All of us needed to learn life skills to function and manage our lives. It goes without saying, that the sooner your child begins to start learning, the better. When children are taught in a way that is fun it makes learning enjoyable for everyone. Life skills can be taught using toys just like most things can these days.
Toys Teaching Life Skills
A child can be taught responsibility when they receive a gift such as a lockbox. It should have two keys in case one gets lost by accident. The child is able to keep their most cherished possessions inside locked up. This is also a good way to introduce your child to security measures.
One chore everyone has to learn is setting the table. Everyone has to eat! Giving your child a set of plastic dishes in a variety of colors makes it fun to learn how to set the table. After they finish they can eat from their beautifully set table and be proud of the job they have done. Using dishes in color varieties can help them learn colors as well as how to match them.
All of us live lives that revolve around the date. A great way to introduce children to this is by using a cloth calendar that has letters and numbers with velcro on the back of them. Children can begin to learn the days of the week. Each month the calendar can be updated by moving the numbers and using symbols like the sun, flowers, etc. for the seasons. Special dates to remember like birthdays can be added as well. Another option is allowing children to cut pictures they find in magazines and use them to personalize their calendars.
Getting your child their very own first aid kit is a fun learning tool. Some are available that come with a CD to instruct the child in first aid. Using colorful Band-Aids and ointments make it a fun learning experience. You may have a future doctor in the making!
Teaching Safety Using Toys and Games
Children can begin learning about safety as early as three years old. One way you can teach children road safety is by adding mini road signs in with their toy cars during playtime. Pointing out the road signs while you are in the car can reinforce them learning the safety signs during play as well.
It’s a good idea to have the child make a set of road signs that you can hold up like flashcards and quiz them on as well. For printable signs that you can use to teach your child safety click here.
Bike safety is a must for children to learn. This can be done in a fun way by allowing one child to dress up and pretend to be a police officer. For example, every time the police officer raises the stop sign, the other children then immediately stop riding their bikes. You can use this method to teach them to learn to obey rules and stay out of the roadways.
It’s vital that children be taught life skills to develop and adapt to the world today. Using fun toys and games is a great way to teach them to be well adjusted and safe. For more information on educational toys for older children see our previous post.