476?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games

LeapFrog Learning Friends Phonics Bus - teaches letters, sounds, words
that have that sound and the ABC song.  Plus the characters come out
for play, and each plays a different instrument when inserted in the
"driver's seat" of the bus.  DS is almost 3 and loves this thing - he's
had it for just over a year.  It runs about $19.99 at KMart or Target.

-L.

They're called books.

If you don't think playing at cooking is educational, you need to broaden your
understanding of education.  You need an understanding of the world to
understand what you are reading.

All forms of play are educational for children.  Don't get too bogged down
with teaching academic type things.  There's plenty of time to learn the
ABC's.  These early years are for fun and exploration.  Cooking is
educational too.

Jen

Everything is educational to a 2-year-old. Just get her things that she is
interested in and don't worry about the educational aspect because she
learns something with everything she does.

Go with the play kitchen! She can learn colors for vegetables and fruits,
count different items in the kitchen, and if you get sets where many things
are labeled, will have tons of real-world exposure to environmental print,
which sparks interest in letters and reading much more than "the A says
aaaa" type toys. My 2 yr old loves to imitate me, so things like a small
broom and dust pan, rake for raking leaves, a bin of sand outside and
measuring cups, and anything "real" is a big deal. And I admit I'm enjoying
having a child who thinks sweeping the floor or wiping the table or washing
dishes is fun right now. And, again, there's tons of opportunities for
real-world learning.

As far as letters, numbers, colors, shapes, etc, my 2 yr old has learned
most of hers from Sesame Street. At least I assume that's what sparked the
interest, because one day she started asking me what various letters were,
and telling me to "read ABCs" on everything-and by the end of a several
month obsession, she had them down. Recently, it's been naming colors and
shapes on everything. Actually, it's been a relief to see more imaginative
play instead of "The lego is red. The lego is yellow. The lego is Orange"
for every single duplo in her bucket!

    The vast majority of "teaching toys" are boring
and useless.  The "teaching toy" that actually works is
*you*.  Find something she enjoys, like cooking together,
and myriad teaching opportunities will present themselves.
At the same time, if you try to spend most of her play
time "teaching" her, she's likely to rebel.  When they
say that young children learn best through play, that's
exactly what they mean--real play, not a bunch of
drills disguised as play.
    I'm not saying you can't make games out of
sorting by colors or playing counting games or pointing
out letters and sounds as those things come up in life
and play, but I'd be very cautious about pushing the
educational toys and insisting that everything be
"educational."  Two year olds know darned well when
they're being pushed like that, and they can get
*very* rebellious about it--and no wonder!
    A play kitchen is considered so educational
that almost every preschool classroom spends quite a
bit of money and dedicates quite a bit of space in order
to have a play kitchen, and they won't even hold formal
lessons as the kids are using it.  If she would like a
play kitchen, by all means, let her play in either your
kitchen or a play kitchen.  You can spend a fortune
buying educational toys that she'll barely bother to
use.

Best wishes,
Ericka

I also vote for the play kitchen!  So-called "Educational" toys, while
looking good to parents, tend to be booooring to kids once they've
pushed the buttons and heard all the sounds.

Play, play, play is more educational than any electronic teaching toy.

Nan

Thank you for the suggestions! I might go with the play kitchen. They
have a number of choices at the local Toys R Us. Somehow, I wanted to
escape the stereotype of girls cooking, I guess.

As for books and blocks, we have tons of them already, so I was
wondering about something else that might give us a better start in
preschool. She is interested in letters and shapes, and I don't think
I'll be pushing these too forcefully  :)

My husband was considering a toddler laptop, but I didn't see one that
I liked yesterday at the store.
Gia

A play kitchen is actually extremely educational for this age.

By playing in a pretend kitchen, children:

learn what the roles of mothers and fathers and children are.
understands what it feels like to play at being somebody other
than himself.
learn how to use his imagination.
learn how to cooperate with other children.

Pretend play comes in several stages and it is a very important
part of childrens' cognitive learning.

The first stage is where kids pretend by mimicking... feeding
dolls, talking on the phone, etc.   The average for this is 12m
- 21m.  

Symbolic pretend may be a second stage of pretend.
If a child is pretending with a prop, and the prop is something
completely different... then are they mimicking or truely
pretending? I almost think it depends on the situation.
A child that picks up a block and pretends it's a piece of
food, or telephone... yes, it's more elaborate than just
using a toy phone as a phone, but at the same time it seems
closer to the first stage than the third, and probably falls
into something inbetween. Now, if someone uses a prop such
as a sippy cup to be a tree for a terradactyl and her nest....
that seems far more elaborate. How about a backyard is a lake
that a child is swimming in? Again, both are using 'props',
but both seem to be  'true pretend'

"True" pretend, is what is referred to as starting at 3 years.
That's where a child is pretending something is completely
different.  A child gets on all fours and barks like a dog,
is a basic example. A child pretends to be a princess, and
develops an elaborate story and plot around it.  Some kids bypass
this phase.

--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

It's curious to me that I have trouble remembering what my kids played with
at age two.
The only thing that they really enjoyed and played with for a long time,
was a good value for the money,  and I didn't end up donating or throwing
away, was Duplo. All Hail Duplo! (and Lego)

Gia, I'm the mom of three, and I think you need to redefine what you
mean by "teach". My experience with kids toys is that the basics are
best. By that I mean the tried and true. Blocks, books, stacking cups,
dolls, toy kitchen stuff, play houses, toy cars, a wagon, balls, dress
up - the stuff kids have been playing with for generations. Best
investment you can make is those basic items - the electronic stuff has
very limited play value.

You want kids to engage in imaginative play, in testing out the world
and their bodies. That's what they learn from.

When each of our kids was that age, their most favourite books were
word books, that were full of interesting pictures - when we read to
them, we'd be having fun pointing things out (where's the ducky?
Where's the red ball?) Here is a sample of one we had that was a huge
hit for years with the kids
http://www.amazon.com/First-Thousand-Words-English/dp/0794502822 (it
also comes in a pile of other languages if you are a bilingual
household or want to introduce another language - they even have a
Hebrew version).

Enduring hits in our house were plastic kitchen items (plates, pots,
tea sets) and toy food, a toy grocery cart and cash register. Toy
kitchen, toy washing machines (all made of tough plastic). These things
provided YEARS of play - they played house, they played store, they
played restaurant, they played picnic, they used them for everything
you can think of. We have a Little Tykes plastic play house in the
basement, and it gets used for all kinds of things as well. We have a
neighbour with two small girls, and when the second was born I gave
their two year old a plastic picnic set that included some play food,
and the parents both sought us out later to thank us - they were blown
away by how much their daughter LOVED pretending to serve tea, or make
dinner.

We have a huge supply of both foam and wooden blocks - the kids are now
8, 12 and 15 and they still play with them (mazes for the guinea pig,
cities, etc. etc.) Or they just pile them all up into huge towers and
knock them down.

A rocking horse got used a lot as did the plastic wagon, ride-em toys.
Dollhouses were beloved in various forms (including by the boys when
they were smaller). Dolls, carriages, doll beds, much loved - my oldest
son (the one who is now 15) had a doll he called Baby Susie he liked to
push around in her carriage when he was your child's age.  Plastic
vehicles like Little Tykes fire engines etc. provided tons of fun.

Think about learning in broader terms.

M

You've already got one. It's called your computer keyboard. #1 learnt all
her letters (upper and lower case) by typing on it at 24 months into Word.
Now buy her the pretend kitchen.
Debbie