It's been said a few times, I'm sure, the toys that promote creativity are very good toys for teaching kids. A person, especially a young child, must open their minds and imaginations to learn. All the while they should have fun in doing this. There's always electronic toys like Leap Frog and related learning toys. But electronics are taking over, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Yet there needs to be a variety, and a lot of hands on toys.

Some of my favorites as a kid were things like building blocks, legos, kinex, and anything that connected and could be used to build something. The neat things about these toys is that they let your imagination run wild. You can build whatever you want. Or you can learn how to follow directions and patiently build the object that is displayed. And you can always build more then one thing and include friends.

Hand and eye coordination toys are very important. There are play hammers and nails with a board that you 'nail' the fake nails into. This would certainly help coordinate your child, and though not the most amusing, will get its fair share of attention. While there are other toys like the ring-toss, in which you attempt to get the colored rings over the pole in their respective order.

Playing house and holding tea parties are classic. They teach kids the basics of socializing and the way a house runs. It may not seem like much, but it gets a child's mind moving.

Electronic learning toys. Like I said, Leap Frog. Let your children interact with toys that make noises, like "The cow goes: MOOOOO" or "The dog goes: Arf, Arf." These give young children a start on learning. You may never hear your child stop barking like a dog once they learn that dogs go 'arf arf', but it shows that they are learning!

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Parents and family. Interact with your children, play with them, get out the classic board game, play house with them, build lego spaceships and go on crazy adventures through the backyard with them. Read to them, books are very important, and tell them stories. Believe it or not, a child pays a lot of attention to their parents and siblings. They pick up information and habits from them.

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