I recently read a commentary stating educational toys are unnecessary. Since children’s minds are like sponges, we just need to find creative ways to engage our children’s minds to provide the extracurricular stimulation we wish them to have. This was the gist of the comments. Yes, children’s minds are like sponges and they soak up everything around them. They are learning looking for a place to happen. From preschool to second grade, kids are full of questions, seeking to learn.
School is exciting, filled with hands-on experiences and little in the way of tests and grading. But somewhere between third and fifth grade, everything changes. School becomes drudgery, somewhat like a dead-end job you don’t get paid for. The classroom becomes more didactic, there are tests and grades. Oh they still have lots of questions, but quickly learn that asking them leads to additional work or assignments. No wonder when we try to engage them in extracurricular learning, there is significant pushback. As our kids progress through school, the subject matter becomes increasingly complex and complicated, and we may lack the depth of knowledge or skill it takes to engage them and help further their studies.
Even when we are subject matter experts, the knowledge always seems to carry more weight when coming from some source other than a parent. One of my children once asked me while we were working on his science fair project “What do you know about the scientific process anyway?” The beauty of a good educational toy is that the child chooses to use it. Thus, learning becomes his or her prerogative and not the demand of someone else, building the foundations of self discovery and independent growth, while providing inroads for parents and teachers to foster learning as the child’s natural curiosity takes over.
