Six Favorite Educational Toys

 1. Busy Bugs

Busy Bugs are all about math, including patterning, colors, addition, and subtraction. Both of my children have adored playing with them for years. Owning these darling and brightly-colored bugs means I sit back and wait for my children to ask me for math - er, busy bugs.

2. Rainbow Fish Lotto

I posted a short review of this game here! My three favorite things about it are: 1) It's based on a storybook, 2) the pictures are bright and beautiful, and 3) even a just-turned-two-year-old can play it.

3. Kumon First Steps Workbooks

These don't sound like toys, but the First Steps workbooks (for ages 2 and up) may as well be. There are Kumon workbooks for older ages, too. We have an ages 3-4-5 workbook which has been received with good grace but not the happiness with which the smaller workbooks were greeted. For ages 2 and up, we have tried Let's Cut Paper!, More Let's Cut Paper!, and Let's Sticker and Paste!

My son went from not knowing how to correctly use scissors to becoming a cutting expert! I have to stop him from finishing these books in one sitting.

4. Stringing Beads

Any type of stringing beads is a great educational toy, useful for fine motor skills and patterning. The Melissa & Doug set pictured below in the carousel has good reviews.

Fun & Engaging Activities for Toddlers, a fantastic toddler learning activity blog, has some great ideas for making your own stringing beads.

5. Magnadoodles

My children never got obsessed with these like they did with other toys, but they always liked drawing on them even when they didn't want to draw or write on paper. I have a hunch it's easier in terms of fine muscle strength, but that's just a guess. It also seems a little bit more like magic to them when the marks appear on the Magnadoodle board. My older son wrote his first letters on a large Magnadoodle.

A chalkboard, dry erase board, or yogurt on a baking sheet can all serve the same purpose, if your child likes those surfaces. They are interesting, somewhat unusual, and often easier than writing or drawing on paper.

6. Puzzles

Puzzles are simply classic. There are so many different types of puzzles out there, and levels of difficulty for any ability.

Something like the Melissa & Doug Jumbo Fishbowl Puzzle pictured below is great for babies, to get them used to the idea of puzzles and to increase their fine motor skills using the knobs on the pieces (manufacturer recommended age 1-3 years).

Other than the pick-up of 26 small pieces, we like the Melissa & Doug See-Inside Alphabet Peg Puzzle for toddlers and preschoolers (about age 22 months and up at our house, but the manufacturer says 3 years and up due to choking hazard).

The Crocodile Creek Jungle 123 7 Foot Floor Puzzle was a fantastic first jigsaw puzzle for our preschooler. It was an easier jigsaw, but just challenging enough to keep him interested for years:

I also highly recommend the Melissa & Doug Dinosaurs 48 Pcs Floor Puzzle for this level.

A high quality puzzle that was perfect for the next step was Ravensburger's 35-piece Dinosaur Playground (manufacturer recommended ages 4-15 years):

How Do Dinosaurs...? Puzzle Activity

For anyone doing the How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Storybook Week (or anyone whose children love dinosaurs), this activity from Crafts~N~Things for Children is a spectacular, easy addition. I love it!

Because my children love both dinosaurs and puzzles, and because I have all the necessary materials (hurray!), we will be doing this activity posthaste.

Find the full How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Storybook Week here, at the link above, or in the Storybook Weeks sidebar.

Storybook Week 1: Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3

Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 was written by Bill Martin Jr., and Michael Sampson. It was illustrated by Lois Ehlert. The very first step in the Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 Storybook Week is to get a copy of the book and/or the video (Weston Woods Scholastic, 2005). The book is readily available in libraries, on Amazon.com, and in bookstores. The DVD is available on Amazon as well, and as part of the Scholastic Treasury of 100 Storybook Classics.

1. The Numbers of Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3

Read-Aloud/Story Interest

Read the book or watch the Weston Woods Scholastic story video. For the following activity, use a pack of number flashcards (about $2-$3 at a convenience store like Walgreens) or make them yourself.

To make number cards, simply type the numbers in a large font size in a word processing document, leaving spaces between each number. You may want to use different colors for each number or do every 10th number in the same color, or any other idea you think would be fun. Print on card stock. Cut the numbers out in squares.

Take from the pack the numbers 1-20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 99, and 100. Ask your child to put these numbers in the order that they appear in the story.

For a baby or toddler: Show the flashcards, one by one, and say the number out loud. 1-10 is probably plenty for this age group. For an older baby or toddler, hand the card to them so they can look at it more closely. Better yet, use the foam numbers you can find in grocery stores, Amazon.com, or the baby aisle of Target.

For an older child: After doing the above activity, have your child reverse the order and count backwards down to 1.

2. Counting by Tens

Sensory learning/Math concepts

Use this free ebook by Jim Erskine for Candy Math ideas to learn counting by tens with candy or colored cereals. It is part of the first activity in the ebook, titled Skip Counting.

3. Bumblebees!

Science concepts/Arts and crafts

Go on a bumblebee hunt outside. If the season or area is not a good one for bumblebees, read together a book or website about bumblebees, like this one. It is always fun to bring a magnifying glass or binoculars, if your preschooler has either of these.

For toddlers: Point to as many pictures of bumblebees as you can find and make the "bzzz, bzzz" sound. Together, pretend to be bumblebees and go buzzing around the house.

For babies: Make a bumblebee puppet and have it buzz over the pages of the book. If baby has older siblings, they could be in charge of making the puppet. This is a fun puppet that would be a good project for a preschooler. Be sure the baby is never left alone with it because the antennae, tape, and/or bag could be unsafe for babies. If you are a knitter, this is a cute bee knitting pattern that you could make with or without the cord.

4. Number Four

Fine motor skills/Number recognition

Ask your child to write a large block number 4. Or write it yourself or draw tracing guidelines for younger children. Have your child color it, then cut out the outline of the number. A child who needs an easier cutting activity can cut out the number in a square if you draw the guidelines.

5. What Happened?

Narration/Thinking about the story

Ask your child:
"Who was left out of the tree?"
"Why was zero crying?"
"What happened at the end?"

If your child needs more writing practice have him or her write out the answers. If your child is younger or does not yet write, write down the answers as he or she speaks to show the attention you are paying to their answers.