Hot Holiday Toys to Help Your Young Child Learn

Will your child benefit more from a game of jump rope, or from a board game such as Candy Land?
Most parents are aware of the importance of play in their child's development. Through play a child develops many important skills needed to be successful as they enter a structured school environment. What may be less understood is how the type of play, and thereby toys, influence what is being emphasized in the learning process. Lets see how riding that Big Wheel can be just as important as building a puzzle, and suggest some of this years hot toys along the way.
There are five major areas of development which the type of toys, and therefore play, can assist in helping your child grow. Although there is much overlap, these areas are motor skills (physical dexterity), social skills, cognitive skills (problem solving), creativity, and language development.
Motor skills are broken down into two categories gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are those skills that primarily use the larger muscle groups such as running and jumping. Toys which would help in improving gross motor skills would be games such as Little Tikes Jump N Slide Inflatable Bouncer and The Fast Lane Scooter.
Fine motor skills focus mainly on the smaller muscle groups such as tying a shoe or putting together a puzzle. Toys which promote improving fine motor skills would be old favorites like, Mr Potato Head, or many of the new Transformer toys.
Social skills define your child's ability to relate with others. These skills will be of particular value once he or she enters school. Group games, teach interaction with others, a skill that builds relationships and will be of great importance as your child goes through life. Some popular toys which may improve social skills are Make Your Own Sock Puppets and Crazy Old Fish Wars Card Game.
Choosing a good toy which assists in building cognitive ability is very dependent on your child's age. As children progress through the process of child development they are able to understand, and complete more complex tasks. Becoming familiar with what are referred to as developmental milestones will help in choosing the right age appropriate toy to strengthen your child's cognitive or learning ability. You should also use manufacture's age recommendations as a rough guide in choosing a toy while keeping in mind your child's strengths and abilities. Some top sellers Christmas 2009 for ages 4-8 would be the Leapster Learning Game System or for ages 2-6 try the book, First 100 Words.
Although any toy can be used by your child creatively, toys which have a more oped-ended function and are free from right and wrong results work best to promote creativity. Playing with dolls or action figures prompts kids to use their imagination to make up their own stories. Painting and drawing toys are also good choices for children to explore their creativity. Try the Imaginext Pirate Ship by Fisher-Price, and TransFormers 2 Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Action Figure as both are hot sellers this year.
The obvious choice for toys that help develop good speech and language skills are books such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and the Goodnight Moonboard Book. While books are excellent tools for this purpose, with focused interaction, all toys can be used to strengthen language abilities. For example, exploring different words used to describe the toy or its action. You may find your child asking, "What does that mean?" lending the opportunity to teach your child in the relaxed atmosphere of playtime.
As you can see all playtime is also learning time. How much is learned, and what is learned, is largely dependent on the interaction and the type toys provided. Choose wisely, but in the end don't forget playtime is about having you and your child having fun.