Quality, Educational Toys

Often the question is asked, what is an educational toy? I have seen a large number of toys on the market, and even purchased some, that claim to be educational. I bring them home to my child who plays with it for a few minutes and then discards it to play with his train set or his building blocks. What is an educational toy? It is an object that provides fun, laughter and enjoyment, all while teaching much needed skills and abilities. Yes, a train set can offer all of these things! This holiday season, do not get caught in the trap of purchasing, sometimes very expensive, "learning toys" only to have them pushed aside by your child for the really cool doll house or train set. Realize that the toy does not need to sing the alphabet to be a learning toy. Most importantly, do not purchase the toy as a replacement of your own involvement in your child's development!
I recently read an article that stated high quality, educational toys can take the place of a parent; that while traditional toys are great, they require a tremendous amount of parents' time and that can take away from work and other areas the parent needs to focus. I could not believe my eyes! Do we as parents truly believe that a toy was designed to take our place? I understand that many families have both parents working, that there are a number of single parent families and so on. But, the idea that electronic toys can replace parent interaction is just absurd. I see this growing problem in the classroom, children cannot focus for long periods of time, they require technology to be stimulated to learn, and they have delays in learning. I feel that many of these problems could be avoided if time in front of the television and the electronic games were limited and research supports this view. Children need time to be creative, to stimulate portions of their mind that lay silent while watching TV and playing electronic games. I believe the intent of electronic toys should be to foster learning with parental reinforcement, and that children should have an equal opportunity to experience the joys of playing with toys that spark imagination and creativity.