Five Of The Best Educational Toy Gifts From Birth

Rattles and ordinary soft toys are not the only ones now available in the market for babies. In fact, baby toys have evolved over time. Moms and dads to be, anxious grandparents and happy friends usually find it overwhelming to choose the first toys to give as gifts for the new member of the family. Things can get even more complicated if they want to invest in educational toy gifts.

Educational toy gifts for babies need to be stimulating and fun as well as enable the baby to enhance and encourage his brain development and stimulate the maturity and development of his gross and soft motor skills. Needless to say, these toys need to satisfy the baby's curiosity for the world around him while providing him with a safe playing environment. All the five senses need to be stimulated in different ways as the baby interacts with the toys.

In this article, we are going to discuss the five best educational toy gifts for children.

1. Baby Blocks: It is almost unbelievable that colorful plastic blocks can have such a positive educational impact on babies. They are brilliant colors, and they allow babies and toddlers to pile them up one over the other, drop them into buckets, make them fit into different shape sorters, stack them and so on. Some baby blocks are made of soft cloth and foam and have small bells inside them so that as the baby shakes them and picks them up he is also stimulated in his sense of hearing.

2. Musical toys: Babies are highly attracted by sound, and they find it fascinating to discover that only by pressing a button or opening a lid a new sound appears. There is a wide variety of musical toys available in the market. Some of them imitate the sound of different animals or means of transport, others introduce the baby into different melodies and others just name different objects as the baby pushes or touches the different images.

3. Soft Baby Toys: Soft baby toys are amongst the top-rated educational toy gifts that parents and relatives choose for the youngest member of the family. These soft baby toys usually accompany the baby and help him get used to sleeping in a cradle. They also encourage and stimulate his sense of touch as they offer the baby different textures for him to touch. Many of these soft toys are educational toys as they also help babies and toddlers to develop fine motor skills.

4. Activity Boxes: Activity boxes are great educational toy gifts for children, because they offer the child plenty of opportunities to enjoy himself and learn different things and improve his gross and fine motor skills.

5. Books: Even if a baby does not know how to read, books for babies and toddlers are great educational toys. They allow children to learn how to manipulate books, and it also offers a great opportunity for parents and other close relatives to spend quality time with their babies and toddlers.

The educational development of your child is an incredible journey, one that begins before birth! And it's a difficult journey, wading through the mountain of information on not only the educational, but the social / emotional development of your child.

That's where we come in. CleverStuff offers outstanding quality children's educational toys, wooden toys and sensory toys. Toys that are exploratory, educational, tactile, functional, fun and funky. And we reckon that's pretty clever!

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Opening a Daycare - The Equipment and Materials Needed

Children need lots of love and attention and every daycare facility's goal is to provide this in lieu of the parents. This is why individuals who want to open a daycare must be well prepared for the service, providing their charges with everything necessary to keep them comfortable and safe while keeping them mentally stimulated. This can be done through an excellent staff, a good management plan and of course, the right materials close at hand.

Art Materials

Crayons, papers, glue, child-safe scissors, clay and various other art materials should be kept ready at all times. Art time is something that daycare facilities should encourage to develop the creativity of the children. Note however that some art materials might prove dangerous when ingested which is why children should be thoroughly supervised during this time.

Age Appropriate Toys

The toys should be free of small parts that could prove as choking hazards. Some of the most common toys found in daycare facilities include Lego, puzzles, fire trucks and dolls. Ideally though, the daycare should be able to provide toys that are educational or would help hone the child's skills and talents. A good example of these would be musical toys, perhaps encouraging children to sing or conduct concerts during playtime.

Play Area - Swings and Crawling Spaces

Art and toys aren't enough considering the amount of energy children have. Before trying to open a daycare, owners should first make sure that there is ample space for a make shift playground. Ideally, this should contain slides, swings, tunnels, climbing area and other facilities that would keep an energetic child satisfied. Note that the play area should be free o sharp edges or any loose parts.

