Toys are meant to be played with but they can also promote skills that are vital to your little one’s development.

As a parent, one of the most rewarding parts of watching our children grow is to see them learn and develop as people, so why not choose the best educational toys and watch this every day?

With so many choices of toys available, this guide will help you choose the best ones for supporting your child’s development. 

Select toys that match your child’s interests and abilities

Your child has to be interested in a toy before playing with it, so make sure you choose toys that are age-appropriate and ones that match your child’s interests. This may be a trial and error approach at first, but you’ll soon see what your child is most interested in. Then you can match toys accordingly such as alphabet blocks if your child likes building as this will help their development with letter and sound recognition. Again, make sure that the toys you select are age-appropriate as you want them to challenge your child without them getting bored.

Look for toys that promote heuristic play

Heuristic play is the sensory exploration of ‘everyday items’ which is very beneficial to the development of children. You can promote this same type of play through the types of toys that you select, just make sure that they are open-ended and can be used in a variety of ways. Toys like building blocks or bricks and arts and crafts materials give your children the freedom to be creative and use these objects however they want. Plus they can be used as many times as they want!

Many open-ended toys encourage STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) learning in a fun and natural way, which are essential lifelong skills.

Read: What is Heuristic Play and Why is it Good for Our Children?

Choose toys that promote social skills and collaborative play

You want to be encouraging your children to be as social as possible from an early age as this contributes greatly to self-confidence, communication and interaction in later life. By choosing toys that promote the development of social skills, such as board games, puzzles, experiment kits and building materials, you are teaching your children to share, take turns and essential skills such as negotiation and compromise. As your children grow, they’ll only learn different developmental skills such as teamwork and problem-solving.

Opt for toys that spark imagination, providing opportunities for pretend play

Pretend play is essential for our children to engage in as not only does it develop creativity, but it also helps to promote language and literacy skills. From taking on different characters and acting out new situations to trying to communicate and building their vocabulary, toys that can provide these opportunities are great for our children. Opt for toys like play kitchen sets with pretend food, shopping tills with pretend money, or DIY and workshop sets with pretend tools and you’ll soon your children grow into their own.

Seek age-appropriate board games that are great for improving math and language skills

Board games are incredibly fun but they can also drastically improve math skills for young children. From counting as they move around the board to reading the questions and learning essential strategy skills, board games can help develop math and cognitive skills no matter how many times they are played. Just remember to choose games that are age-appropriate as you don’t want them to be too hard that your child is deterred from playing or too easy that it doesn’t challenge them or help them develop.

Pick toys that encourage exploration of the real world

Exploring, discovering and learning about the real world is something that we never stop doing, even as adults, so why not start helping our children do this early to build their understanding of the world around them? Toys that invite children outdoors such as binoculars and a bird book, a bug-catching kit or science kits, can really get them involved in nature, promoting a natural curiosity and desire to learn that will be invaluable for the rest of their lives. Providing hours of discovery, children will be asking a variety of how and why questions that are also essential for critical thinking.

The best educational toys are ones that capture your child’s attention and keep it, continuously challenging them to explore and discover. Just remember to get involved with them, as nothing is greater for their development than interacting and bonding with their family while they play!

At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.

Looking for more ideas and inspiration? See more from us here:

8 Ways to Help Your Children Protect Their Teeth

5 Reasons Why Messy Play Is Important and Benefits Children

10 Fun Winter Activities To Do with Your Little Ones

We all want our little ones to have the happiest and healthiest smiles, so help your children start out right by helping them protect their pearly whites. Here are 8 ways to do just that.

Take them for a checkup

It has been recommended that children should see a dentist by their first birthday as early preventative advice and care can be given if needed. It also allows children to learn early that seeing the dentist regularly is important and ensures that they are not scared. Plus, who doesn’t love getting a “good job!” sticker?

Make sure they eat healthily

The food children eat directly affect the status of their dental health long term, so teaching our children nutritional health is just as important as promoting oral hygiene habits when it comes to helping them protect their teeth. To foster a healthy and well-balanced diet (and promote these positive habits throughout their life), children should avoid sweets, desserts and sugary drinks, especially before bed. Limit snacking and promote three meals a day made up of lean meats, fruit and vegetables, cheese and low-fat dairy products, unsweetened foods and water instead of sugary juices or drinks like coke.

