Toy Fire Trucks

Everything a baby encounters in the first months of life can be described as education toys. Babies enter the world with no experience and no exposure to the new world around them. Each time one of their five senses is aroused they are learning something about their environment. Choosing an education toy for a baby is almost as simple as exposing them to any new experience in life.

Education toys should focus on the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch or taste. This is the way babies connect with their world in the early days of their life. They have no communication skills yet, other than crying, so everything they come in contact with expands their world.

For new babies cloth books and stuffed animals will engage their sense of touch. These items require no interaction but still allow the baby to learn about his world. Mobiles and spinning toys mounted above their cribs will provide a focal point for their eyes as they explore their world, looking for broader horizons.

As babies grow their senses expand as well. Balls and other soft toys without sharp edges give them a chance to begin developing eye and hand coordination as they grasp, hold, push, throw or shake toys within their reach. In these early stages of life education is not a matter of facts and figures, it is more about discovering what everything looks like and how it feels.

Books of nursery rhymes and children’s stories can be read to babies even before there is any discernible understanding on their part. Hearing the voice of a parent or other caring adult will build a sense of security for the baby. At the point where words begin to take on meaning the baby will already be ahead of the game as he was hearing words and ideas from the earliest time of his life.

Babies approaching the first year of life become much more interactive. They will start to take part in playing with others. Balls, blocks and other toys can be handed back and forth. Simple games geared to the level of a baby will train him to react to his environment. Placing large puzzle pieces in a puzzle board will develop coordination skills.

The world is one big educational experience for babies in the first year of life. Education toys for babies do not need to be expensive or elaborate.
By:Erica A Brooks
About the Author:
Erica is a mother of two who enjoys sharing helpful tips that help couples to save time and money while growing their family. She believes that learning should be fun for kids of all ages. For more education toys ideas for your baby visit FunEducationToys.com education toys store.

This day and age, a child care center is one of the profitable businesses. Indeed, it is in demand, that is why more and more people especially women are opening their own business in order to earn extra money. In putting up this business, you need time and effort. If you do all the right things, you can get started and earn money.

You need to do some investments when opening your own business. Of course, toys are very important in a child care center. You need to have lots of different toys in your facility to keep the kids occupied and to let them have fun. Yes, you may have other activities which you need to personal interact with them, but you still have to stop for a while and rest and to keep them occupied, you need to let them play with toys. You have to bear in minds that toys are important and you should not just get some toys, you need to select the right toys for your facility. One of the factors that parents will check on your facility is the toys, quality is important than quantity.

So, you need to take time in getting the right toys for the kids on your premises. You need to stay away with toys that can be dangerous for the kids under your care, be extra careful.

Do not buy toys that are flammable. Yes, you heard it right; stay away with toys that are flammable. You need to be extra careful because you have to prevent your facility from fire. Do not take any risks.

Do not buy toys that are small enough to be swallowed. Small kids have the tendency to put toys in their mouth, so do not buy toys that can be swallowed to prevent any danger among the kids under your supervision.

You need to avoid injury among the kids in your child care center, so you must not get toys that have hard surfaces, those with soft surfaces are better. Kids have the tendency to fight with each other and they can strike other kids with the use of toys, so having hard surfaces can harm other kids. Your top priority is the safety of your kids, so make sure to avoid any danger or injury to kids under your facility.

You can make the kids under your child care center have lots of fun if you have the right toys and you can stay away from any danger and injury.
By:Dolson McArt
About the Author:
For more info see: Start a daycare center

Dolson McArt – Author of: What Toys You Should Get for Your Child Care Center

Contributing to EzineArticles.com since March 2007.

Our brain stores as much as it does and makes those things retrievable because of our ability to categorize objects. The ability to categorize forms the basis of cognitive complexity essential in academic and emotional intelligence. Noticing that things that look different can be categorized as similar begins as early as 2 months of age. This can be done through seeing the different objects, examining each independently, or touching them each in sequence. For example, cars, trucks, push toys are all categorized as things that roll. In the early ages (2-9 months), babies categorize into one level. For example, cars are not distinguished from trucks but can be distinguished from dissimilar objects (cars, things that roll, and blocks, things that do not roll.

Babies gradually begin to develop a second level as they categorize into hierarchies. By 18 months of age children are able to categorize on multiple levels unless the items are too different, in which case, they will not categorize them until age 2.

Sets of a series of matchbox toy cars, may be different colors but are seen as fitting into the larger category of cars, yet are barely distinguishable from each other and the baby under 9 months cannot separate into red cars or blue cars on their own. But after 9 months, toy cars that are dissimilar force categorization on two levels: first, the larger category of cars, second the smaller distinguishing characteristics, such as small vs big or truck vs car. Thus dissimilar toy sets encourage further thought about categorization.