Beds and Cots

Provide the children with a comfortable sleeping area with proper padding to keep them protected. Note that the bed area should be separate from the rest of the room and kept clean at all times.

Clean Bathroom and Towels

There's no question that children are prone to getting dirty no matter what they do. Daycare facilities should be prepared for eventualities like this by providing children with a clean bathroom, towels and even extra clothes for the children.

Snack Time Equipment

Provide the children with dishware made in plastic to ensure that there wouldn't be any breakage during snack time. High chairs are necessary for daycare facilities taking care of younger children.

Diapering Area

This is crucial for daycare facilities catering to infants. The diapering area must be far away from the other areas of the room while being close to the faucet. This would make it easier for the staff to clean and sanitize the area to ensure that the children remain safe at all times.

Of course, those aren't the only things needed before trying to open a daycare center. Note that some things must NOT be present in the room such as hazardous materials, wide open doors or easily accessible wires and electric sockets. For a more thorough idea of how to start a daycare, refer to the local business administration for their rules and regulations.

Kris Murray is a business coach for child care and daycare professionals. She has helped thousands of people open, run and increase enrollments with her inside knowledge and leadership. She is a published author with several books including The Ultimate Child Care Marketing Guide.

Take advantage of Kris' amazing knowledge and learn How to Start a Daycare today and receive your free copy of "How to Avoid the 7 Biggest Misktake Most People Make When Starting a Daycare"

Find your start licensing requirements along with news and articles at DaycareHotline.com

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Teaching Letters and Sounds to Preschoolers Is Not Just Teaching the ABC Song

I have been a speech-language pathologist for 25 years. When I am doing speech therapy with children as young as three years old to correct error sounds in their speech, I am very aware that since they are not yet readers, they do not have the same understanding of sounds and letters that older children already have. Some preschool children are aware of letters and may know the alphabet song. The connection between a letter and a sound, however, is not typically something that children learn until they attend pre-k or kindergarten. This is much later than the connection should be made. Letters and sounds are different concepts and it is as important to teach the connection between the two as it is to teach the letters themselves. I teach the letter name paired with the written letter and then teach the sound that the letter makes. These are all taught at the same time to give the children a full understanding of the connections and give them good basic knowledge to help them learn reading skills more easily.

Parents will generally teach their children the classic alphabet song that is sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. A song is a great way for people of any age to memorize information. It is important to also pair what the children are singing to a picture of the letters as they are singing them. If there is no concrete connection made between the letter that is sung and heard and the letter that is written and seen, then the children are just learning a random song. Learning the label for a picture or an object is how these preschoolers have already learned the vocabulary that they know. Parents have provided labels to things in the child's environment. All children should have an alphabet poster or chart of some kind that should be brought out when the ABC song is sung. They should be taught to touch each letter as they are singing it. This will avoid that single "LMNOP" cluster that they clearly think is one letter.

The next step for the children to learn is that every letter makes a sound. This phrase will help them learn that there is a difference between a letter and a sound that it makes. The same chart can be used when teaching the children that each letter makes a sound. I like to use a song that I heard in a pre-k classroom with all of my kids in speech therapy. I take the sound that they are targeting and put it into the song. The song is to the tune of "hot cross buns" and it would go like this: "D says duh, D says duh, every letter makes a sound and D says duh." This can be used with every sound. I use the short vowel sounds when singing the vowels. When vowels are long they say their own letter name. The children will learn the rules for when a vowel says its own name when they learn rules for reading in school. The short vowels are found more often, so I believe it makes sense to expose the children to this When singing vowels use short sounds "a" (as), "e" (bed), "i" (in), "o" (on), "u" (up). These tend to be harder for kids to learn for reading and writing and any jump-start is helpful. The pre-k classroom picks one letter each week to target and then does activities all week with that sound. Art activities, searching for things that start with that sound etc. I suggest that parents do the same thing. As the weeks progress, you add to the length of the sound song and mix the letters up so they are not learned only in order. This work on pairing sounds and letters will give your child a great jump on early reading skills. We tend to forget that just because a child can sing the alphabet song doesn't mean that he knows his letters. He simply knows a song if the written letter and the sound of the letter is not taught at the same time.

