Summer Activities for Kids – Tips & Tricks

There are several benefits to keeping kids active and entertained during their summer break. Fun activities not only help children develop fine motor skills, but they can also help them learn new things and stay active! This guide covers a few tips and tricks to plan the summer activities for kids throughout the summer season.


Outdoor Activities for Spring and Summer Seasons

Summer Activities for Kids

Spring and summer are the perfect times to get your kids outdoors! Some great Spring season activities for kids are exploring a local park, going for a walk on a nature trail, or having a family picnic. These spring activities for kids provide ample learning and exploring opportunities and will also get your kids moving. Spring activities for babies can include things like baby books about nature and nature sensory bags, though often, babies will enjoy walks and picnics just as much as the older people in the family!

Consider some water games for kids to beat the heat as spring turns to summer. Some fun activities include playing in a backyard pool, heading to a nearby beach, or the city pool. Try to include fun water toys like water mills or pool toys. If swimming isn’t your thing, a water table can be a great option for your little ones. Outdoor games for kids are a great way to keep kids active and cool this summer.


Indoor Kids Games for Summer Break

Children playing with cards

Children will be home much more during the summer break. It’s important to have safe kids games and fun indoor activities for them to do. Floor games, card games, and puzzles are all fun games for kids to do indoors. 

You can also help them learn and grow this summer with learning games for kids. Examples of kids learning games are science kits, flashcards, building toys, and globes. There’s no limit to the learning fun your kids can have at home. 


Educational Outings for Summer Break

Young girls visiting a zoo

Summer activities can be educational, too. If you are looking for something to do, consider doing an educational outing. Make a trip to museums, art galleries, aquariums, zoos, planetariums, nature centers, and historical landmarks. Bird watching and geocaching are also fun activities to do that will get their brain working, too. 

Springtime and summer break are great times for learning as well as fun. There are all sorts of kids games, fun activities, and learning games for kids that you can use to make their summer break great! Visit Toys Central to shop our online shop of fun toys, games, activities, puzzles, and more. 

What Do Kids Learn From Toys?

From infants to school-age children, childhood toys have been proven time and time again to be about more than just play. They serve as educational tools. From giggles to genius, learning toys are designed to entertain and educate. Unleash your child’s potential while they play and have a blast!

When you get to know what motivates your child. It is easy to orchestrate play-based learning with educational toys that inspire their creativity, challenge their problem-solving, and invite them to engage with others.

Learning Toys for Infants

Learning Toys for Infants

Babies learn from every new color, shape, and texture in the environment around them. Music making toys, like rattles, are a favorite among learning toys for 1-year-olds. They help your child discover their senses. They learn cause and effect and develop fine hand-eye coordination by interacting with blocks, hanging mobiles, and other baby toys.

Educational Toys For Toddlers 

Educational Toys For Toddlers 

Learning toys for 3-year-olds and other toddlers level up from baby toys. While your toddler may still love the blocks they played with as a baby, as their minds grow, so too must their playbox. 

Shape sorters and Legos are a great way to challenge toddlers’ critical thinking skills and further develop their understanding of symmetry. Arts and crafts for toddlers are also an exciting implementation, thanks to the motor skills they developed as babies.

Preschool and School-Aged Kids Learning Toys

Girls playing with doll house

Preschool toys are the first introduction school-aged children have into group play, unless they have siblings at home. At school, they are learning numbers, language, letters, and collaboration. 

From alphabet puzzles to fancy electronic toys, there are a myriad of options on the market. They encourage children to engage with the things they are learning at school as they play. Puppets for kids can encourage creativity and collaboration, as children must create a character in their puppet play. Arts and crafts can also elevate to include the use of scissors, glue, and other textiles that challenge their motor skills and artistry.

Motivate and Inspire Your Child With Toy Central

Boy playing animal toys

Playtime should be exactly that –playful. But part of what makes play so fun for children of all ages is the growth it encourages. By affording young children opportunities to try and potentially fail, they can learn from their mistakes and know more about the world around them.

From puppets to puzzles, from arts and crafts to blocks and trains, Toy Central has what every child’s heart desires. Start encouraging your child’s creative imagination today when you explore our collection of educational toys.

5 Ways Kids Benefit from Playing with Toy Cars

When choosing the perfect toy for your little one, it can be hard to strike a balance. You want to encourage play while also inspiring problem-solving and helping them to develop other essential life skills. Can play make my child smarter? You may find yourself wondering. The answer is, yes, certain styles of toys can assist your child in their early development, and one of those is toy cars. 

Develop Fine Motor Skills

Strong fine motor skills are interdependent. It can only develop by young children through careful practice. Toy cars for kids give kids an opportunity to pick up, pull, and push while mastering their hand-eye coordination.

Exposure to STEM Learning

Mother-son playing with Toy Cars

The speed of toy cars for kids is based upon how fast it is pushed an early physics lesson. STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, are hefty and complex concepts. It is hard to believe your child can begin to grasp simply by playing with toys, and yet, a toy car for kids can serve as a simple early science lesson.

