Building Sets and Classic Board Games Truly Are Learning Games

There's something to be said for kids and their toys. During my youth, I can't recall a girl who didn't own a Barbie or a boy who didn't run all over the garden waving around action figures to conquer classic villains.

There's something to be said for kids and their toys. During my youth, I can't recall a girl who didn't own a Barbie or a boy who didn't run all over the garden waving around action figures to conquer classic villains. Model sets were strewn all over the floors of every playroom I entered as a kid, including my own. We could build astonishing things with those LEGO sets; tall buildings for our Barbie doll or stuffed toys to live in, a store in which they could buy their food; the possibilities were only limited by our imaginations. While toys similar to these don't neatly fit into the category of educational toys, they most certainly do teach children valuable lessons.

Every type of toy is important to children, even those that parents may not initially consider to be educational toys. This is as true today as it was years ago when I sat playing playing card games with my sister. Youngsters learn a lot of things by playing, and they cultivate their imaginations and their critical thinking skills. While it may seem that only educational toys would actually be able to teach a child anything, that would be an error. Truly, most toys are learning toys when you realize that a child learns from free play.

Classic board games, while providing lots of entertainment, also work on expanding a child's thinking talents as well as coping skills. Every player does not win in strategy games, and sometimes losing at something is an important lesson for a child to learn as emerging victorious is. When a child wins or loses in a board game, one player is humbled while the other, hopefully, learns to be a gracious winner. With the aid of an attentive parent, children will learn these skills. So popular are certain board games that they are being modified in ways that they can be played in the car. Travel games may not be as exciting as the original board games, but it sure keeps a child busy during the trip!

Over several decades, children and their parents have spent hours building their relationships over Knex building sets. The vibrantly colorful blocks in a Lego set bring out the very best in a child's imagination, and keep them busy for days. A wonderful thing about Knex building sets is that just one set could produce many of different items, from a animal to a village. Over the years, Lego sets have grown to where there are now sets just for girls, such as the Belville line. Naturally, boys love Lego sets like Bionicles or Star Wars. But every child can practice ingenuity and creativity through Lego sets, and that's what matters.

Need more understanding of the value of Lego sets as an educational toy? Studies show that children acquire new neural connections when building with Knex building sets. By merely playing with their Lego set, children also learn spatial concepts, cause-and-effect, and fine motor skills. What a way to learn!

Fran Swift writes about children's toys and games, including action figures and kids arts andcrafts for parents to teach end entertain their children.