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Can anyone tell me are these big kids or small teenagers?

If you are in contact with this age group on regular basis, you most likely would agree that it depends on the day and situation. Well, really the hour.

So the dilemma for Christmas gift giving becomes finding a Christmas gift for this age range that does not offend their 'grown-upness' but still plays to their childlike tendencies. After all, a nine year old is still a kid.

To help you sort through some of thinking behind finding the right gift this group, I have put together a few tips for you.

1. Buy Gifts that Give the Kids Permission to Play

There are some very fun toys out there that are targeted towards more advanced role-playing. Two examples would be -

1. A helmet with voice activated noises and lights, yes very cool.

2. Deluxe model transformers: these have additional features that younger kids would not know how to play or would break. Playing swords with a helmet that has lights everywhere would be great fun for all ages. Anything that flies or moves would be great interactive gifts.

2. Creative Gifts

So much fun to shop for! You can find just about anything you can dream up for this age group in the creative thought line.

Block Building Set

There are block-building sets with motors so your creations actually move. You can build Lego or other Lego type toys into transforming robots. My nephew loves his 'creature' like this and will tell you about his dad and him building it. K'nex and Magnetix (if you do not have small children or pets in the house) are tons of fun.

Science Experiments

I found lots of science type experiments that the kids would have a great time doing. Whether it is stargazing, exploding volcanoes, or watching a larvae to butterfly you can find an activity that is specific to the interest of your child.

3. Interactive Family Games

This age group tends to be very self-critical and desperately needs the reassurance of adults in his/her life. Interactive games are a great way to strengthen these relationships.

Board Games

A fun board game I found was Gobblet. Although I have not played this game personally it looks like a fast moving fun game. I highly suggest at least one gift that is not an electronic enable a different type of family interaction.

Game Systems

And course there are game systems very targeted at this age group, so depending on the system your child has you may want to consider a new game. My family as a Nintendo wii so I am looking at the Mario driving game.

4. Electronics

Each family will have to make their own decision about the age appropriateness for their children. Very popular choices in this age group: cell phones, digital cameras, Nintendo ds and game systems: Sony ps 3 and Nintendo Wii.

No mater what you decide for a gift it is important for the child to feel special and loved. Choosing a gift that compliments their personality will let the child know that you notice them. Possibly consider a short note to the child to put in with your gift telling the child how much you love them and one or two special attributes you have noticed. Even if during gift opening that note seems unappreciated you can be assured that your note will be saved long past Christmas morning. Because aside from all the gift hype at Christmas, deep down each child just wants to know that they are loved and special.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rodney_Grubbs

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Educational Toys and Life Skills

Educational toys not only promote developmental skills in children. They also help children acquire and improve essential life skills. Creativity, self-confidence, independence, responsibility, and integrity can all be cultivated through the use of carefully selected educational toys.

Creativity

One hallmark of educational toys is how well they support creative, open-ended play. A tray of wooden food can inspire a child to spend a whole afternoon running a pretend restaurant or planting and harvesting crops on a pretend farm. A set of blocks can be turned into a tower, a road system, a fort, a car, or even different animals. And the possibilities for a pound of modeling clay are endless! The more time a child spends exploring all the different things a toy can become, the more developed the child's powers of imagination will be. This fosters an open-mindedness to new possibilities that will help the child think of creative and innovative solutions to any challenges he or she ends up facing as an adult.

Self-Confidence

One way to build self-confidence is through play that encourages a child to assert him or herself. Singing, performing, and acting in front of an audience all help children assert themselves both in the planning stage and during an actual performance. Children also learn to assert themselves by acting out scenarios or performing informally with peers. Open-ended toys such as musical instruments and dress-up clothes and props encourage this type of play.

Taking risks that pay off will also develop a child's self-confidence. Susan G. Solomon, author of American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space, notes that "Children need a chance to take acceptable risks, learn cause and effect, make choices and see consequences. If they don't learn to take risks, we'll lose a generation of entrepreneurs and scientists." To take such risks, children must develop powers of risk assessment and decision making so that they can be sure that the risks they plan to take are, in fact, acceptable. The act of riding and controlling large toys such as bicycles requires children to calculate physical risks. The logic needed to play certain strategy-based board games like Monopoly, chess, and checkers involves risk assessment such as whether or not to invest in a property or risk one piece for a future, greater gain.

