24 Best Educational Toys To Gift Your Kids This Year

Gift Guide: 24 Cool Toys for Kids

As a parent, one of the biggest dilemmas for every birthday and holiday season, is what gifts to buy for your kids. Recently, it's become a trend to give kids gadgets, but always giving the gift of technology is proving detrimental for your kids well-being of our future adults. Instead, why not invest in something that's both educational and enjoyable. This way, your children will develop and grow into well balanced adults and still have fun along their childhood journey.

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For More Help
Buying presents for infants and toddlers is even more difficult than for older children. Luckily, there are many websites and blogs to guide you with gift ideas and recommendations. Snugbaby is one such helpful blog. From reviews about the best strollers for your young ones to life-saving advice for new struggling parents, Snugbaby.net has it all. So, be sure to check it out for more helpful gift reviews and advice on parenting little ones.

0-1 year olds Educational Toy Gift Ideas

Melissa and Doug Shape-Sorting Set
This classic toy is a popular educational toy for kids and comes in a variety of themes. See the farm sorting set pictured above, It gives a basic introduction to shapes and colors, as well as, problem solving skills and manual dexterity.  Kids have to insert the blocks into the correct shape.

VTech Musical Rhymes Book
This colorful book with baby-friendly pages engages your toddlers with nursery rhymes while providing a fun way to learn the rhymes.


Skoolzy Rainbow Counting Bears with Matching Sorting Cups
Another simple game, it's an excellent way of teaching colors and simple math skills. Here, toddlers learn to put the bear in the matching colored cup. They also have to count the number of bears available to fill each cup, which makes it a helpful lesson in mathematics.

Download our counting math activity printable to use with this game.

VTech Sit to Stand Learning Walker
This popular toy encourages 9-month-olds to walk while engaging them with colorful activities and sound, thus developing their sensory skills and coordination.

1-3 years (Toddlers)

Learning Resources Alphabet Island Game
Using the classic ABC rhyme doesn’t have to be the only way to teach kids the alphabet. Make learning fun for your toddlers while they go treasure hunting for the alphabet.

Sensory Alphabet Activity

Learning Resources Fine Motor Hedgehog
The spikes on the hedgehog are color-coded and easy to grip, making it a great game for kids to play to  enhance motor skills, color coordination, and sorting abilities.

LeapFrog Scribble and Write Tablet
What a great way to introduce letters and numbers before your kids start preschool. Kids trace the letter or number using the tracing tool without the need for writing with crayons or pencils.

The Learning Journey: Match It! Spelling
Visual learning is a great method to teach kids. Linking words with images helps children learn more quickly. Moreover, the puzzle nature of the game also develops kid’s dexterity.

VTech Smart Shots Sports Center
This game is a great way to introduce an active toddler to sports. The Smart Shots Sports Center comes with a net and two balls. It teaches counting by scoring hoops for points and also teaches shapes, songs, and simple words.

ehome Toddler Musical Instrument
People of all age groups enjoy music, kids are no different. This set contains various musical instruments, so parents don't have to worry about which instrument to buy. Encourage your kids to try out playing the different instruments. Who knows, you may have the next Michael Jackson in your house. These also make a great gift for Easter baskets!

3-5 years (Preschool)

Magnetic Drawing Board Mini Travel Doodle
There's nothing wrong or right when it comes to art. This is the basic concept behind this old, yet popular toy. Give your kid free reign over the board and let the pen do the rest. It's fun for trips with family too!

Tips for Family Travel

Learning Resources Pretend and Play Doctor Kit
Playing doctors is still just as popular as ever. The doctor kit is a great gift for aspiring doctors and it's also a great way to teach kids to be kind, helpful, and patient.

ThinkFun Zingo Bingo Board Game
This award-winning game is a fun family activity. Essentially bingo with tiles that have labeled images, it teaches kids word-picture association, and it's also a great way to teach preschoolers new words.

Ideal My First Magic Set
Magic is always fascinating to kids, and what better way to teach your kids confidence, social skills, and self-discipline than using this fun magic game? The 25 tricks in this set, which comes with props, instructions, and online videos, make a great Christmas gift for children.

Back To Nature Outdoor Toy Set
For little explorers, this set includes a flashlight, binoculars, compass, and a magnifying glass. Make the game more fun by making a map and preparing a treasure and set your kids out treasure hunting. Can you imagine a memorable childhood play experience?