Cognitive Development

Playing with trucks, cars, and other on-the-road toys puts your child in the driver’s seat, allowing them to think critically and learn by playing.

Boosts Their Collaborative Skills

Boys playing with Toy cars

Toy cars for toddlers are popular among nurseries, camps, and classrooms across the globe. When playing with others, car toys for toddlers can teach young children the valuable skills of collaboration, cooperation, and sharing.

Expands Their Creativity

Small toy cars and large toy cars for toddlers both give your little one a variety of colors, textures, and options for play, allowing them to be limited only by their imaginations.

Speed Up Your Child’s Fun With Toys Central

Boy is having fun with toy cars

From baby cars to stuffed animals to puzzles and more, playtime is an opportunity for your child to grow their critical thinking as well as their creativity.

Whatever the age and interests of your child, Toys Central ships something they will love. Explore our entire range of toys today to get the perfect surprise, reward, or gift for your children.

A Guide to Toys for the First Five Years of Your Kids

The first five years of your child’s life are a period of rapid change, growth, and development, and in most cases, their interests, likes, and dislikes change as well. With the crucial role play has in a child’s cognitive and social development, they must always have plenty of toys that capture their attention and are fun to play with. That being said, let’s take a look at some of the best toys for the first five years of your kids and their development.

Toys for 1-Year-Olds

Educational toys for 1-year-old kids are generally the best way to go, providing them with sensory stimulation and a baseline for skills they’ll continue to develop as they age. Of course, it’s best to keep it simple, as their skills haven’t had much time to develop, and for safety reasons, you should avoid small parts. As such, we recommend toys like magnetic tiles and wooden blocks.

Toys for 2-Year-Olds

Child playing with colorful toys

By two years old, your kid is starting to refine their cognitive and motor skills, so they’ll love toys that help them develop these skills further. By this point, they may be interested in drawing and problem-solving, so art supplies, educational toys, and basic puzzles are a great way to go.

Toys for 3-Year-Olds

By three years old, most kids are becoming increasingly strong walkers and runners and may enjoy more physical activities, but they still enjoy cognitive development toys as much as ever. Because of this, they may enjoy kid-friendly outdoor games to burn off some energy, and more complex puzzles to continue growing their mind.

Toys for 4-Year-Olds

Four year old girls playing with doll

In keeping with the pattern of cognitive development, 4-year-olds’ minds are still advancing, so they’re ready to take on even more complex mental challenges. In addition, their risk of choking on small parts in toys is beginning to decrease, so we believe that building blocks like legos make some of the best toys for 4-year-old boys and girls alike, giving them the unique challenge of building a set as well as the fun of playing with it afterward.

Toys for 5-Year-Olds

Finally, at age 5, your kid can enjoy a wide range of toys and activities, and may start growing into a few specific interests. At this point, it’s best to start including your little one in the toy-buying process, allowing them to choose which activities they want to partake in. Of course, these activities could be anything from basic sports to more refined drawings, so be sure to provide them with plenty of options!

Looking for more great toy recommendations and high-quality play products? Visit us at ToysCentral!

Doll’s House Set and Why it is Important

Doll’s house set is one of the most common childhood toy, and have been for decades. There’s just something natural about letting kids express themselves through play, but their importance goes far beyond just entertainment. So, why is dollhouse play so important to children? Let’s take a look.

Allows Expression of Imagination

First and foremost, a doll set allows children to express themselves freely and act out their vivid imaginations. From having fun with bizarre, far-out scenarios to puzzling through real social situations, using their imagination in the context of human interaction, imaginary or not, is critical to their growth. By giving children the tools to express and nurture their imagination, you in turn give them a key piece to their mental development.

Teaches Social Skills

Kids are playing with doll's house set

In a similar vein to expressing their imaginations, dollhouses also allow your kids to begin learning social skills on their own. While the scenarios they come up with aren’t always realistic, they often involve elements that could be applied to everyday life. By resolving imaginary conflicts and facilitating effective communication, for example, they’ll be able to apply their play experiences to real-life situations and conflicts. As a result, they’ll develop much stronger social skills, becoming more well-rounded and mature as a result.

Develops Empathy

To kids, dolls and dollhouses are almost like a reflection of the real world and the scenarios they go through. By inventing scenarios with conflicts and resolving them as mentioned above, they’ll learn to see both sides of an issue. Empathy can be a difficult skill to learn for young children, but through this miniature world in their imagination, they’ll be able to get one step closer to mastering it.

Cognitive Development

cute kid playing with cooking set

Owing to the combination of expressing imagination, learning social skills, and developing empathy, playing with a doll’s house set will contribute to greater cognitive development as a whole. Children learn and grow through play, and by providing them with toys that reflect their reality, you encourage and enable them to see themselves and others in the scenarios they act out while playing. This is, of course, one of the first steps your child will take to becoming a healthy, socially-aware, and compassionate adult.

Looking for more interesting information on toys or want to purchase a high-quality toy for your kid? Visit ToysCentral today!