I have been a licensed speech-language pathologist for 25 years. I have specialized in early intervention speech and language therapy for much of my career. My goal is to help parents with their concerns about their child's speech and language development by providing resources and information. I currently have a blog with other topics in the areas of speech and language development. Check out these topics at: http://www.topicsinspeechandlanguage.blogspot.com/

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Two Italian Approaches to Childcare: A Comparison of Reggio Emilio and Montessori

Some crèches in Dublin and all around Ireland emphasise a particular childcare philosophy over others, and this can be a bit confusing for parents seeking childcare for their children. Probably the best well known is Montessori - founded by Maria Montessori at the turn of the last century - and indeed Montessori facilities are extremely abundant in Dublin - probably more than any other single childcare philosophy.

However, another approach also originated in Montessori's home country of Italy, and is named after a city of that country, Reggio Emilia, and founded by educator Loris Malaguzzi after World War II.

Each of these shares in common a post-war idealism and desire to raise children with values that are more humane, kind and peaceful than the dominant values of the preceding generations, emphasising things like creativity, respect for one's self and others, direct participation of children in their own learning processes, and a faith in the natural ability of all children to self-correct and learn progressively. Both are 'constructivist' approaches, in which children learn by working directly with various materials instead of having information provided directly through a teacher's instructions.

Creating an appropriate, pleasing and stimulating environment is key in both Montessori and Reggio, as is close cooperation with parents. These are both thoughtful and highly respected efforts to help children realise their full potential and to grow into intelligent, caring and creative contributors to the greater society. And both approaches are growing in popularity in Dublin.

One difference between Montessori and Reggio is the role of teachers. Because Montessori values peer learning and cooperation, the ratio of teachers to students tends to be lower in purely Montessori preschools (see note below), whereas Reggio crèches would usually have only about 5-6 children per teacher at the younger ages, and no more than 8 for the older children. Montessori teachers offer activities based upon a pre-determined lesson plan with specific goals, whereas in the Reggio approach children and teachers work 'as a team,' with the children giving a great deal of input into how projects evolve.

Another significant difference is their approach to materials. In Montessori materials tend to have a specific educational meaning, with the teacher using it for deliberate, staged learning. In Reggio children themselves give the materials meaning - meanings which may be a mystery to the adults.

A parent responding to a forum on the Berkeley Parents Network in California, whose child has spent time with both approaches, reported that, on the one hand the Montessori approach seemed more focused on early, directed learning, saying, 'Montessori seems to work well for kids who are comforted by structure and rules... it was cool that my son could identify Africa on a map at 3 1/2.'

On the other hand, the parent appreciated the Reggio approach that 'let the kids' curiosity guide the agenda. Now my son comes home covered in paint, dirt, or whatever the material of the day might be, but, man is he a happy kid!'

There is so much overlap between Montessori and Reggio in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland, and so much variation between how these philosophies are applied, that an approach which combines these - perhaps even with other philosophies such as High/Scope - may be most effective. The most important point in preschool seems to be ensuring that yours is indeed a 'happy kid!'

This article was submitted by Simona Rusnakova, SEO consultant of Voodoo, on behalf of The Park Academy creches in Dublin who enhance children's joy, nourish their bodies and minds, cultivate their eagerness to learn and ensure their absolute safety.

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Should I Put the Price in My Preschool Flyer?

You are ready to sell your preschool to parents and their children! Do you want to spend hours with each parent trying to convince them that your preschool is the best or the one for them?

Do you want to explain every detail of your preschool individually to every family that inquires? Are you comfortable going over pricing and policies? Do you like spending lots of your free time on the phone with prospects, only to have them turn away?