5-12 years (Elementary School)

Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 Exploration Kit
Does your kid love tinkering around with electronics? This is the perfect gift for engineers in the making. The color-coded circuit components come with a guide and after they have mastered the basics, watch your kids build their own circuits!

See our Snap Circuit Activity for Homeschoolers.

Melissa and Doug Fashion Design Activity Kit
Science isn't the only subject of educational toys. Let your child's creative side flourish with this attractive fashion design kit that contains fashion plates, pencils, and crayons.

Scientific Explorer Mind Blowing Science Kit
This kit is equipped with 11 fun activities that will entertain your little ones’ inquisitive minds. Build curiosity for new things and a love of science with this science experiment kit that's easy to clean and will quickly become your kid’s next favorite toy.

Grow ‘n’ Glow Terrarium
A unique toy that even adults have fun playing, is this gardening terrarium game. Kids plant the Chia seeds in the terrarium. The kit also comes with glow in the dark stickers and resin figurines to decorate.

IQ Builder Building Toy Set
This building toy set, featuring various shapes and sizes, challenges your kids to expand their creative boundaries in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Equipped with a storage box, this must-have STEM toy, barely takes any space in your room. 

ThinkFun Gravity Maze Marble Run Logic Game
Develop strategic thinking skills with this innovative game. It uses blocks arranged in different ways to  creatively work around the effect of gravity. The difficulty level increases as the game gets more complex.

Scharkspark Telescope For Kids
This birthday, gift your kids something out of this world. This wonderful telescope helps kids realize the beauty of our vast universe. Introduce your kids to the amazing world of star-gazing and also teach them to take care of their toys with this real working scientific instrument.

National Geographic Break Open Geodes
For the little James Huttons and Florence Bascoms who love scavenging and exploring, this amazing geology set is the perfect gift. Watch your kids squeal in delight when they discover beautiful gems after breaking open the included rocks.

Thames and Kosmos Candy Chemistry Kit
Inspire your kids love of chemistry with this fun game that rewards kids with handmade sweet treats. Sweets and science have truly undeniable chemistry together, a match made in heaven.


Summary
Parents spend a lot of money and time trying to give the best educational toys for kids. From toys to education, parents try not to compromise anything for the sake of their children. However, the best gift that parents can give their children are good values and a strong support system. Always encourage your children to try new things on their own and give their best effort. Eventually, your little one will grow to guide you on the journey of life, instead of the other way around. 

Good luck on your journey of parenthood; you'll need it!



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Early Childhood Teacher Study Online

10 Things ECE Teachers are Studying Today

What are early childhood teachers studying today? Curriculum for ECE teachers is constantly evolving to keep up with the latest topical trends and innovations. Young children live in a world where computers, tablets, smartphones, music players and gaming devices are readily available, including in their classrooms. Anyone studying to become an ECE Teacher needs to keep up with these trends in technology. The best way to do that is to get your ECE training online and we highly recommend getting your professional development training at ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI.)

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ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI,) the industry leader for online professional development, offers courses that cover the latest in everything from technology and STEAM to bullying, attention disorders and more. Every early childhood teacher and their staff can benefit from the online ECE training at CCEI. Here at Kids Creative Chaos, we've taken several courses and enjoyed each one of them, including CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood course! Check out our review, here. We’ve also reviewed CCEI's online professional development for early childhood teachers in these past articles: Professional Development for Preschool Teachers and ECE Continuing ED Online. No matter how long you've been teaching, you'll discover something new and have an “a-ha” moment during CCEI’s course training.

Personally, I’ve taken many courses online and offline receiving certificates and credits toward my ECE (Early Childhood Education Certification) and CCEI is the best! ChildCare Education Institute offers certificate programs and coursework that meets the requirement for national credentials including the CDA. CCEI also has online certification programs for Director and Early Childhood Credentials. CCEI, a Council for Professional Recognition CDA Gold Standard™ comprehensive training provider, is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) and is accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET.)

Below, is a list of the most popular things ECE teachers are studying. What are you most interested in studying? After you’ve taken a look at the list, let us know your thoughts in the comments below the post.

10 Things ECE Teachers Should Study

Here’s a list of TOP 10 trending topics that ECE teachers are studying today (that teachers wouldn’t have studied 10 years ago), according to CCEI:

• Children on Devices: CCEI’s CHD103: The Child’s Digital Universe: Technology and Digital Media in Early Childhood online course shares the latest research and recommendations regarding children's use of technology and digital media and ways in which digital devices are reshaping childhood and early childhood education.