Cut back on juice

Although juice is healthy, it is very high in sugar and when children drink it all day long, it can lead to tooth decay. Try to limit juice to the mornings or only as a treat as children shouldn’t have any more than 100ml a day. Always promote water as much as possible, using squash with no added sugar as an alternative.

Limit use of the sippy cup

While the sippy cup is a great tool for helping young children move from a bottle to a glass, it can lead to problems if parents let them drink from it all day long. Unless a child is drinking water, a sippy cup can lead to decay on the back of the front teeth if the drinks are sugary.

Aim to ditch the dummy after 2 years of age

A dummy is perfect for babies but when your children reach 2-3 years of age, using it can affect how their teeth line up and even the shape of their mouth. When your child reaches 2, you need to be trying to wean them off it, otherwise, you need to consult a doctor if they’re still using it when they are 3.

Check children’s medicine

We all know that children’s medicines are flavoured so that they will be more willing to take them, what’s surprising, however, is just how sugary they are. When your child is taking medicine, make sure to check the sugar content and brush their teeth afterwards to decrease their chance of cavities. If they are on long-term medications such as medicine for asthma and heart problems, then consult your dentist about how often to brush because it could be as often as four times a day!

Teach and model good habits

Children will learn habits from parents so it’s crucial that we model good ones! From even before your baby has teeth you can gently brush their gums with water and a baby toothbrush and when they have teeth, brush twice a day with an infant toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste. It is essential that we teach good oral hygiene, so brushing, flossing and even mouthwash are things that we can instil in our children from an early age.

Use oral health care as a bonding experience

We all read bedtime stories to our children so why not make brushing our teeth together a part of that routine? You could even make brushing their teeth a group activity, making a chart and giving everyone gold stars or a sticker when they’ve done a great job. Children are much more likely to join in when they see grownups brushing their teeth, so take the time to do it together and teach your little ones the importance of health, hygiene and family time.

At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.

Looking for more ideas and inspiration? See more from us here:

5 Healthy Habits to Adopt in 2018

5 Reasons Why Messy Play Is Important and Benefits Children

What Is Heuristic Play and Why Is It Good for Our Children?

When it comes to our children, we want the absolute best for them and to take care of them always. While we can always try our best, we do have to work, and when they are young, this means taking them to nursery or daycare where they can stay throughout the day.

Leaving our children in someone else’s care can be tough for many parents, therefore choosing a suitable nursery can be one of the most important decisions that they’ll ever have to make.

To help you find the best nursery for your children, we’ve put together a list of essential questions to ask that can aid in your decision.

1. Are you registered with the Care Inspectorate Wales?

2. What are the opening hours and how long can my child stay?

3. What if I need to change a day or book an extra day? How much will that cost?

4. What is the staff turnover like?

5. What experience and qualifications do your staff have?

6. What is a key worker?

7. What food will my child have whilst they are with you?

8. How will food allergies be managed?

9. Where will my baby sleep?

10. What do I need to provide for my child?

11. How will I know how well my child is developing?

12. When do I need to pay my bill?

As a well-established and successful day-care provider, we at Schoolhouse Daycare think that these are the essential questions that any parent should ask a new nursery that they are considering for their children. If you want to find out more, you could always drop in for an unexpected chat and you can ask more in-depth questions such as:

• How long have your staff worked here?
• How do you ensure the safe recruitment of your staff?
• What are the ratios of staff to children?
• What’s a typical daily routine that my child will have?
• What activities/play opportunities to you provide for the children?
• How do you manage children’s behaviour?
• How do you support children’s learning and development?
• How do you ensure the safety of the children in your care?
• Can I see the nursery’s registration certificate and latest inspection report?

Not only will this allow you to see the environment for yourself, but it will also give you confidence if the staff are very prepared to answer all of these questions and you can see a lot of happy little faces around! Most nurseries should be happy to show you around, so organise a visit and ask your questions to give yourself peace of mind.

