With all the electronic devices and modern toys popping out everywhere, one can just wonder what type of toys would boost the mental strength of a child and it’s getting harder and harder as more interesting and fun toys get in the spotlight. As a parent, it is a major concern on what type of toys they should let their children play. However, some parents just go with the flow, catching the trend and exposing their children along with it. 

Are you one of those parents? If not, then you’re probably asking what kinds of toys you should be giving your children a foundation before they go to school.

Well, look no more! In this article, we’ll be focusing on one of the major toys that swept the Toy Industry in the early 2000s: Legos/Building Toys. In a survey two years ago posted in an article “How Is Building Lego Models Related To Math Skills” it was proven that those who built better in legos are superior in terms of their math and English skills, and not only that, it also proved that those who were able to easily follow lego building instructions learn faster in most subjects than your average child.

Still not convinced? Then go ahead and buy some legos for your kids to prove it! Here in KidLovesToys, we have a wide range of building toys like legos, check it out!

Wait! There’s more! Without further ado, let’s dive right into the article!

Building Toys: How they help your children learn and be creative?

They Boost the Logical Left Side of the Brain

As mentioned in the article “How Is Building Lego Models Related To Math Skills”, it’s been proven that those who build better in legos get higher scores in the math and English tests. Building Toys has evolved in the past few years, making building structures much more complicated and logic-boosting. Well, not just building structures, but also helps boost their logic when it comes to harder school subjects. So, if you want to get rid of those expensive tutors and help your child to get mentally boosted, then buy some building toys for your kids! Buying these is much cheaper than getting expensive tutors!

They Boost the Creative Right Side of the Brain as well!

Not only does it boost the logical side of the brain, but it also boosts the creativity side! Talk about hitting two birds with one stone! Building certain structures and trying to come up with a better design using building toys could prove to be a long and arduous, yet enjoyable task. It’s never frustrating to grab a few blocks and try to make something new out of it. If that doesn’t boost your child’s creativity, then I don’t know what is.

As a child, I grew up surrounded by building toys such as legos and a few other ones. And until now, I still find it rather fascinating that you could create lots of different things with such a few blocks. So don’t miss out! And get that creativity in your child going!

They Help Kids Figure Things out on Their Own

And last but not least, they help kids figure out things on their own. Sure, without proper guidance, a child would never achieve growth. But with the right foundation and the ability of independence implanted in them, they would grow up to be reliable and independent. And what better way to achieve that independence by playing! Building Toys help a kid’s mind solve simple problems like how much materials do I have? or how can I put these two and two together? Such simple problems don’t require much thinking but fewer and fewer children today have obtained it.

So chuck out those expensive tutors, those electronic devices, and useless toys out! Buy some building toys now! You won’t regret it!

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How then, do we keep children interested in learning not just while they are young but for as long as they can learn?

To effectively understand methods to keep children interested in learning, we must first understand why they lose interest in it in the first place.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a reason why children lose interest in learning? They get bored by it. It becomes a routine, a task. They feel like they have to tediously grit their teeth through education day after day for many years. At the beginning they are excited because it is something new. But as the experience of having to wake up early and prepare to spend most of your day in school doing tasks for five days a week goes on for years, children just can’t help but get tired of it.

To remedy that, parents should make learning fun for their children. And how to keep your child interested in learning? There are a number of ways to make learning fun.

Make Learning Fun 101

1.) Reward their efforts

Children should, at a young age, learn that hard work and patience pay off. They should learn that the efforts they put into learning will reap rewards in the future. They must learn from experience that learning is worth all the work they can put into it, and it will motivate them to work harder. Sure, while they are young, they can only grasp the idea of small rewards such as a compliment or toys, but as they grow up, you should adjust to teaching them that there are far greater rewards in learning. Things like mental growth, sense of accomplishment and eventually, a bright future.

It must be explained to them that these rewards are fruits of their labors and are not mere incentives. Children should know that learning in and of itself is already a reward, a privilege not all children get to experience.

2.) Balance play and learning

As a child, there were times that I just couldn’t wait for the time to run faster so I can finally get out of the torture house and proclaim myself a free man-child. But as playtime just can’t happen soon enough for me. Time seems to crawl painstakingly slow that I grew to resent having to study.

That should not be what children are experiencing. Children should find joy in learning. Their play and learning activities should be balanced. In fact, learning should become as fun as play and play as fun as learning. There must be an exquisite integration between the two.

Incorporate toys, music and fun activities with other children in their learning. One of my favorite teachers in college made his classes more fun by incorporating games into the lessons. This not only helped the students love the class more, but also helped cement the lessons into their minds.

3.) Keep raising the bar

Familiarity breeds contempt. When the standard of learning remains the same for a long time, the child won’t be able to help it but get bored with it. There should be some dynamics, some unpredictable and exciting changes. Think of more ways to make learning more efficient, by analyzing what your child is interested in and integrating it with their studies. Raise the bar, even in rewarding them. It doesn’t have to be expensive rewards. It could be just sincere compliments (specially with young children) or a special dinner specifically made for their good effort.

When everything becomes familiar, the means become the end. The means is learning, and the end is becoming educated, a good member of society. But when children lose sight of what the end is because all they see are the repetitive methods of learning, they will lose interest in it because they won’t see the point in doing the same thing over and over again.

4.) Be deeply involved

This is the crux of the matter. This is the entirety of everything discussed. When the children see that their education is not important enough for their parents or guardians to care for it, then they will think that education is truly not important.

Children imitate and are deeply influenced by their parents’ actions and feelings. If the parents show great interest in their child’s education, the child will also pay much attention to it.

Children also have a great desire to please their parents. By showing appreciation in their efforts (by rewards, as already discussed), children will soon learn that studying hard and learning makes their parents happy, which is already a reward for them.

It should be shown to children that parents care about their education. Be there when they need help. In their homework or projects. Ask them if they need clarification in any subject then clear matters up by explaining to them what they don’t understand. Explain to them in terms that they understand, by using ideas or analogies that they are interested in.

Encourage them, but never force them or overwork them. That will only result in resentment. They should be taught with love and care. Keeping your child interested in learning is, in a nutshell, being a good parent.

When children say they get bored in school or in learning, they might be under-challenged, under-skilled, under-motivated or under-connected with children their age. But if the parents incorporate rewards, children will be motivated and will learn that education plays an important role in their lives both in the present and in the future. Play and fun activities will ensure that they will be socially capable and have a network of peers with whom they can interact. Raising the bar for them eliminates the problem of them being under-challenged. And being a loving parent who helps them and teaches them will lessen the risk of the children being under-skilled.

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