Children learn best through experience. You no doubt can recall telling your child not to touch something because it is hot yet they still kept reaching for it. It wasn't until they had an understanding of what 'hot' meant, usually by touching something labeled hot, that they knew that touching something hot was painful and it would be best to heed your warnings. Then again they may have needed to touch it several times before they really got it! Of course, that kind of practical learning has its place but can't be applied to every kind of situation. So how do children learn all the things they need to know? Much of what they need to know they learn through play. And toys, all toys but especially educational or learning toys, act as prompts to encourage your child to explore their talents and skills.

The kind of creative learning toys that your child will respond to best are those that allow them to discover and encourage their own individual learning method. Some children like to concentrate on one activity and explore all they can around that while others like to have a wide variety of choices so that they can easily move from one to another. For example, a child that likes to concentrate for long periods will probably enjoy a complicated puzzle (appropriate to their age) but a child who gets distracted easily would probably learn more with a range of simpler puzzles that get increasingly difficult.

Have you ever stopped to think about how you like to learn? Each of us has a favorite way of discovering new things. If you take a book of fiction for example, you would find that some people prefer audio books because they can more easily take in information aurally, while others need to have a book in their hands to be able to assimilate the words. Others would rather watch a play or movie of the book than read it. And others would prefer to plot out what happened in a logical way through a mind map or linear drawing rather than trudge through the detail of what occurred. While children are still developing, their learning styles change depending on their skill level, however, most have a preference for a particular type of learning style.

If you're unsure which learning style your child prefers then spend some time observing how they play with their toys and how they respond to visual and aural instructions. You may need to trial a few learning toys to really see where your child's preferences lie. Once you work out which style they like then you can fully explore the range of educational toys available. However, remember that your child's preferences for a particular learning style may change over time as they develop so you would be wise to continue offering some toys that cater to other learning styles too.