• STEM and Robotics: Children are growing up in an increasingly digital world, and technology, coding and robotics in schools are getting a lot of attention. CCEI’s courses  CUR113- STEAM: Enhancing STEM Education with the Arts and CUR123: Robotics in Early Childhood Education: Hands-On and Playful Approaches helps teachers explain robotics to children.

• Trauma Informed Care: ECE providers work with diverse groups of students from all walks of life. Statistics show that 26% of children living in America will experience some sort of trauma in their life prior to the age of four. CCEI offers SOC108: Establishing Trauma Informed Practices in Early Learning Environments which focuses on ways to incorporate trauma informed practices into the environment and interactions with children. 

• Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices can prevent instances of undesired behavior, increase focus and engagement and promote a feeling of ownership and empowerment for children. As an additional benefit, classroom communities tend to be more empathetic and kind. CCEI offers SOC106: The Value of Mindfulness in Early Childhood which explores calming and reflective approaches when working with young children.

• Spirituality: CCEI’s CHD109: Supporting Spiritual Development in Early Learning Environments is based upon the work of Deborah Schein, author of the book titled Inspiring Wonder, Awe and Empathy – Spiritual Development in Young Children. The course explores what spiritual development is and why it is important to overall development. Participants will also learn how to create moments within their learning environments that promote spiritual development in young children.

• Caring for Allergies: Child food allergies are on the rise in the United States and continue to be a public health concern. CCEI’s CCEI119: Food Allergies in the Early Care Setting online course provides an overview of food allergies and basic safety principles to employ in the early care setting. Upon completion of this course, teachers will be able to provide a safe environment for children and staff who suffer from food allergies, identify the eight major food allergens, list the theories associated with the rise in food allergies and identify the importance of food labeling and packaging.

• Dual-Language Learning: In some areas, non-native English speakers may make up the majority of a classroom. It is important for all early childhood educators to be prepared to meet the challenges of guiding a child toward English fluency while maintaining fluency in (and respect for) their home languages and cultures. CCEI offers CHD102: Dual Language Learning in the Early Childhood Environment to provide early childhood professionals with strategies and tools for helping young children develop language and literacy skills in English.

• Attention Disorders: CCEI offers courses like SPN102: Attention Deficit Disorders to help child care providers understand the symptoms, subtypes and common treatment strategies associated with attention disorders.

• Diversity and Inclusion: CCEI’s CCEI640: Creating a Multicultural Environment online training course helps teachers define the goals of multiculturalism, plan and implement an anti-biased classroom, incorporate multiculturalism into learning centers and other classroom activities and promote cooperative social skills in diverse classrooms.

• Bullying in the Classroom: Although bullying has been around for years, today’s teachers are more proactive about reducing bullying. CCEI’s GUI100: Bullying in the Preschool Environment online course helps teachers bring empathy and compassion to the classroom as a way of reducing bullying behaviors.

As you can see, CCEI’s course offerings are full of valuable information that keeps up with the latest trends in early childhood teacher study online. Whether you run a daycare from your home, homeschool preschool, or teach in a public early childhood classroom, CCEI has courses for you.

CCEI has over 35+ certificate programs offered in both English and Spanish! They’ve graduated over 15,000 early childhood professionals from its CDA and other certificate programs -- with over 5 million online coursework completed. Its web-based coursework is available 24/7/365. You can see a full list of certificate programs on their website here, but below are just a few of them:

● CDA (Child Development Associate)

● FCCPC (Florida Child Care Professional Credential)

● Director’s Certificate

● NAC (NECPA National Administrator Credential® Certificate)

Becoming a preschool teacher or caregiver is a rewarding experience, but it takes patience and perseverance. Not everyone is cut out for such an important career choice. When this is your calling in life, you want to be the best teacher possible for your students. Keeping up on educational trends is key to providing your preschool class a positive experience that will pave the way for their future educational endeavors. It's important to find a balance between fun activities and the solid building blocks of education. We always try to make learning fun.

If you're in need of continuing education for your early childhood program or for a new career in early childhood education, start here with our review of ChildCare Education Institute. CCEI offers many amazing continuing education courses for professional development in early childhood education. Their extensive course list is full of lessons that are relevant and current for today’s ever changing ECE programming. 

