Toys That Teach!

Children love toys and we want them to love learning just as much! So, make learning fun with a toy and help plant a love of learning in your child. As a teacher and a new parent, I am always looking at toys and wondering... would this make a good learning center in my classroom???, would my students benefit from this toy???, would my students enjoy this toy???... As a result, I have decided to list some of the best educational toys I have found. They would be great in your classroom or your home.

I have to start with Leap Frog products. I can't say enough about these great toys. My first experience with Leap Frog is when I bought the Learning Pad for my K-3 classroom and used it as a center activity. I wrote up some comprehension questions that the students could answer after they finished a story. I changed the books twice a month (allowing all the students to get a turn on each book). It was great to see my struggling readers using the sound-it-out function when they came to a hard word. Leap Pad hooked me to Leap Frog. Next, I was buying and exploring more of their products. Every year I get one of my nephews a Leap Frog product for Christmas. Their reading products get my thumbs up.

I hate toys that teach just the letter names - "This is the letter A." Who cares what letter it is, the important thing is that the student sees the letter and hears the sound it makes. Then when they see a B they can say, "that's a B it says /b/ as in ball". I was so thrilled to see that Leap Frog products do just that. Also, I think it is funny when parents get so thrilled that their child can sing their alphabet - they have them sing it to everyone, over and over again. I always think (but keep it to myself) why not go a step further and teach them what the letter looks like and the sound it makes. Sure they can sing it, but it doesn't help them develope reading skills if they can't see the letter and say the sound it makes. Okay, I'll get off my soap box now. My point is Leap Frog will help students or your child learn effective decoding skills that will make them strong readers. GO LEAP FROG!

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(NOTE: I have made my own estimate of a good age group for these products - they may differ from the manufacturer.)