It has been proven that developing children learn a lot through play and other fun activities. When a child is still in his infant or toddler years, he will prefer to play on his own, with his preferences moving quickly from one activity to another. During this time, it is best to allow the child to play in an open space with a wide variety of toys.



By the time the child reaches his preschool years, his attention span generally increases allowing him to focus on a single activity for a longer period of time. This is also the time when he realizes that it is fun to play with the other kids of his age, thus reducing his own free play to that of a structured group play.

Preschool Learning Toys are designed to aid children develop specific skills while they play. The correct setup of play activities as well as the toys found in these centers is important to enable interactivity between preschoolers. There are four basic types of play activities that should be included in these learning centers. These are manipulative play, dramatic play, literacy play, and construction play.

The first type of play activity is necessary for the development and fine tuning of motor skills, most specifically hand and eye coordination. Manipulative play activities should include toys which encourage the use of the finger and wrist muscles. Toys like math counters, matching cards, and lacing strings are some of the toys that should be found in this play area.

On the other hand, dramatic play should encourage the children to take on role-playing by pretending to be someone else. Toys found in this area should allow children to play creatively. The toys that are right for this play area include dress-up clothes and props so that the children can take on a different role each time they play here. Tents, puppets, and dollhouses are other toys that can further dramatic play.

Preschool Learning Toys should also have a place for literacy play. This is the corner where the books are located to develop early reading skills. It should be located in a quite spot separate from the other play areas. Pillows can be provided in this area for comfort. Aside from books, other games that are commonly placed here are phonics games and magnetic letter boards.

Another play area that is commonly found in a learning center is an open floor space that is allotted for construction play. This area should be provided with blocks of all shapes and sizes since this is the area where children are given the chance to create models of anything they have interest on. Cars, trucks, people, and animal figures can also be placed in this area.

Apart from the four basic play areas found in these learning centers, there are other types of play areas which can be included in a learning center's set up such as sand, science, art, and water centers. Because these are largely optional recreational activities, toys related to these centers can be brought out on certain occasions only.