The process of moving from one level to multiple levels is difficult to predict. Therefore, while a baby at 2 months of age is highly unlikely to benefit from the dissimilar set, the baby of 12 months should have sets of toys that present opportunity to develop their cognitive complexity.

Toys that are similar sets (for younger babies) include Sensory Balls. These balls are identical in the most obvious ways, ball-shaped, and similar in texture, but colors are different. A 9 month-old baby would not distinguish them on their own. But with parental or older sibling assistance she can learn to discriminate between the colors. At first, the development relies on memorization but between 9 and 12 months old, the baby begins to understand category blue or category red.

Then the baby can move to the next step, which is understanding the differences. At this point, introduce, toys that are moderately dissimilar sets (for 12-18 months) for instance, the Fishies Toy. All the fishies look alike although they have different colors. This toy targets the brain development of 12 -16 months of age. In order to link these identically shaped fish, the child turns them in different ways, thus developing alternatives while seeing similarity.

Toys that are more diverse sets (age 20-24 months) are the at the high end, Family House or Fire Station, in which all items relate to the theme but must be placed in different rooms or are used for different functions. A lower priced toy that achieves this is the Surprise Circus. The various parts of this toy can be joined in a train or stacked in a tower using various criteria for the stacking or lining up – color, size, shape, type of animal. Now granted a 12 month old will not be able to articulate why it is being matched in a way and perhaps it looks erratic but this is the beginning of understanding categorization and patterns. Categorization and pattern understanding are essential skills in language and math later in their life.
By:Dr. Suni Petersen

About the Author:
Dr. Suni Petersen is a family therapist, professor of psychology, and president of Toy Connex. Toy Connex is an on-line retail store and a toy-of-the-month subscription service that accomplishes the requirements for building strong bonds with a young child. The grandparent (or parent) completes a play profile so that a developmentally, educationally appropriate toy is sent to the child at the same time each month. Along with the gift, the child receives a photograph and message from the subscriber, and a thank you card on which to draw, then mail in the already-addressed and stamped envelope. Go to http://www.toyconnex.com

Melissa and Doug Toys should be the standard by which all toy providers base their own products. Many of these wonderful toys are solid, durable wood and provide years of enjoyment for your children.

Wooden puzzles are available in a huge variety of scenes and age related levels, from the basic ABC and 123 to 300 or 500 piece floor puzzles for your older children. They even have some of the wooden puzzles with sound to help children learn their letters, numbers and animal sounds!

Do you have a budding artist in the house? Melissa and Dougs arts and craft selection is the best I’ve seen yet. The artist easels are solidly built and sure to take years of “abuse” from over-active artists! They come stand-alone easels or you can purchase the set with all the supplies to get your young one started immediately.

For the little princess or knight in shining armor, Melissa and Doug offer fantastic wooden castles. There are dolls made especially to fit the castle and furniture for even more interactive fun. There are several doll houses available for playtime fun. There are folding doll houses, a Victorian model a huge wooden two-story house. A huge selection of furniture and accessories are available for each room. I wish I was a child again so I could play….maybe I will anyway!

My favorite is the Tree House. It stands about 20″ high and has a pulley systems, working trap door, porch swing, hammock and retractable stairs – all indoors! This is sure to be a hit on any child’s list!

Melissa and Doug have wonderful rattles and push toys for the younger crowd. The “clacker” push toys are my personal favorites. There is a duck, an elephant and even a larger alligator clacker toy

If your youngster likes vehicles as much as my four-year-old grandson does, then they will love the collections available here. Cars, trucks, emergency vehicles, fire engines and even a garbage truck; many in sizes suitable for very young children with all the safety features you could possible wish for. The colors are vibrant and eye catching to make their appeal even more desirable for all ages.
Melissa and Doug also produce a fantastic line of plush animals. These stuffed, bears, dogs, white tigers and other are sure to provide much needed comfort at bedtime and throughout the day. Most of us had, at one time or another, a favorite stuffed animal, and these are no exception. They are cute, safe and above all soft and cuddly!
By:Anne Jamieson

About the Author:
I highly recommend you visit The Toddler Toy Bin for your Christmas shopping this year. They are sure to bring back to you memories of your own childhood and bring to your own children hours, days and years of entertainment in a fun and safe environment.

When children start to walk it’s a great opportunity to buy a toddler toys that will last for several years. Traditional toys tend to be built to last and although some can be deemed to be a little expensive, just look at what you are getting.