I encourage everyone involved with childcare and early childhood education, whether you work in a brick and mortar environment or a virtual environment, to sign up for a course or two. And for new CCEI users, you can take a trial course a NO COST!  To stay current, be sure to follow the recommendations on the top 10 things ECE Teachers are studying today. I love that they offer so many course options and each course is informative and easily applicable to your lesson plans and teaching technique. Check out CCEI today!

For more preschool and early childhood activities, follow us on Pinterest.

To read more about our experiences with CCEI's online professional development for early childhood teachers read these articles: Professional Development for Preschool Teachers and ECE Continuing ED Online.

Becoming a preschool teacher or caregiver is a rewarding experience, but it takes patience and perseverance. Not everyone is cut out for such an important career choice. When this is your calling in life, you want to be the best teacher possible for your students. Keeping up on educational trends is key to providing your preschool class a positive experience that will pave the way for their future educational endeavors. It's important to find a balance between fun activities and the solid building blocks of education. We always try to make learning fun.

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Active Learning in Early Childhood Education

What is Active Learning?

If you're an early childhood education director, teacher, or a homeschooler of a preschooler, you will benefit ChildCare Education Institute's CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood course. This course is a great way to get continuing ed course credit for any ECE program, but it is also a wonderful tool for parents of toddlers and preschoolers to educate themselves for homeschool learning. So, what is the definition of active learning in early childhood education?

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, if you make a purchase,I get a small commission.

Wikipedia describes active learning as:

Active learning is a form of learning in which teaching strives to involve students in the learning process more directly than in other methods. Bonwell states that in active learning, "students participate in the process and students participate when they are doing something besides passively listening."

Sensory Play = Active Learning

As a childcare professional, I am well versed in sensory play and its connection to cognitive learning. Here on the blog, you'll find many sensory play activities and other movement games for early childhood educators. However, I wasn't aware of much of the proven science behind these preschool activities until I took CCEI's online professional development course CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood.

This course presents practical methods for integrating movement and active involvement across all curriculum areas, including art, language arts, mathematics, music, science, and social studies.

The course only takes about an hour of your time. Be sure to print out the handouts or save them as pdfs so that you'll have access to note taking and a record of some of the valuable ideas and knowledge base taught in the class. At course completion, you’re issued a certificate showing that you've successfully completed the 1 hr. course. Here's mine:

Through the years, I've taken many continuing education courses. The courses offered by ChildCare Education Institute are by far the most convenient. The courses are also very informative. They not only include valuable information and recent studies in the childcare industry, but they also include sample activities that you can try with your own students.

ChildCare Education Institute® provides high-quality, online training courses and programs, applicable to those who work in an array of child care settings, including center-based care, Head Start, family child care, prekindergarten classrooms, after school environments and more. Over 150 English and Spanish training courses are available to meet licensing, recognition program, and Head Start Requirements. CCEI also has online certification programs that provide the coursework requirement for national credentials including the CDA, Director and Early Childhood Credentials. CCEI, a Council for Professional Recognition CDA Gold Standard℠ Comprehensive training provider, is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) and is accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).

● 99 percent of students say they would recommend CCEI to others

● Over 4.4 million online course hours completed  

● Graduated over 12,000 early childhood professionals from CDA and other certificate programs

● Web-based coursework, available 24/7/365

● 30 hours of new content added each year

● IACET CEUs awarded for completed coursework at no additional cost

During the CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood course, I had many aha moments. There were so many things that I've done in my early childhood programs where I missed valuable opportunities to incorporate movement and music in daily lesson plans for language arts, science, social studies, math, and art. The course lists out many different ideas and further explains how these activities aid in cognitive development and increase brain synapses.

After taking the course, you’ll want to add more movement activities to your daily active learning activities. Here's a list of our most popular posts on early childhood games and sensory play ideas for preschoolers.

● Circle Time Games for Active Learning in Early Childhood

● Physical Activity Movement Games for Early Childhood

● Marshmallow Movement Game

● Sensory Tactile Alphabet Activity

● Group Cooperation Games for Preschool and Early Childhood

If you're in need of continuing education for your career in early childhood, start here with our review of ChildCare Education Institute. CCEI offers many amazing continuing education courses for professional development in early childhood education. The extensive course list is sure to please even the most hard to please daycare providers and program directors. I encourage everyone involved with childcare and early childhood education to sign up for a course or two. It’s such a convenient way to expand your knowledge in early childhood education. Be sure to check it out!

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