To improve their ability to calculate risk, children should also develop their decision-making skills. Science and engineering kits can help by requiring children to use observations and directions to make decisions about how to run an experiment or build a working machine. Puzzles and building construction sets can also hone this skill.

Independence

In general, allowing children to direct their own play and be in charge of what to do during their free time helps them become more self-sufficient and resilient. In particular, certain educational toys foster skills such as problem solving, taking charge of a situation, and leadership. One aspect of being independent is being able to solve a problem on your own. Working with a construction toy system allows a child to explore different solutions to the challenge of building various items. Logical challenges faced on your own, such as figuring out how to use a set of pattern blocks to replicate certain complicated patterns, also build problem-solving skills.

Another aspect of being independent is taking charge of a situation. This can be as simple as providing your baby with two toy choices and allowing the baby the autonomy to make his or her own decision about which to play with. Beyond that, you can also encourage the development of independence by allowing your child to direct what roles you will take on when playing with your child or letting your child be in charge of how a toy will be played with. Providing your child with open-ended play sets such as farms, fire and police stations, pirate ships, tree houses, and train stations creates a situation where your child can control what scenarios he or she will act out that day.

A third aspect of being independent is taking a leadership role. While unit blocks and communal building sets of oversized hollow wood blocks, huge foam blocks, or sturdy cardboard blocks can foster cooperation skills, they can also offer opportunities for one child to lead others in a positive way to build a specific construction that that child has in mind. Educational toys can also help children become self-motivated and self-directed so that they can lead themselves to accomplishments without always relying on outside support and affirmation.

Responsibility

To become good citizens, all children should develop a sense of personal, societal, and environmental responsibility. In general, trusting children to take good care of their toys, to play nicely with them and put them back where they belong when play is done, can begin to foster a sense of responsibility. At the most basic level, a chart such as Melissa and Doug's Magnetic Responsibility Chart can help a child keep track of his or her personal obligations. Beyond that, specific toys can develop other kinds of responsibility.

When a child is provided with an open-ended toy such as a construction set that must be assembled by the child, he or she will take on the personal responsibility of following the directions and making sure the toy is put together correctly. This will train the child to take a sense of pride and personal responsibility in any future jobs he or she is expected to do. And, when a child takes care of a doll or pretend pet, he or she also develops a sense of personal responsibility for fulfilling his or her obligations to someone else.

Role-playing of obligations can extend to creating a sense of responsibility to society. When a child pretends that he or she is a construction worker or a doctor, that child is practicing taking on adult responsibilities that must be fulfilled if people are to live together in communities. Such role-playing socializes the child and allows him or her to get used to the idea of becoming a contributing member to such a community once he or she is grown.

Finally, science kits that encourage children to study the earth can educate children about why people must take care of animals, land, resources, and so forth. Plus, toys that are crafted from sustainable materials (such as Plan Toys) or bioplastics (such as Green Toys), or designed to use recycled materials (such as the Uberstix Scavenger sets), encourage a respect for the conservation of natural resources. This in turn leads to a developed sense of responsibility for caring for the environment.

Integrity

Educational toys can also help children develop integrity. Using costumes and props to role-play situations such as customer and server can help children practice politeness and manners. Acting out scenarios such as taking care of an injured doll or animal can foster compassion and empathy. And playing competitive games fairly by taking turns and following the rules develops a child's appreciation for right and wrong.

The educational benefit of toys for child development cannot be underestimated. The childhood pursuit for play and discovery continues into adulthood. Children develop fascination about their surroundings from playing with toys and continue to pick up hobbies late into their adult life.

About Kids Toy Club

Kids Toy Club is an online provider of educational toys that is dedicated to adding value to the money its customers spend. Understanding that educational toy purchases are an investment in a child's future, Kids Toy Club makes the effort to provide quality products and useful information about the relationship between toys and child development.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laeke_Gebre

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Today's parents feel pressured to use technology to begin their child's education in utero. For example, the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System promises to "give your baby a headstart" by playing rhythmic patterns to help stimulate early learning. It is time, therefore, to step back and evaluate the true value of toys that incorporate technology to teach.

