It’s the holiday season, and that means your kids are about to hand you a wish list on a roll of toilet paper. Yes, it’s that long.
No doubt, there will be requests for video games, ovens that cook pink mini-cakes on 24 nine-volt batteries, and some kind of gun that has the cat hiding under the couch. As if the items aren't bad enough, they’re also expensive.
But just like your “Try It Tuesday” dinner compromise (“Lima Bean Casserole, anyone?”), there are fun toys that won’t rot your kiddos’ brains or break your budget. In fact, we found a list of toys that will actually strengthen their brain skills!
The first few toys were taken from Dr. Toy’s “100 Best Toys of 2013” (www.drtoy.com) and all toys are under $20.
We chose these not only for their low cost, but also because they help develop complex learning skills, like memory, logic & reasoning, processing speed, attention, and auditory and visual processing.
Since parents are often the first to notice when their children have learning struggles, we've included which cognitive skills each toy strengthens. Look for skill sets based on your child’s age and abilities. Do you have a 10-year-old with ADHD? Look for toys that strengthen selective, divided and sustained attention. Prepping your kindergartner to read? Choose toys that strengthen phonemic awareness (letter sounds) through rhyming, segmenting and sound blending. Does your seven-year-old struggle to remember basic math facts? Select games that include numerical fluency or memory challenges.
"Strong learners have strong cognitive skills,” explains Tanya Mitchell, Vice President of Research & Development at LearningRx (www.LearningRx.com), a national brain training franchise with 80+ centers across the United States. “Things like attention, memory, logic & reasoning, visual and auditory processing, and processing speed are the brain skills we need to quickly and easily remember, process and recall information. These are the fundamental tools we need to excel in school, work and all areas of life.”
Every day we will post a new toy suggestion to help get your holiday shopping started! Here is the first toy on our list of the 20 best brain-building toys under $20:
Deluxe Puzzle Wheel by Mudpuppy ($14.99 on Amazon.com)
Sweet circular Puzzle Wheels have extra thick pieces for small hands. Six pieces fit into a central hub to form a 12 inch (30 cm) diameter puzzle. As a bonus, the reverse side forms a color wheel puzzle! Includes a sorting pegboard, five wooden pegs and 25 shapes in various colors.
Ages: 24 months+
Cognitive skills: visual processing, logic & reasoning, attention
* Named one of Dr. Toy’s “100 Best Toys of 2013”
You can find out more information about it here: http://tinyurl.com/l6xotx4
Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for another great brain-building toy under $20!
