Fun Child Games

The first four years of a child are vital to brain development. During this time, the brain triples in weight and establishes billions of nerve connections. At the age of three, kids have twice as many nerve connections than a lot of adults. This is the reason why toddlers are very curious and inquisitive.

Their brains absorb thousands of information all at once, constructing novel connections and associations, and making sense out of all the new and unfamiliar sights and sounds that flood their senses. This is also the grounds why toddler toys are designed the way that they are: colorful, bright, loud, with many different textures, shapes, sizes, and are made of different materials. These are all designed to stimulate and develop a child’s mind.

Today, there are some really great games and toys on the market for toddlers that are highly educational. I think these are fantastic for your child. Just always keep in mind that you want your toddler to have FUN while learning. You want them to always associate learning as FUN. If toddler educational toys can encourage your toddler to become interested in letters and Math skills, then they will carry that interest with them throughout the rest of their school years. It is about starting good habits to last a lifetime.

Moreover, information technology today is playing a vital role in making learning easier for toddlers. The term “infotainment” is perhaps more appropriate. Drastic changes have come forth in the learning process, wherein the grasping power of the child is enhanced many times over, since learning is also fun. A toddler learns his basics, like letters and counting, in an interactive way. There are other games just for entertainment, which harness a child’s energy and sharpen his reflexes for thinking and reacting.

It is difficult to catch up the newspaper or listen to the radio without hearing about the significance of recycling, conserving energy, and employing measures to save fuel. From Presidential debates to the nightly newscast, everyone is chatting about the need to “go green.” Although many parents thrash about with the proper way to teach children about the environment, experts agree that a good blend of creative and concrete methods for exposing children to environmental awareness is most useful.

Today, kids living in urban areas, or even suburbs, are often disconnected from nature. There are quite a lot of fun activities you can do with kids while you reconnect with nature and our environment. Here are a few environmental education activities for kids:

Adopt a Tree

While taking a walk or hiking, have your child pick out a favorite tree in a park or forest and ‘adopt’ it. Essentially, your child will take on the role of being the tree’s caretaker. Do bark rubbings with crayons and paper; leaf collection and pressing in the fall; and look for flowers and fruit in the summer. Each year, take pictures of you child standing beside the tree. You can even bring along a measuring tape to track the tree’s growth. Kids can also research the tree on the internet: where the tree is commonly found, usual life span, height, etc (Browning, 2009).

Clean Up the Earth

A good way to teach our children about taking care of our planet, and get some exercise at the same time, is to take bags with you when you go for a walk. While doing so, “clean up” along the way. You can pick up stray bottles, newspapers and discarded food containers. You can organize an “Environment Club” in the neighborhood or through your child’s school. Make it a contest to see who can get the most items. Choose different paths on different days to clean up a wide area. Use the time to talk to your children about recycling and reducing waste.  (Kids can wear rubber gloves or bring a pointed stick if they don’t want to touch any garbage (Browning, 2009).

Talk about Conservation

The first step to any good plan is a solid explanation of why conservation helps people and the planet. Many parents skip this step because they don’t think that kids will understand. Some parents are concerned of the effects of their children not feeling secure about their environment; however, there are some very good children’s books and coloring books about helping the environment that will give simple, non-threatening details (Grinshpan, 2009).

Group Planning

By involving your children in your plans to recycle, reuse, and “go green,” everything from planting a garden to turning off electricity can become a family activity. With input from every member of the family, children get buy in for the method and ownership of the results. As an extra step, assigning children to certain tasks as part of their chores or their responsibilities to the earth might help to elevate participation in “going green.” (Grinshpan, 2009).

By taking the opportunity to give children an understanding of the importance of the environment and steps that they can take to help save energy, recycle, and create a green environment, parents get the chance to build consciousness and awareness of surroundings in children of all ages. Environmental education for kids is more important than ever. Teaching your kids to care for the planet will bring you closer together and will give them life skills they can pass on to others.

Children have so much natural curiosity and energy, it seems an embarrassment for parents to set them in front of the tube as a regular activity. Playtime should preferably serve to forward a c h i l d ‘ s development across the board, but in true play and fun mode. 

Also, getting a child to play outside is vital to encourage physical fitness and help develop new skills. Plus staying active will help your child to burn off excess energy, stay in shape and sleep better at night. When it comes to age suitable outside activities for toddlers some of the best games to play are the classic childhood games, these games don’t have need of much equipment and can be updated simply to meet the needs of your kids.

Although it is true that most kids spend too much time in front of the TV, judicious use of the tube can work for you. The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet offer programs that improve a child’s knowledge in terms even young children can understand. Kids who see these kind of educational programs when quite young often continue to catch these programs on their own, well into their adolescence. So do not discount TV altogether. This strategy allows the kids to feel they are not denied of television time, while being a wonderful activity for children of any age.

As a sort of advice, parents must find some quality time spending with their child. Becoming a child with your child is an activity that kids love the most. So spend some time with your child, talk to him about his friends, his activities, his school and what he feels. Become a child with him and get involved in his activities. This will make your child get closer to you.