Educational toys — Teaching kids to love science (and rekindling our fascination in the process)
Children are natural scientists, always curious about how the physical world works, asking questions like “Why is the sky blue?” “Why does it snow in winter?” “Where do the images from the TV come from?” “Are there little people talking inside the radio?” As an adult, these questions can be tedious, and the tendency for most parents is to evade these questions and tell their kids to just play with their toys and stop being bothersome. In effect, kids might think their parent’s apathy and irritation are an indication that their questions are silly and unimportant. This might cause them to lose their interest and passion for knowledge and their fascination with the world.
With educational toys, kids can sustain their love for learning and science. Buying our kids the right toys can help fully develop their minds and personalities, making them better thinkers and doers. Being exposed to science at an early age can expand their imaginations and limits and allow them to form good habits and traits that they could bring with them until they grow up, leading them to become well-developed, holistic and highly functional adults.
Why a love for science is important
Science is not just for kids and scientists. Even the average adult will gain a good deal from having an affinity with science. Before we can truly teach our kids to love science, we must first understand why science is important and why it is relevant to our lives as adults (or as human beings).
Science aids in our thought processes and helps us become clear thinkers. It also develops our logic and rational mind—two very important qualities in business and adult life. Most successful people in any field are interested in how things work. They are able to see things differently from other people because they are more curious. They find innovative solutions to difficult problems and find opportunities in seemingly inane ideas or situations. In whatever work or field, whether in an entry-level or a managerial position, the scientific method is very helpful in aiding people in finding answers to everyday questions.
Science is not just pertinent to work and success; it also helps us gain more interesting and fulfilling lives. With all the mundane tasks we have to deal with on a daily basis—from our domestic obligations to our financial preoccupations, we have little time left for thinking about wonderful and amazing things. Adult life can be mired with so much petty concerns that we lose our sense of adventure and imagination. We have to think about the kids and their future, our personal relationships, and our family’s security all the time. Between our homes and our jobs, there is little time left for thinking about anything else.
While this is the natural course of things, few adults find this kind of life fulfilling. Even if we know we are unhappy, we find ourselves trapped and are frustrated that we cannot escape this cycle of existence. We find ourselves dreaming for an alternative world. If only we were able to sustain our fascinations with the workings of the world and a passion for knowledge and science, we would have found life more fulfilling and the world an amazing and exciting place.
These are the reasons why it is important for us to keep our kids interested and to keep their appetite for knowledge burning, and hopefully help them sustain their love for science long into their adult life. Geography, geology, astrology, anatomy, chemistry, biology, physics, electronics, and technology—all these knowledge and opportunities for discovery are within our children’s reach with children’s educational toys. What’s so great about these toys is that we as adults can engage our kids and be engaged in the concepts that the toys teach, in the process. We can be fascinated with our kids together. Our child learns, we learn, and together, we can form a deeper and lasting parental bond.
Science toys that you and your kids can enjoy
We don’t have to be irritated with our child all the time when they persistently ask us questions about how things work; not to mention that these questions aren’t necessarily easy and the answers to them evade us too. Toddler educational toys in today’s market are becoming more and more sophisticated and fascinating, making any adult scratch their heads in marvel and curiosity, too.
We can start with our own forgotten fascinations as a child—whether it is an affinity for bugs or birds or clouds or rocks or stars, we can always rediscover them with our child. Today’s science kits include simple laboratory kits, chemistry lab kits, microscopes, telescopes, and other cool gadgets, to make learning fun for kids, and even for adults.
Some of these popular kits are geology kits for identifying, examining, and classifying different types of rocks, soil, and minerals; geography kits for studying the globe and the locations and names of countries around the world, as well as the different people who inhabit it; food and nutrition kits for learning the different food groups and the structure and component of the food we eat; anatomy kits for learning the different parts and functions of the body, as well as basic first aid; archeology kits for digging and discovering objects buried in the backyard; astronomy kits for studying and exploring stars, comets, planets, and galaxies; chemistry lab kits for learning the different elements and compositions of everyday chemicals such as cosmetics, oils, and paints.
There are also science kids’ toys that allow kids to explore the world of fungi and bacteria; learn about recycling, waste management, eco living, and environmental awareness; learn how to plant seeds, grow crystals, and create their own perfume scent. Baby toys can also teach basic concepts of science, particularly physics, such as learning gravity with the toss and the drop of a ball and learning Newton’s law of motion with the rolling and stopping of a ball.
No matter what age our children are, we can now play with them and be engaged in what they do, even experiment with them and discover the world together (we have to admit that pretend playing with our kids can drive us insane); science and educational toys make all these possible and a whole lot of fun.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 10:10 pm and is filed under Kids and Teens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.