Wouldn't it be nice to have the parents show up ready to sign up because they have all the information they need and they WANT what you are offering?

Wouldn't it be nice for parents to know that they can or cannot afford your program? A parent may only want their child to attend a preschool that offers organic meals, or has security cameras? How will they know if you offer these things?

How do you get them all this information without the hours involved explaining it to them? The answer is: IN A FLYER.

Put all the answers to any question that they could come up with in a flyer, then have it ready to hand out to prospective parents. They can read about your program and make an informed decision.

If they know ahead of time what your preschool is all about, you are actually pre-selling them on your program before they call. If they don't like what they read, they won't call. You won't waste your time trying to convince them that your program fits their needs, when maybe it doesn't.

Here is a list of the items that could appear in your flyer:

The teacher's qualifications.That the school is licensed.Hours of operation.Name of the school, address and phone number.Daily schedule of activities.Ratio of teacher to children.Special certificates held by the workers: like first aid and CPR.Other safety precautions: like fences, gates, protected entry, security cameras.Nutritious meals or special accommodations for diet.Computer or technical training.Any specialized areas of instruction like computers or a foreign language.PRICESWebsite addressAge of childrenPotty training policies

Your program won't be for every family out there. This is a way of servicing the families that are a good fit without spending your precious time explaining everything to them.

When families call, you can answer the questions they have, set up a time for a tour and feel good about the flyer all ready informing them and selling them on your school. These families don't need to be convinced, they know that you have what they are looking for.

Go out and leave your flyer wherever there may be young children. Always ask first, then post on community bulletin boards, hand out personally, and leave a stack on business counters. Put on the window of cars at park district events, church outings, library parking lot and grocery store lots.

The answer is YES, YES, YES. Put the prices you charge in your flyer.

Mary Beth Collins is a former preschool teacher and high school teacher. She is the mother of 3 grown children and a granddaughter. Now she is developing a blog about everything preschool and has written a superior preschool curriculum.

You can see her blog and sign up for a free report on starting a preschool.

Visit at http://www.startingapreschool.net/

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Factors That Contribute To Child Development

One of the most important debates that many parents have is over the importance of early childhood care and how it affects childhood development. Early childhood care is a business charged with a number of responsibilities, not just for taking care of kids while mum and dad are at work, but for teaching early skills, encouraging curiosity and preparing for primary education. There are a number of factors that contribute to child development in these early stages, and childhood care is generally a fantastic way to help your offspring into the learning environment that they need to be in to flourish.

If you are looking to early childcare, it's important that you choose a daycare or preschool that facilitates and encourages brain development and social skills.

Early childhood is a key life stage

We may not remember everything about our early childhood, but these years are some of the most vital - having a huge impact on development throughout our lives. Skills that are taught stay with the child forever and that excitement for learning and socialising will carry over into later education.

A caring environment

Children who spend time in a caring environment with plenty of praise and less inappropriate punishment are more likely to succeed in their future endeavours. An early child care facility where staff have the proper qualifications can provide excitement and education during the day which will prove to be more than just a babysitting service when you are at work. Having the mixture of at-home care and a dynamic, social setting helps to create a well-rounded personality and a child who will respond well in future learning environments.

Have a keen involvement with your daycare centre

Being involved in every aspect of your life is incredibly important; you want to choose a daycare centre where you can be involved. This means anything from attending trips to discussing the day's learning and activities with staff and your child. Most care centres follow a government-set curriculum to ensure they are covering a range of crucial basics - keeping up with that curriculum will help you to continue the learning at home.

There are so many key factors that contribute to your child's development; it's important that your choice in early childhood care caters to these. A positive and nurturing learning environment, the merging of home and school life and plenty of socialisation will help your child grow and develop.

Little Wonders Childcare Centres operate throughout New Zealand. Find out more about our centres today.

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