Looking for more ideas and inspiration? See more from us here:

What Is Heuristic Play and Why Is It Good for Our Children?

5 Reasons Why Messy Play Is Important and Benefits Children

How to Keep Your Children Safe in the Sun

Heuristic

adjective

“enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves.”

Have you ever experienced a specific moment with your child where they’d rather play with the box that a new toy has come in rather than the toy itself? Or even another everyday object over a new toy? If you have, this is what is known as heuristic play.

What is heuristic play?

The term “Heuristic Play” was coined to describe the interaction of babies and children with everyday objects – not toys.”

Today, children are surrounded by loud, colourful toys that tend to be made out of plastic or wood, and while these might be good at stimulating some of the senses, they tend to lack the sensory and heuristic properties critical for supporting creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

With heuristic play, this involves the sensory exploration of ‘everyday items,’ anything from some rice or pasta or a wooden spoon to a piece of string or sticks from the garden. The difference between this and playing with toys is that toys are often limiting in what they can do, meaning a car is meant to be rolled back and forth, while heuristic play with any household object allows your child’s creativity to take over. Having an open-ended object to play with stimulates innovation, creativity and imagination as your child discovers the ways the object can be used, all characteristics of which are essential to learning and development.

Why is heuristic play good for our children?

“Toys that do less, actually teach more.”

1. It stimulates creativity and imagination

Imagination leads their play with heuristic objects, rather than muscle memory taking over when a child knows that a noise happens when they push a button. With heuristic play, open-ended play opportunities allow children to explore, learn and develop in a completely natural way.

2. It supports gross motor skills and brain development in infants and toddlers

Infants and toddlers, in particular, require a variety of sensory exploration to support their cognitive growth and development. With heuristic play, they are able to do this on a much wider scale than with toys that may limit their abilities to develop.

3. It stimulates multiple senses and critical thinking

When a child pushes a button on a book and it makes a sound, they learn that this action makes that sound and that sound corresponds to whatever context is on that particular page. With heuristic play, children can make sounds from banging different objects together or knocking them against another surface. However, unlike the toy, this leads them to figure out the context for themselves – why did that make this sound? What would happen if I banged this item with a different item? All of these questions only come about by exploring and they are far more valuable later in life when our children need to develop certain skills such as innovation and critical thinking.

4. It promotes early mathematical conceptual learning

When a child is exposed to a variety of items that range in size, shape, weight and texture, the time they spend exploring only aids their mathematical conceptual learning. This doesn’t tend to happen with typical toys as the need to explore is lessened when they know what the toy is meant to do.

5. It allows children to gain an understanding of the world around them and encourages independence

The mantra that “toys that do less, actually do more” is very relevant to heuristic play. It means that basic, everyday objects that we consider boring (or not toys) actually offer a world of possibilities to learn for our children. While they learn to play they also start to gain an understanding of the world around them, and more importantly, especially with children today, they learn that they don’t need much to self-entertain. It is through handling and exploring these objects that babies and toddlers begin to make their own choices and decisions and start to develop as people.

How can I encourage heuristic play?

To help support your child’s learning and development, all you’ll need to do is provide them with more opportunities for open-ended discovery. Here at Schoolhouse Daycare, we use the ‘treasure chest’ method where we fill a box with heuristic objects of different sizes and textures and let the children discover them for themselves. Obviously, we always keep a watchful eye on them as we supervise, but it is essential that you allow them the freedom to choose and explore the objects without offering them the objects first. You can easily do this at home by filling a box with household objects such as egg boxes, measuring spoons, and shower puffs and sometimes outdoor objects such as leaves and pinecones. Just remember to rotate them fairly frequently to encourage new and different learning experiences.

Usually, 30 minutes a day is enough for the treasure basket heuristic play, so make sure that you clear a space for it with no other toys around, have the TV off and take the basket away once your child is satisfied so that they don’t tire of the objects. It is also important that you supervise and observe but don’t encourage or distract. Your child needs the freedom to explore on their own at their own pace. As well as the treasure basket, you can offer heuristic play opportunities at any time, such as taking your children outdoors more often or even in moments where you’re doing chores, such as letting your child play with the basket of pegs as you hang up the washing.