Toys that are formed from high-tech electronics embedded with semiconductor chips are generally known as edutainment toys. The quality and substance of their play may be limited by the number of buttons a child can push. Some promise to challenge a child by allowing him or her to interact with the educational content to learn it. For example, V.Smile offers a Baby Infant Development System aimed at introducing interactive learning to kids 9 months to 3 years. They can watch educational videos with this system or push buttons on a tray to influence what is happening on a television screen.

Some older toys are also adding electronic bells and whistles to appeal to the current technologically sophisticated generation of children. Dolls now interact with the Internet. Wooden Brio trains make electronic sounds and can be controlled by infrared remotes. The classic Fisher-Price Rock-A-Stack now also comes in a Dance Baby Dance version whose center rod lights up and plays songs when the rings are stacked on it.

Open vs. Closed-ended Toys
An open-ended toy encourages free play with an unlimited number of outcomes. For example, a building set can be used to construct a variety of different structures. A closed-ended toy, on the other hand, has a limited and often soon exhausted number of outcomes.
Not all closed-ended toys are bad. After all, a stacker is a classic closed-ended educational toy: it can only be put together correctly in one way. However, to solve a stacker, a child must develop and use logic and fine motor skills. The child benefits from the repetition of playing with the pieces of a stacker, manipulating them with his or her fingers over and over and thinking about how they fit together until the solution is mastered and then repeated for pleasure.

A closed-ended edutainment toy, on the other hand, may only require a child to press a few buttons. Eventually, it leads to a dead end and the child grows bored and tosses the toy aside. As Martha B. Bronson notes in The Right Stuff for Children Birth to Eight, although a child can have a rich play experience with any toy, basic, open-ended toys encourage this type of experience more than rigidly programmed toys with only one or two functions do. This sort of edutainment toy is not timeless. It is meant to be replaced sooner rather than later by the next big product in edutainment that uses the latest in technological innovations.

Often people assume that toys that use new technology are more innovative and educational than non-technological educational toys. In fact, childhood specialists such as Jane Roberts (president of Young Media Australia, a consumer advocacy group), question how educational and interactive high-tech edutainment toys really are, noting that "[p]ressing buttons and having items do things for you is fairly limiting in terms of how children learn." Furthermore, many traditional toys are themselves becoming more innovative about stimulating a child's imagination and creativity without having electronics in them. For example, the blocks in FoxMind's Cliko game can be used for a variety of games that are challenging to children and adults alike.

Negative Impacts of Edutainment Toys
Overall, parents might not want to encourage children, especially younger ones, to use too often edutainment toys that involve televisions and computer screens. The authors of "Effects of Preschool Television Watching on First-Grade Children," found that preschoolers who watched more television than their peers did worse in school and were not as well socialized when they entered first grade. Researchers Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis found that babies watching Baby Einstein DVDs and videos scored lower on language skills than babies who had never watched them at all.

In addition, Allison Sloan notes in Shopper's Guide to Healthier, Greener Toys that computers and television sets emit EMFs, "invisible forcefields whose possible health effects, from headaches to sleep disruption to cancer, are the subject of heated debate." Children's developing brains are in the greatest danger from such outside influences.

A final caution about edutainment toys is that they can foster in children an acceptance of a disposable consumer culture. A timeless toy such as a set of wooden unit blocks will hold up under heavy use for generations and can be played with at the same time by children (and adults!) of a variety of ages. Edutainment toys, on the other hand, are usually played with by only one child at a time, and they generally have a shorter playtime and life span. Children quickly master and get bored of them, or their high-tech components break, rendering the toy useless, and then they are discarded, releasing toxic chemicals and metals into the environment.