Craftsmanship second to none, sometimes materials used from sustainable sources, and a guarantee that the paint or glues used are non-toxic. Edges are rounded off for safety and you are unlikely to find sharp spikes or bits that fall off and create choking hazards. Energy is abundant at this stage and children just love to be active. Some of the more energy sapping gadgets come in the form of ride-on or ride-in toddler toys.

Don’t forget the other senses too. Toddlers love noise, colour and movement, in fact anything that clangs, whistles, rings or bangs is a firm favourite. Ride-on toys are built in all shapes and materials. Some are built like rocket ships and have vibrating motors and flashing lights to add to the excitement. Other ride-on toys can include fire-engines, complete with bells, or tow trucks – in fact whatever you want your child to ride around on it’s available, even a ride-on lion! Of course when the child has mastered the art of balance and co-ordination a firm favourite is the trike. These traditional toys are made in all kinds of materials but the wooden trike is becoming popular. Wheels are bound with rubber for easier maneuvering and will also stop those scuff marks around the house.

Then there is the ride-in toy taking the form of cars – even vintage cars – and the like. The child will love to motor around the house or garden hooting and making car noises. The more traditional toddler toys are still being manufactured today. Take the old hammer and peg set where the child can hammer away at wooden pegs that go through the hole to be hammered back again once the work is done. This has been improved upon by making the pegs into balls which will only drop through the hole if they are hit in the right manner. A little noisy but the children love the noise and they are rewarded by seeing their actions moving something. Great for hand-eye co-ordination too!

For quieter play there are many push and pull along toddler toys [http://www.monkeyshine.co.uk]. Traditional toys like train sets are now being made in wood with tracks and all kinds of attachments. Take, for example, the circus set. The track is laid down in free form and the engine can be pushed around by the child. Circus wagons and trucks hold many different animals and the child will spend hours loading and unloading them from the train. Other examples include school sets where pupils are transported to the school building. This is a great way to introduce the child to the idea of him/her going to playschool or ‘big kids’ school one day.

Playtime with ‘normal’ toys will encourage imagination and role-playing which is somewhat lacking with the more sophisticated electronic toys on offer today.
By:Gary Clay

About the Author:
Gary is a respected authority on toddler toys [http://www.monkeyshine.co.uk], writing for a number of sources including his own e-commerce toyshop, Monkeyshine, where you will find a great range of traditional toys [http://www.monkeyshine.co.uk] and superb service.

When do human beings play?

They play at every stage of life, because playing is natural and relaxing – every human loves to play. Playing is the most natural activity that a baby goes through. In fact, one can use the right set of educational toys at the right periods of childhood to see a spurt of growth in intelligence, knowledge, creativity and cognitive powers in the child. These attributes remain ingrained inside the child for the rest of their lives.

Benefits of Playing

Using the right toys would take the art to perfection reaping maximal benefits for your child.

1) Play begins at birth – don’t we all know that? Playing begins naturally and ought to remain natural for the very initial phase of life.

2) The baby’s major activity during the entire babyhood is also play. In fact, babyhood is when a person is at his/her receptive best. If you arm the baby with knowledge and education at this stage of life, then the baby will start learning it and keep growing in quickly terms of knowledge. Babyhood is a golden period of life – dig all the gold that your baby has inside at this phase. Studies suggest that babies exposed to educational toys early enough learn quicker in school and are the better performers, and later they become more mature and effective individuals as adults. In later babyhood and also early childhood, they get deeper into cognitive involvements. They take to games as making songs and rhymes. They start understanding and respecting games with rules over random games. They start understanding that not every game will have an immediate result – some games take more time to produce results compared to others.

3) Childhood is the longest learning phase of a person’s life. Pre-school, early-school childhood and late-school childhood – each of the levels have their own physical, intellectual and social demands. Make sure that you expose the child to the right set of games at each of the stages that balance the development activities of the body and the mind. Each of these stages call for a different set of requirements. Cross-check with your toy vendor that you are getting the toy for the right age group. If in doubt, get clarified. This is about your child’s future, so don’t take chances. The educational toys tuned towards wholesome growth of children at different stages clearly demarcate the appropriate sets of toys for each age group and the nature of growth those toys would propel. As a result, you get to easily understand and monitor that your child is experiencing the right experience of growing up.

