Playing is a healthy and necessary part, not only for the child’s development but also for the wellbeing of a family.  Children play in order to have fun and while they do that, they are learning. Choosing creative
games for your children, you will help them in their development and, if you participate with them, their family ties will be that much stronger.  

Following are some web pages where you can find tips for playing with your children, as well as games on the Internet.  

• BabyCenter Español, a web page focused on pregnancy and parenting up to 3 year-olds. It has a section devoted to activities geared towards babies and toddlers at: 

• Mundogar has lists of activities and tips to play with kids between 3 and 6 years old. 

• GuiaInfantil has a section on ball games and another on games using water and sand 

• Childtopia.com is also focused on children and it has a very interesting page where you may find all kinds of games classified by the skills they develop.

• Librosvivos.net lists traditional games on the Internet for older children.  

• www.pekegifs.com also offers a variety of games on its page, for all ages.  

• www.juegosarcoiris.com has a very colorful page that is very attractive to the smaller tots. It also has stories and coloring pages. 

• JueduLand is a page that offers a Wide range of interactive educational games classified by school grade.  

You may find it incredible that a baby that is only a few months old may benefit from reading, but there are many advantages to reading to your baby. It is a tool that promotes its development in more than one aspect and that will open the door to a love of books and reading.

First books

When your baby is only a few weeks or months old, reading does not have the same purpose or function as it does for older children. Your baby cannot follow the plot of a book nor understand what is happening to the characters. However, reading to your baby stimulates other vital aspects. It promotes listening skills and it increases the number of words the baby is exposed to, as the words in books for kids are not usually the ones used in everyday life.   

When your baby is but a few months old, you can sit him on your lap to read, so he can look at the pictures and photographs. Choose books with large illustrations and those that have human faces showing a variety of expressions.  Babies love to look at human faces. Books with flaps and different textures are also great when it comes to stimulating their senses.

An added benefit of shared reading is that it promotes intimacy and close contact while focusing on a common objective. Reading to your baby is also setting the foundation for an interest in books and a love of reading. This will be very beneficial for him when he is older.  

Why reading is good for children

Reading develops a series of thinking capabilities in children that prepares them to better face their future studies and real life. When a child reads with mom or dad, not only is he increasing his vocabulary, but also the comprehension of people’s behavior patterns (through the characters´ actions), drawing conclusions (the moral of the story) and understanding that there are different points of view (by means of the characters´ experiences).   

Your child will enjoy reading even more if you help him understand and practice the previous concepts. Reading does not only consist of repeating out loud the words that are written in the book, but in actively participating of the story. Some tips that may help you to get the most of reading to your child are:  

• Mid-story, ask him how he thinks it will end. This will develop his ability to predict an ending taking into account the facts he has at hand. Discuss what could happen to the characters after the story is over (will Snow White be happy? What will the dwarves do now that she is gone?).

• Help him improve his vocabulary, by guessing what a word he doesn’t know means, based on the context. Then, look it up in the dictionary to check if that’s correct.  

• Ask your child to describe in his own words what is happening in the store. That will help him improve his memory and clarify what he understands and doesn’t understand.   

• Ask him what the main concept or moral of the story is.  That is different from asking him to tell what is happening and to describe the plot. The concept behind Peter and the Wolf is that nobody believes a liar.  

• Ask him to tell you how each one of the characters´ point of view and motives are different. That will help him understand that there are different ways of seeing the world and empathizing with other people’s feelings.

Do your best to set aside some time each day to read with your child. Adapt the reading to your child’s age, and choose books together that you will both enjoy. First, read out loud and then ask your child to read to you, if he can read. Teaching your child to be a good reader is one of the best things you can do for him or her.

Playing is a need for children because that is how they learn skills and abilities that will enable them to be independent people in the future. For that reason, toys and games geared towards learning and developing these skills are positive and recommendable.

The first games

Babies are like sponges in their first months and years of life. During this phase they are developing their fine motor skills (using their fingers to grasp things) and gross motor skills (those that engage the larger muscle groups) as well as memory and social skills.

Some fun and simple games you can play with your baby are the following:

• Hide-and-go-seek. That will help her understand something vital for her psychological development that is known as “object permanence” or knowing that an object has not gone forever, even they may not see it. This will help her to understand that, even though you left the house, you are coming back. Simply cover your face with your hands and tell your baby: “mommy’s gone!”. Then uncover your face and say with a smile “mommy’s here!” It is a classic game and you can introduce variations such as hiding a toy.

