Mom and Dad, YOU are the most essential toy your child can have for early education.

With mom or dad along, the whole world becomes a learning tool.
Children can learn anywhere, anytime, and everything can become a wonderful toy for them- your pots in the kitchen, the bubbles in the tub, mommy's nose, and daddy's "big man" shoes, are just examples of the many things that children will play with, even if your home is overflowing with expensive toys, and "educational" tools.

What matters most to a child's learning and development, especially in these early years, is his interaction with the grown-ups in his life. Children are interested in everything, and they will learn by watching mom and dad, and by asking an endless array of questions. They learn by touching, feeling, seeing, doing.

You can make toys out of almost anything.
By doing this you help your child learn that the world is his playground, and boredom is an impossibility.
Vegetable cans become towers of complex and intricate design, boxes become hiding places, and playhouses, and if taped shut, they also can be the worlds greatest blocks for building anything your heart desires.
Sticks become forts, leaves become tumbling piles, sand becomes castles fit for stone kings and queens.
Flour and water becomes "play-doh" or glue for paper mache', which turns old newspapers into dragons, and dinosaurs.

Imagination and curiousity are things your child has been born with.
Keeping these things alive will help your child become more creative, independent and resourceful.

Learn more about this author, Randa Morris.
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