What Parents Can Do
As technology and the Internet permeate society and people's lives more and more, it does make sense to introduce children to computers and other inventions that they will need to use as they grow older. A toy is not necessarily bad or useless because it incorporates technology. That said, smart parents should examine the stated purpose of an edutainment toy, evaluate how and what it teaches, and determine if their children could receive equal or greater value from a simpler, classic toy. Roberts warns against the dangers of a parent using high-tech toys as babysitters, substituting interaction with a machine such as a single-player computer game for what should be "the best learning for young children-real-life experience when they model, create, explore, and develop their own initiatives through play."

For more resources on quality educational toys visit Kids Toy Club.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laeke_Gebre

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Education experts worry that American children are falling behind in science and math skills. But parents can instill an interest in science by capitalizing on children’s natural curiosity. Science isn’t a complicated, difficult subject – it is all around us. Here are ten ways to find science in everyday life and share science with your children.

1) Astronomy. Look up in the sky – there it is. Stars may be out of reach to little ones on the ground, but learning about them isn’t. Use the Internet, or find books that show the constellations, then spend a warm summer evening star gazing. If you have a planetarium in your neighborhood, pay a visit. If not, go to Nasa.gov to find photos, video and lots more.

2) Zoology. Animals are everywhere! Go for a nature walk and see what you find. A trip to the pet store can also be informative. Visit the zoo for a close-up look at animals, and check beforehand to see when you and your child can enjoy a lecture or feeding time.

3) Entomology. Or the study of bugs, in layman’s terms. Bugs are also everywhere. Try an ant farm, or bug collecting kit.

4) Geology. Rocks are pretty easy to find, as well. Check some books out of the library, then go for a hike and try to identify different kinds.

5) Anatomy. The human body is an exciting mystery! Did you know that the adult human has 100 trillion cells, 206 bones, 600 muscles and 22 internal organs? There are lots of interactive games, diagrams and photos online. Check them out!

6) Aeronautics. Build paper airplanes and conduct a contest to see whose design flies fastest and farthest. Read a book about the Wright brothers, while you’re at it.

7) Botany. Head to the nearest nursery and have a look around. As long as you don’t try to show up on a warm Saturday in the spring, one of the horticulturists might give you some personal tips. Take home a couple plants and care for them – watch them grow.

8) Cartography. Dora the Explorer has this one covered. Help your little ones make maps of the house, the neighborhood, their hometown. Get out other maps and do some exploring!

9) Paleontology. I’ve never met a four-year-old that wasn’t fascinated by dinosaurs. Check out some books or websites, play with dino play sets, bury “bones” in the sandbox and dig them back up!

10) Meteorology. When my children were preschoolers, we kept a weather calendar in the kitchen to be updated every day. We spent time lying on our backs in the grass, watching clouds. There are some great books and Internet resources for weather. Try the National Weather Service, or weather.com, where you can check out Doppler radar and see weather details for the entire planet!

Science doesn’t have to be complicated. Help your child discover the world around him. Find some interesting things to learn about, then do some research together!http://www.qualitytoysandhobbies.com/

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The main purpose of toys is to bring joy to children. It adds more fun to their games. But one can never underestimate the power of toys. Toys are very helpful in preparing your child to learn bigger things. Although it may only seem that they are just playing and having fun, there are a lot of things that they can learn. There are educational toys that give your child the fun of playing and learning at the same time.

Toys have been your child's constant companion since he was still a baby. Small colorful toys helped him discovered the different colors and shapes. It also introduced him to the different sounds in his surroundings and allowed him to distinguish the different textures. Through toys, your child discovered the fun of using his senses.

At preschool, your child is more active. Although he has outgrown those colorful toddler toys, his interest to discover and create new things is continuing to take its toll. He starts to learn new things like associating his toys with the things in his surroundings. He learns to do role playing and takes his imagination to a new level. He also learns to appreciate and create new things out of the different colors and shapes. Their toys can aid you as well in teaching him how to write, count and draw. You can also teach him responsibility by assigning him a task to organize his toys after playing. You can teach him to socialize as well by asking him to share his toys with other children.

When your child is older, there are a lot of board games that you can introduce to him that will enhance his analytical skills. Game boards such as chess and domino help develop the strategic skills of your child. If you want to widen his vocabulary you can teach him how to play scrabble and word factory. This will also introduce your child to the different rules and regulations and the limitations it brings. He will also learn the value of sportsmanship and humility through this.