• Grabbing games. As the baby grows, she will perfect her pincer grasp. Let her pick up objects that you display on the table, but make sure she doesn’t put small objects in her mouth. Eating “O” shaped cereals will also help her develop this skill.

• Tag. Babies love you to pretend you’re running after them to “tag” them. You can do this at home or outside. Then, switch roles and have her tag you.

Response and communication games

When kids turn 3 or 4, kids have developed other coordination skills, which enable them to play interaction games. For example, throwing the ball is perfect for this age group.  

As they grow older, their socialization needs are more complex and kids enjoy developing their relationship-building and interaction skills.  Group games where players team up are appropriate for this age group.

Stimulating these participation games is very important in kids who spend the most part of their time playing with videogames or electronic games, in order to avoid being isolated. Playing hide-and-go-seek as a team, staging a play or engaging in a board game are excellent activities.

Here comes competition

At around 7 or 8 years old, children need to reaffirm their qualities and individuality. Standing out in games or sports events is a form of play that will help them in this stage.  

It is a very good idea for your son or daughter to be a part of a little league sports team that meets weekly to play. Summer camps and other venues where competition activities are promoted, whether they are individual or as teams, are also recommended.  

Creativity

Any game that promotes creativity is a good thing. Crafts using play dough or clay, painting with water colors, pencils or crayons are wonderful to develop imagination.  

For the older ones, prompt them to make up stories with their own characters, or with characters of traditional stories in a tale of their own is a fun and creative activity. You could also make your own home puppet theater, to include the puppets themselves. Writing stories, that the kids will illustrate with their own drawings or with pictures and photographs out of magazines is also a great stimulus.

The Internet is an endless source of ideas for educational toys for all ages.

Going to a toy store nowadays is like visiting the cave of Ali-Baba. There are toys for all ages, of all shapes and sizes, and using all kinds of technology. Having a chest full of toys is the norm in homes with children. The problem is that many of those toys can hardly be used because despite their flashy appearance, they don’t let the child interact with it.  Others, however, are able to capture kids´ attention from day one. 

Attractive toys

The colors, sounds and movements of some toys are usually very attractive for the youngest tots, from the start. But if the toy doesn’t go past that spectacular external appearance, in a few short days, or even hours, it will be abandoned in a corner, never to be placed with again.

When it comes to buying toys, it is recommended to analyze what the child will be able to do with it, if it will provide endless entertainment and, most important, if it will help the child to develop in some key area. As a rule, toys that kids can only look at are usually not a big hit with them. 

Other toys are considered educational, but may be very boring to the kids.

A toy for every age

During every developmental stage, children perfect different skills, and the best toys are those that accompany them and stimulate them in this development: 

• First years: toys they can manipulate and that show the property of cause and effect are appropriate for very young children,  such as for example, toys that when you press a button a door opens, there is some sound or an animal pops up. When they start to walk, toys they can push or pull are a lot of fun for them.

• 4 to 7 years old. During this age, kids are very active and start to show interest in some sports. Skates, bikes, rackets or any other toy that gets them moving are their favorites. 

• 7 years-old onward. Kids are able to take on more complicated construction games, they like to play with dolls, do crafts, use play dough and other skill-based activities.
   

Toys for development

You can buy a toy based on your child’s age or on the type of skill it promotes. The youngest enjoy toys that imitate their parents´ activities, such as kitchens, plastic food to have dinners and tea-parties or toy tools that look just like daddy’s.

Any toy that stimulates creativity is recommendable for any age group. Painting, clay modeling or building are very popular with kids.

Toys that promote team-work, such as family games develop the child’s capacity to interact with others and provide the possibility of endless hours of fun.

And of course, any game which enables you to play with your child, is going to be a lot more fun for him or her.  

Videogames

The market is flooded with video-games of all kinds. Even though they may keep the child glued to them for hours, they do not promote direct social interaction and it is advisable to limit their use.

It is also important to know what videogame we are buying for our child, because it is common for videogames designed for the youngest crowd to be rather violent. It is worth researching which the best educational toys and games are in the market.