4) During adolescence, the young adults still grow in their minds. The intellectual growth part now takes the foremost seat, especially during early adolescence. This is the phase of life where your kid will experience a tremendous shift in their mindsets that involves developing their careers and making choices. If they keep continuing playing deeper intellectual games and relaxing games, then they implicitly keep honing their inherent sharpness and injecting the much-desired peace into their minds. This translates into a great positive in the longer run. Later as young adults, your kids would either go into higher studies or into their own profession. It is the adolescence experience and knowledge that is the most recent one they have, and that is the one with the biggest impact in their mindsets. If you get to inject the right set of educational toys for their play during adolescence, then that would leave a direct impact on their mindset and would reflect in their career choices.

5) And adults play for relaxation till they grow old – a natural form of evolution of a human life.

As you see, play is important, more so for babies in late babyhood right up to kids in their adolescence. The childhood intellect, cognition and knowledge develop with play. Physical and mental growths are balanced. This can shape up the entire career and life of your kid. Using educational toys with proper discipline thus becomes critical.

As a parent, you would help the child a lot by exposing your children to a set of toys that will make their lives fun and will also help take them forward in their lives. Make your child play, and one day you shall enjoy that you had brought your child in a new world of wonderful colors and flavors.
By:Judy Hansen
About the Author:
The author is a mother of 2 young kids. Her kids simply love wooden educational toys from Melissa and Doug Toys. She is also an advocate for teaching babies how to read and had much success for her own children at a very young age.

An Introduction to Collecting Die-Cast Trucks

Collecting die-cast trucks is a fun and fascinating hobby. Whether you are interested in casual collecting or if you’re a die-hard collector, there is something in this hobby for everyone. When starting out collecting, or if you are purchasing a truck for a collector, there is some basic information that all collectors should know about die-cast trucks.

Die-Cast Truck Types

While some people collect strictly one type of die-cast vehicle, there are a wide range of vehicle types available. Some collectors focus on antique trucks, and others like to collect trucks from a single manufacturer. Others may focus strictly on a type of truck, such as 18-wheelers, and others may have an interest in farm vehicles or construction equipment. It’s important to decide what sort of truck you are most interested in, so you can focus your research and purchasing.

Die-Cast Truck Manufacturers

There are many different manufacturers of die-cast trucks. Some of these manufacturers include:

· Norscott – Norscott is the primary manufacturer of Caterpillar die-cast construction equipment, as well as other brands such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Case, Claas, Bell, Liebherr and Yale/Hyster.

· Ertl – Ertl is one of the oldest die-cast truck manufacturers. Ertl’s primary focus is on farm equipment, and manufactures John Deere and Case/New Holland farm vehicles.

· Tonkin – Tonkin focuses on road trucks, primarily 18-wheelers, but their collection also includes log trucks and dump trucks.

· New Ray – New Ray Trucks also focus on road trucks, including 18-wheelers and pickup trucks, but their collection also includes specialty trucks such as garbage trucks and tanker trucks.

· Yatming – Yatming is a Hong Kong company that manufactures a wide line of fire trucks and police vehicles, in addition to its automobile lines.

· Corgi – Corgi is a British manufacturer that specializes in branded trucks and limited edition collectable vehicles.

· Tonka – Tonka trucks were manufactured more strictly as toys than many die-cast trucks made today. Tonka is currently owned by Hasbro, and now licenses the Tonka name to Maisto for die-cast vehicles. Today’s Tonka trucks include pickup trucks, farm tractors, big rigs and branded trucks.

Die-Cast Truck Scales

A scale refers to the ratio of the size of the model truck to the size of the actual truck. The primary scales for die-cast vehicles are 1:18, 1:24, 1:43, and 1:64. In a 1:18 scale truck, one inch on the die-cast truck translates to 18 inches on the actual truck. Some collectors prefer one scale of die-cast toy trucks, while other’s collect trucks from a variety of scales.

Resources for Die-Cast Truck Collectors

The majority of resources for die-cast truck collectors are web sites created by die-cast truck manufacturers and sites developed by other collectors. While manufacturer web sites can easily be found with a simple search, it is more difficult to locate non-manufacturer resources.
By:Edward Fisher
About the Author:
This article was researched and written by Edward Fisher who has been involved in the steel industry for 30+ years. Edward grew up on a Farm in Saskatchewan and then spent years chasing Oil Rigs all over Canada and during that time was involved with the manufacture of steel while living in Sault Ste Marie Ontario. Edward settled in Atlantic Canada in late 1987 where he met and married his wife Ada. Edward is still involved in the steel industry but is now semi retired and spends more time at home with his wife and chasing one of his passions Die Cast Products. As a child his dad bought some Die Cast farm tractors that were the start of a life of fascination for Die Cast products. We welcome your comments and suggestions on our article at http://numberfirstsales.blogspot.com