Yes, Model Sets Really Are Educational Toys
Special things can happen with children and their toys. Growing up, I can’t think of a girl who didn’t own a Barbie or a boy who didn’t run about the yard wielding action figures to conquer classic villains. LEGO sets were scattered all over the floors of every playroom I entered as a youth, including my own. We could build astonishing things with those magnetic building sets; towering buildings for our Barbie doll or stuffed toys to live in, a store for them to shop in; the potential was only limited by our imaginations. While these types of toys don’t neatly fit into the category of educational toys, they most certainly do teach children valuable lessons.
All toys can be important to children, even those that parents may not first think of as educational toys. This is as true today as it was decades ago when I sat playing card games with my sister. Youngsters learn a lot of things by playing, and they expand their imaginations and their critical thinking skills. While one may tend to think that only learning toys have the ability to teach a child anything, that would be a misconception. In essence, most toys are educational games when you realize that a child learns from free play.
Classic board games, while supplying hours of entertainment, also work on cultivating a child’s thinking skills as well as coping skills. Everyone doesn’t win when we play classic board games, and occasionally losing at something is as important for a child to learn as winning is. When one player wins and the other loses in a board game, one player is humbled while the other, hopefully, learns to be a gracious winner. With the assistance of a focused parent, children will develop these skills. So popular are certain board games that they are now being made in ways that they can be played in the car. Travel games may not be as exciting as the original board games, but it sure keeps a child engaged in the car!
Over several decades, parents and children have spent hours of quality time over model sets. The wonderfully colorful blocks in a Lego set bring out the very best in a child’s imagination, and keep them engaged for days. What is so great about model sets is that just one set could produce many of different items, from a dinosaur to a village. Over the years, Lego sets have grown to where there are now sets specifically for girls, such as the Belville line. Naturally, boys love Lego sets like Star Wars or Bionicles. But youngsters can practice deftness and resourcefulness through Lego sets, and that’s what really matters.
Need convincing of the value of Lego sets as an educational toy? Studies have shown that children develop new brain connections when working with model sets. By merely playing with their Lego set, kids also learn spatial concepts, cause-and-effect, and fine motor skills. There’s no better way to learn!