We are not saying toys are bad, we are just highlighting how important heuristic play is to our children’s development so that you can mix it in with their day-to-day life. By offering your children heuristic objects that support their creative thinking or taking them outdoors to explore nature, you will essentially be giving them the best start in life in order for them to become better adults when they grow up – isn’t this all we want as parents?

At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.

Looking for more ideas and inspiration? See more from us here:

5 Reasons Why Messy Play Is Important and Benefits Children

5 Healthy Habits to Adopt in 2018

10 Things to Do with Your Children Over the Summer Holidays

If you saw our latest blog on “Surprising Reasons Why Outdoor Play is Healthy in Winter,” you’ll know that it’s important to get outside as much as possible with your children in this season, as long as you dress up warm! For those times while you are in the house, however, what can you do as a family to fill those dark and cold evenings?

Here is where we come in! To help you have some fun and make some memories together, we’ve compiled a list of 12 fun activities to do with your little ones over Winter. Enjoy!

1) Make homemade hot chocolate

There’s nothing like cradling a hot mug in the Winter to warm up your hands and licking off a delicious chocolate moustache you get from sipping your drink! Warm up your children’s bellies by making the best homemade hot chocolate together with marshmallows and all the toppings.

2) Transform the house into a Winter Wonderland

Why not bring the Winter indoors (just without the cold!)? Have fun transforming your home into a magical Winter Wonderland by making paper snowflakes and hanging them up in unexpected places. You could even buy snow in a can to decorate the windows and pillow stuffing to create your own snow scenes.

3) Teach your little ones about the weather forecast

Make the most of the weather by educating your little ones! You can make the weather forecast fun by helping your children measure the outside temperature every day and making a graph of the weekly trend. You could even get them to make predictions about next’s week weather as well. Not only is this different and entertaining, but they’ll learn some valuable life skills too!

4) Build a fort!

Forget a snow fort, lots of fun can be had indoors with blankets, sheets and pillows! Build your own super fort with large boxes and spend hours playing make-believe. You can even bring in your bedding and camp in the living room after a great bedtime story!

5) Make Christmas cards for a local nursing home

As Christmas is the time for giving, why not teach your children the importance of being charitable? Make Christmas cards for a local nursing home and deliver them yourself so that your little ones can see the smiles that they bring to people’s faces.

Don’t have a local nursing home? Collect old Winter coats from the family and take a trip to a charity shop. The Shoebox Appeal is also a great activity to get your children involved in.

6) Bake some Winter favourites

Winter is full of delicious hearty foods, so make some of your favourites! Who doesn’t love a freshly baked cookie, warm mince pie or filling cooked dinner? It’s a lot of fun for your children to help out and they will definitely enjoy eating them!

Need ideas? Check out these Winter Recipes!

7) Get creative

Arts and crafts are always a winner with children so try to come up with a few unique ideas to do together. Why not teach them about your family tree so they can draw it? If you want to make things, how about a pine cone bird feeder or a family time capsule? 

8) Engage in messy play

Messy play is one of the best activities our children can engage in, so create some of your own Winter scenarios! You could bring snow into the house in a bowl, experiment with cold water and ice cubes, raid your cupboards for foods to play with like sugar and marshmallows. You could even make the most of putting up the Christmas decorations by playing with tinsel, glitter and paint to make snowflakes out of your handprints.

Read: 5 Reasons Why Messy Play is Important and Benefits Children

9) Build an indoor obstacle course

Do your children have excess energy? What better way to burn it off than the ultimate obstacle course! Create your own out of household objects and mix up the rules to keep it interesting. This is so much fun for all the family, so try it out next time you’re stuck indoors or your children are getting a bit bored.

10) Play board games together

December especially is a time for family traditions, so bust out the board games and introduce your children to some of the classics! There is no better way to bond and have some quality time this way, plus you get to play some of your favourites!

Next time you’re stuck indoors or the children are starting to get bored, don’t fret! Use some of these Winter activities to keep the family entertained and make some unforgettable memories together.

At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.

