Educational Toys

By now, we can all agree on the importance of exposing babies and toddlers to books. Let’s consider other factors that help children develop a strong foundation for literacy. I didn’t rely on a computer to teach my children to read, but things have changed since then with so much technology geared to today’s youngster. Still, I believe there is a place for inexpensive, non-technical toys. Learning becomes a natural part of a child’s childhood when their toys have an educational component. Although I bought some technical toys, early on, I focused on ones like these:

https://youtu.be/vqUpcJNUjc8

We used to keep these magnetic letters on our refrigerator, and they were indispensable because I could play with our daughter while I cooked dinner. How convenient is that? After our children learned the sounds letters made, we progressed into creating short words and swapped out letters to create rhyming words. Before long, our kids were r-e-a-d-i-n-g, and yours will, too. Reading-related toys can be pricey, but garage sale finds are more economic. What’s your favorite reading-related toy?