Too Much Awesome

Because the winter holidays are fast approaching, the next few posts will highlight how to choose the right toy as a gift. Many adults have trouble knowing what toys are appropriate for what age. Don’t beat yourself up about this – even parents sometimes miss the boat on their own children’s abilities. The truth is, [...]

The next couple posts will focus on toys and creativity.  For most kids, expressing their creativity is not usually a problem.  In fact, the problem is often that parents have to find ways to keep their children from expressing their creativity all over an expensive painting or a restaurant wall. The best way to funnel [...]

It is often difficult to tell if a child is being challenged enough by educational games. Here are some more suggestions about finding that balance between a little challenge and a Herculean task. Electronic toys were mentioned earlier. Another trick to employ if the child is a game player is to change the options of [...]

Last week the discussion about learning was focused by the metaphor of children’s minds as sponges.  However, there is an art to intellectually challenging a child.  In other words, kids don’t learn on autopilot.  Mentally reviewing the names of colors or the alphabet’s letters can be tiresome.  An added ingredient of challenge or spontaneity is [...]

Let’s talk more about how building blocks can hasten your child’s development. Alphabet blocks, in addition to being fun to chew on, also aid in intellectual development. Toddlers and twosies will naturally begin to sort their blocks based on the characters.  This piques their interest in letters, numbers, and colors, providing easy and ample opportunities [...]

When parents and babysitters want to know what are the best toys in the world,  the discussion should start with building blocks.  There are no more basic toys than blocks.  These wooden and plastic cubes, rectangles and triangles may seem boring to adults.  However,  to children they are, quite literally, the basic building blocks to [...]