Children's interests vary as they grow. If your child does not show interest to any board game, then don't force him. You can ask him about the sports he is interested in and support it. He will surely learn a lot from it. He will be able to socialize by playing with a team and value the significance of teamwork. He will also learn about discipline and hard work in order to attain their team goal.

You may have not noticed it, but toys play a very important role in the development of your child's well being. His desire for toys change over the years because his needs varies from one stage to another but this does not mean that what he has discovered and learned with the previous toys he had will be forgotten. He may not be able to remember how he played when he was still a baby or how much he liked to put things together, but it will show in the person he has grown into. http://www.thekidstoystore.com/

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As parents, we try not to feed our children anything that was not beneficial for them. Likewise, the same applies for toys. We want to buy toys which are educational; something that will benefit our children and will help them grow to their full potential. However, knowing each child is born with different capabilities and interests, there are many factors to keep in mind when purchasing toys for your child.

If a child is asked to pick out a toy of her preference she will naturally chose the most eye catching toy. But as a parent, when picking out toys for your child, you should consider what your aim is for that particular toy. Do you want the toy to teach your toy something specific, or do you want the toy to stimulate your child's imagination? It is not easy picking out the good toys from the bad, as there are many on the market. Keep in mind your child’s strengths, weaknesses and interests.

If you are feeling a little lost as to what type of toys to get your child, here are some of the questions you ought to keep in mind.

1. Are you looking for an educational toy or one that encourage your child imagination? These are both legitimate but often a toy does not do both.
2. Have you noticed any area that your child might need help in? If your child has difficulty recognising shapes, for example, playing with blocks and simple puzzles can help here.
3. What are your child's strengths and how can the toy you are thinking of buying develop this strength?
4. Is the toy labelled/fit for your child’s age? You don't want to buy something too advanced for your child as this will only frustrate her.
5. Does the toy have a good review and reputation? Listen to what other parents say about the toy and do a little research into it's strengths.
6. Is the toy well made? Toys made from wood are usually very hard wearing and will last longer than those made from plastic. Make sure there are no small parts if your child is very young.
7. Is your child getting a balance of electronic toys as well as simple or traditional toys like lego and blocks? There is a place for electronic games, and they can help children's fine motor skills and coordination, but getting the balance right is important.

So, when purchasing toys the most important criteria to remember is to buy a collection of toys that will cater for many purposes. Keep in mind your child's personality and needs. Electronic or non-electronic, both toys carry it's own special purpose, and it is up to you as a parent to figure out what exactly your child’s needs are.

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If you are searching for the right educational toys for your preschooler, you may be overwhelmed with all the options available. Toy manufacturers are now busier than ever, working hard to keep up with the latest trends and styles, and competing to make their toys the best and most popular among small children. Though the decision of what to buy your child can be difficult, here are several suggestions that may help you.

When choosing an educational toy, you want to be sure it will serve its educational purpose. You want your child to learn something while playing with a particular toy, and for that to remain a popular one with your preschooler for a reasonable amount of time. This is why you should choose carefully.

When selecting educational toys, it is also important to keep your child's interests in mind. Remember, it isn't the educational factor that will interest your child, rather the fun the toy will bring. Encourage your child to play with different toys and learn new things, but always try to give preference to the more educational preschool-level toys, whether they teach basic math or reading skills, colour recognition, or just stimulate different parts of a child's developing brain. After all, these simple, educational games can often be the most entertaining.

Chalkboards are among the most popular toys for preschoolers. They are also among the oldest. And since many modern chalkboards are double-sided-- with a chalkboard on one side and a magnetic board for plastic letters on the other, this toy can also serve a dual purpose. By playing with it, your child will be able to learn the letters of the alphabet with the magnetic letters, and then be able to practice those letters on the chalkboard once this is accomplished. It also allows for free-hand drawing and hours of creative fun.

Toy pianos are also among the most popular and most beneficial toys. As shown in recent studies, children who learn music, even on the most basic level, tend to perform better in math and science-oriented subjects, and also tend to score higher on scholastic exams. Aside from that, this kind of toy is a great way for your child to be creative while making his or her very own music.

