Even in this age of technologies, a child needs to play properly

Playing is not only about fun. For young children around the age of three, play is a fun way to learn and develop their skills. In order for your offspring to learn important skills growing up, it is important to choose toys that will not only entertain them, but also teach them. That has been our experience.

At a young age, children are like little sponges, needing to learn a lot. For example, learning to recognise colours, develop their vocabulary and language, to learn fine motor skills, which are also important in the development of speech. Playing should help them learn technical skills, but also the very important social skills.

Today’s digital age is full of touch screens, encourages fun with a tablet, a mobile phone and stories from YouTube channels. But will such activities help your children with tying shoelaces, holding a pencil, buttoning a jacket, or stringing beads? How trivial, you might say, anyone can do such activities. Your child can do it too, but you have to teach them.

What does the expert say?

“Even very young children can open apps, look up a fairy tale. On the one hand, this is good, after all, this is the age of computers. However, educators clearly point out that many children lack manual dexterity and fine motor skills. Many schoolchildren are unable to fasten buttons or lace up shoelaces,” emphasises pediatrician Monika Antošová, MD.

Learning fine motor skills can be fun! The practical multi-component kit is an ideal toy for children of all ages. When playing with the a building kit, they have to concentrate, think actively, create. Children practice fine motor skills and patience, they learn to finish the work they have started. Practical toy promotes technical thinking.

Why are fine motor skills so important in child development?

“Well-developed fine motor skills help to create and strengthen a sense of achievement and build child’s self-confidence, which in my opinion are some of the biggest motivators for a child to be interested in learning new skills,” says former teacher and methodologist Peter Hudák, who invented our MOY TOY wooden construction kit.

As a result of fine motor skills training, the child is more independent, creative, perceptive and willing to look for solutions, patient. In short, the child develops a healthy attitude for their further development.

A tablet is not enough to make your child capable and ready for everyday life. “What idea, habit/skill will a child acquire if they’re taught from an early age that in order to perform a task or create something new, all they have to do is move their finger on a tablet? They will probably become dependent on the flow of new information, stimuli, and easy rewards because they will receive it all essentially effortlessly. The real-life skill will then be harder for them to learn,” warns the author of our toy / didactic tool MOY TOY.

How do educational games and wooden building blocks help children?

Educational toys are the best way to develop a child’s fine motor skills, their technical and social skills and to encourage their curiosity and natural interest in their surroundings. It is important that the toy is age-appropriate so that the child does not lose interest because of the difficulty. The wooden building set was invented with a clear goal – to help children develop fine motor skills and to strengthen their social and technical skills, which are key in their development.

• Manual skills: Develop perseverance, organization, a sense of proportion and for colour.

• Technical skills: They help to develop the movement of the muscles of the hands and fingers, require an understanding of the principles and planning, thus also contributing to the development of logical thinking

• Social skills: In a group, children practice their communication skills, learn teamwork, how to work together with other children to put together a building block and achieve a result

 

Children play in kindergarten with MOY TOY wooden building blocks:

The wooden building set is assembled from parts that are colour-coded and well-crafted. It is a variable and dynamic toy as well as an educational tool. The MOY TOY has become part of the kindergarten teaching programme PLAYFUL LEARNING WITH MOY TOY in the occasion of 2015 Year of Industry and Technical Education in Kindergartens.

“While playing with the building block, children will not only practice fine motor skills, they will also create, cooperate, communicate, learn to recognize colors, shapes and lengths. They will also learn new concepts including how do hammer, winch and motor function.”

Roman Andres, co-author of a polytechnic curriculum designed primarily for kindergarten

 

Read on to find out which building blocks will help your children develop their fine motor and other skills.

 

Source: MOY TOY, archive MOY TOY