No matter the condition of the economy, you can bet that educational toys will likely be among any holiday shopping season’s bestsellers. New ones emerge every year that purport to capitalize on the latest in research findings that concern early childhood development, and well-meaning parents pull out the pocketbooks as if on cue. However what is it that makes a toy an educational one?
After all, children learn naturally – in fact, they cannot help but learn; their minds do nothing but learn. This suggests that for a very young child, anything and everything can be an educational toy. And so it is, though some toys tend to be more educational than others. Thus, taking a look at educational toys, it comes to what provides the most bang for the buck.
But take into account also the following: Lego building blocks are the classic example of an educational toy, however they are for rather young children, while something such as robot kits or even chemistry sets will serve the same purpose for older children, though only of a certain inclination. And here lies one of the interesting though often overlooked aspects of educational toys, their specificity and lack of the same.
Scour the market and you will find that offerings under this category are usually designed for the very young. This is because with maturation comes increased individualization in tastes and interests, as well as the capacity to learn on one’s own (and, not so coincidentally, formal schooling!). Therefore toy manufacturers, like any business, aim for the biggest market possible. This is a big reason for why many of these toys seem so similar. Yet for all the obvious similarity, companies do exist that try tofocus on niche markets. Among many parents there exists a “back-to-basics” preference which has lead to the mass re-emergence of old-fashioned wooden fare.
