As we move away from the trend of advancing our children through the use of flash cards and other learning boosting activities, play is returning to the forefront of early childhood education. Play is the most effective way of introducing and mastering concepts that is available to children.
Toys are the tools that children use to experiment and increase their knowledge base.
By introducing children to quality toys, learning is encouraged and expanded as they play. It can be difficult to know what products in the toy store will really be effective tools for learning. Some toys are created to cash in on popular trends and have little potential to teach. Other toys have a great educational concept when they are in the box, but fall short of expectations once they are opened. Many toys advertise their educational value, but are seldom if ever played with by the children they are bought for, and therefore are ineffective.