Brain Building Toys

Brain building toys are worth considering next time you are shopping for a present or looking to renew some of the toys in your home.

These toys are ones that challenge the brain to be creative and imaginative, therefore helping to connect synapses in the brain.

Great Brain Building Toys are ones that:

	are open ended - do not require a right or wrong response;
	encourage your child to manipulate, interact or figure something out;
	provide opportunities for experimentation and new discovery.
	require active handling;
	Teach about relationships such as top, middle, bottom, small, big, bigger, biggest etc.
	encourage your child to pretend, such as toy tools, dress up boxes, utensils and small play figures.

Some examples of these materials could include - nesting and stacking toys or objects, common household objects such as tools, cooking utensils and gadgets (for creative problem-solving and imaginative play), containers for dumping and pouring, art materials, stringing or sorting different sizes of beads, buttons, pasta shells, wooden blocks, construct-o-straws and carpentry sets.

Brain building toys that encourage manipulative and constructive play help develop higher order thinking skills of the brain and develop fine motor control and sequencing. These skills relate to later attention and self control.

If you are looking for toys that encourage large muscle activities to promote coordination and using both sides of the brain, utilise balls for catching, throwing, kicking and jungle gyms for climbing. Balancing and spinning materials exercise the cerebellum which also contribute to academic learning. Make sure the materials are manageable, safe and fun.

Try not to be distracted by too many electronic, buzzing, glitzy toys on the market today. Many of them have ready made images and plots, where you child can't pretend or imagine.

You will also find that your child loses interest in these sort of toys quickly as once they get the desired response the toy quickly becomes boring.

Open ended toys can be played with, constructed, pulled down and manipulated over and over to achieve new goals time again. There are many new kits and materials being produced in the market place today if you look for them. You can also find them in educational catalogs through your local play group.

These kind of toys are better value and much healthier on your child's brain development.