Looking for more ideas or advice? See more from us here:

• Stay Well This Winter: How to Keep Your Kids Sniffle Free
• 5 Healthy Habits to Adopt in the New Year
• 15 energy-burning activities for children stuck indoors

In Scandinavian preschools, you will find children playing outside at every opportunity. Even in the depths of Winter, children will be wrapped up in warm overalls and will spend the day exploring forests, climbing moss-clad boulders or wading in creeks up to their rain boots. With these forest schools promoting exclusive outdoor play and its benefits, why is it then that we are not following suit?

As with many things in life, we tend to adopt the behaviours and ideas of our culture because it is what we are used to. In the UK, this typically involves staying indoors for the Winter for worry of catching colds! While this seems logical to us, the wet and cold weather actually offers many benefits that we don’t know about, so we should be spending more time outdoors especially in these months.

In Scandinavian countries, children are found to be fitter and more attentive with better motor skills as well as being generally healthier. To help you understand why here are surprising reasons for why outdoor play is healthy in Winter.

Children Can Escape Indoor Germs

Probably the most surprising health benefit of outdoor play is that it is better for our health! With viruses and bacteria being more prevalent in the Winter it is important to get outside where there is fresh air as the germs that we bring in the house are being recycled over and over again through our air vents. For children, in particular, getting outside is also essential for them to develop a strong immune system as they come into contact with bacteria in a natural setting and the more time they spend outdoors, the less likely they are to develop autoimmune disorders and allergies in the future.

Read: Stay Well This Winter: How to Keep Your Kids Sniffle Free

Fresh Air is Healthy – Even in Winter!

Another contradiction to our common beliefs, exposure to the cold doesn’t necessarily cause acold. In fact, if dressed appropriately, fresh air is healthy for everyone even in the Winter. When people spend a lot of time indoors, especially when they are overheated and poorly ventilated, germs are recirculated and easily passed from one person to another. That’s why outdoor play is crucial! Not only does it allow children to breathe fresh air and reduce the spread of infection, but it also refreshes the mind, allows them to burn energy and establishes a positive understanding for year-round exercise throughout the rest of their lives.

Outdoor Play Provides Opportunities for Better Exercise

We all know that we as adults should be getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. For children, it is advised that they should get 60 minutes a day and this is even more important throughout the Winter. When children don’t exercise enough, this excess energy can affect their sleep cycle and appetite which in turn affects their development and ability to maintain a healthy body weight. While exercise, in general, regulates this and ensures a healthy lifestyle, Winter exercise, in particular, is essential for muscle growth, strength and gross-motor development. Why? Because everything about this environment challenges us! Whether just walking through snow, or engaging in slightly more strenuous activity such as shovelling snow, sledging or building a snowman, this season provides us with unique opportunities for exercise that develop us in various ways.

Winter Play Helps Children to Develop

Much like exercise, outdoor play also provides opportunities for learning and development, some of which are exclusive to those Winter months. With outdoor play equipment being frozen and covered in snow, children are challenged with finding alternatives which stimulate their imaginations and offers different ways to learn. Physical and cognitive challenges such as “how will I pack this snow tightly to build shapes?” and having an awareness that they need to adapt their behaviour in this new slippery and less safe environment, all ensure that they learn important life lessons and develop vital skills.

Playing Outdoors Supplies Children with Essential Vitamin D

You may not think that there is enough sun in the Winter months to provide us with our daily requirement for Vitamin D, but you’ll be surprised yet again. While adults can take vitamin D supplements to compensate for the lack of sun and amount they get from their diet, children can’t. Vitamin D is even more essential for children as well as it promotes calcium absorption, ensuring strong bone growth and preventing bone deformities such as rickets, so it is important we get them as much sun exposure as possible. With sunlight and vitamin D having a large impact on daily mood, outdoor play in the Winter will help keep those little ones smiling!

With all these benefits that outdoor play provides in Winter, hopefully, now you won’t be afraid to get your children outside and active. Just remember to dress up warm and stay safe! As the Scandinavian’s say – “There is no bad weather, only bad clothes!”

At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.

Resources:

NCBI – Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play