Blocks have long been among the most basic, yet most fun toys a child can own. There are many types from which to choose, from blocks that interlock, to those that simply balance on one another. Your child will have hours of fun building towers, houses, or just simply learning to stack and count.

No matter which educational toys you choose, be sure they are age-appropriate for your child. Check to be sure they don't have loose parts that could be harmful to your child, and that they aren't too complicated for his or her age and education level. You do not want your child to become discouraged by playing with a toy he or she does not understand. Also, play with your children. If you show an interest in the toys you buy, they are more likely to do the same.

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The market today is flooded with a number of educational toys both branded and locally manufactured. Educational toys are very popular among parents, as they provide a good medium to educate their children. No matter how rich or poor, parents want to purchase educational toys for their children. However, the high price tags restrain many people from buying them. The offer of cheap educational toys by retailers and shopkeepers has been a solution to this dilemma.

Many companies on the Internet offer cheap rates on educational toys. Their web sites carry details of the products such as the toy description, learning objectives, pictures and prices. Customers typically register on these sites, place an order and pay online. There are also companies that provide toy rental services at affordable rates. Toys can be rented on a monthly basis.

There is a wide range of inexpensive, quality educational toys for children who are as young as three months. Wooden toys are a favorite with parents as they are cheap, safe, durable and high quality. Cheap educational toys also include storybooks, learning activity kit, construction toys, puzzles, craft kits and baby toys. Books, games or animated movies are also categorized as educational toys and are available at cheap rates. The most popular categories of toys among little children are organic stuffed animals, dolls, block-games, cars, and wooden toys. They are carefully designed and crafted to help shape young minds.

Social service organizations that concentrate on children's welfare believe that it is essential to regulate the prices of toys and make them affordable for everyone.

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Every parent wants to give their child a head start when it comes to their early development, and there are many educational toys available that can stimulate your child to grow and develop in fun and playful ways. It’s been scientifically proven that young minds need stimulation to develop thought and reflex patterns and good hand/eye co-ordination. The toys available must also entertain your child if you want basic learning skills to develop. The child won’t even realize that lessons are being taught, because it’s so much fun!

Toys that feature a lot of turning buttons and items will help to develop motor skills and co-ordination. Toddlers and infants especially love the toys that make noise. Also, toys that feature keyboards or noise-making buttons can help your child to associate actions with obtainable and fun sounds. A basic ability for sound recognition is usually developed in this manner.

It’s important to realize that there are age-specific toys for every level of childhood, because children grow through various stages of their development. Educational toys must stimulate the child’s imagination during play to be effective, and these toys must match their learning ability. Interactive toys are some of the best educational and fun toys for a child. They usually stimulate and entertain the child so that they can learn while having fun.

Any activity that involves pulling or pushing something is also a favorite activity, followed next by filling and emptying anything. Toddlers are curious and have to touch and look at everything in their world. Action toys, cause and effect toys and any activity that challenges their minds are always favorites. Stacking blocks, simple puzzles and any toys that pop up are also high on the list of fun and educational toys.

Shape sorters, which are colorful and interesting, can keep a child entertained for hours. Bath toys are also colorful toys that are a great way for your child to have fun and learn in an unlikely spot. Interesting bath toys that bob and float and make noise are wonderful playmates in the bathtub! Some great bath toys include the traditional rubber ducky, foam letters and numbers, and the more sophisticated bath play areas that are educational and fun additions to any child’s bath time.

Older toddlers can have fun with colorful fridge magnets, books that feature sounds and songs and other interactive toys. Any sorts of fanciful play sets, such as garages, airports and dollhouses, can also be popular and educational ways for your child to learn about the world around them. Toys that feature clay modeling, chalkboards or anything that the child can write on will help to give the older toddler an outlet for expression.

Mastermind Toys is a Canadian online toy store featuring educational childrens toys such as lego, lego Mindstorms, Aquadoodle, science toys, outdoor toys, music toys that will help your child learn while having fun.http://www.mastermindtoys.com/

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