Author: Aishwarya Sathe

Creativity is critical to your child’s mental, social, and emotional development, as it opens up the mind to entirely unique ways of thinking. As such, it’s important to provide your child with the means to pursue their creative ventures, allowing them to form hobbies and grow their creative mind. For many children, their creative endeavor of choice is painting for kids, which provides them with both a unique medium and a novel sensory experience. Of course, painting can mean a lot of things, so there may be a bit of trial and error to figure out, but the results will make it all worth it. To get you started, though, we’ve put together a few of our favorite easy and creative painting ideas for kids to enjoy.

1. Painting Over a Coloring Sheet

If you’re looking for ways to challenge your child’s creative mind and hone their fine motor skills, try having them paint over a coloring sheet. Though this doesn’t allow for the same boundless creativity as other forms of painting, your child will still be able to work their creative muscles by deciding on colors. In addition, the need to stay within the lines while painting will help them to grow their fine motor skills. Doing so while painting holds far more importance than it does when coloring with crayons or pencils, as painting over the lines will render them invisible and interfere with the final image. As a result, your child will develop their fine motor skills in order to adapt, learning invaluable life skills while also having a great time.

2. Finger Painting

Finger painting is the simplest form of painting, and is perfect for kids of all ages. For younger kids, it’s an excellent way to introduce the idea of creative activities, and can even help to develop their fine motor skills as they learn to make more precise motions to paint the things they want. In addition, getting your child set up with the materials you need for finger painting is extremely easy and cost-efficient. All you need is a canvas or piece of paper, as well as some non-toxic washable tempera paints in various colors. Once you’ve put those materials in front of your child, just turn them loose and see what they create!

3. Painting Clay Sculptures

Painting clay sculptures is once again a great way to develop fine motor skills, and helps your child explore multiple avenues of creative expression through two artistic mediums. For your kid to get started, they’ll need a large amount of polymer clay and several colors of tempera paint. Then, they can put together a clay sculpture. This sculpture can be anything, from a commonplace household item to a zany, far-out imaginary creature. No matter what they decide to put together, though, they’ll be using their creative mind to do so, and the very precise, minute motions required to manipulate the clay into the shape they want will help them to greatly develop their fine motor skills.

Once they’ve shaped the sculpture, all you have to do is pop it in the oven until it sets, and it’ll be ready for your kid to paint. This will allow your kid to follow through with and complete their original vision by coloring in the blank statue. In addition, painting on a textured, 3D surface will give them a unique sensory experience and help them to further expand, develop, and specialize their fine motor skills. While this activity may be on the pricier side, it’s an unforgettable experience, and the statue your child will have to show for it at the end is sure to create fond memories that will last for years to come.

4. Group Painting Party

Creative development can go hand-in-hand with social development, and by turning the act of painting into a fun group activity, you’ll be able to involve your child’s friends in their growth as well. Children often bond over shared interests, so by having them paint together, you create the circumstances for a shared interest to appear. The ultimate result of this is not only a boost to your child’s development, but the formation of lifelong friendships.

5. Open, Freehand Painting

Finally, there’s simple, openhand painting. Just set your child in front of a canvas with their supplies of choice, and let them paint however they want. You may be surprised to see just how much they can do when given the opportunity and freedom to do so!

Interested in more fun ideas and products that will grow your child’s mind and encourage their creative development? Feel free to visit our shop at ToysCentral today!

Part of raising a well-rounded child is ensuring that they’re able to get the enrichment they need through mentally stimulating activities. Though making sure that your child always has something fresh to discover and learn about may seem like a daunting task. It’s actually quite simple as long as you know what they’re interested in, and tailor the activities you plan to their likes and interests. That being said, let’s take a look at five of the best colorful craft ideas kids you can provide your child with, and the ways in which your child will benefit from doing them.

1. Construction Paper Collage

Making a construction paper collage with your kids is an extremely easy starting point to get them into crafting, and it can be done with nothing more than a few household items. To get started, you’ll need a pair of safety scissors, several types of colored construction paper, glue, printer paper or cardboard, and if your kid wants, some crayons or colored pencils. 

To make the collage, your kid can cut or tear off pieces of construction paper in whatever shapes they want, glue them onto the piece of printer paper or cardboard to create an image, and add a few extra flourishes with the crayons or colored pencils. The actions of cutting and arranging pieces of paper to form a unique image is great for teaching fine motor skills, and those skills can be honed further as your kid starts doing more complex crafts.

2. Origami Crafts

Origami is a bit more complex of an activity, so we recommend it for kids around ages 6-10. In most cases, standard paper won’t be the right shape or size for origami. So you’ll either need to trim a sheet of paper to size or buy sheets of special origami paper to get started. From there, though, your child more or less has free rein of what they want to make, with a variety of internet tutorials out there that’ll teach them anything from a simple origami crane to the most complex mythical creatures. Due to the precise nature of origami, we recommend it less for helping kids develop fine motor skills to begin with, and more for learning patience and precision.

3. Learning to Draw

Drawing is an activity that isn’t just for kids. but can be continuously practiced, improved, and refined well into adult life. So if you’re looking to raise a creative child, there’s no time like the present to get them set up for success. Though you can end up spending a ridiculous amount of money on art supplies if you’re not careful, for a kid who’s just starting out, some basic crayons, markers, and colored pencils should work just fine without costing too much.

From there, you can either give your child ideas for things like simple animal drawings, or just let them run free with the art supplies. There are benefits to both, with the former teaching the ability to draw pictures based on observation, putting real-life concepts to canvas, while the latter allows them to fully explore their sense of creativity and style. Whichever you decide to do, though, it’ll help your child start thinking in a more creative manner, as well as boosting their fine motor skills.

4. Finger Painting

A great option for younger children, finger painting is perfect for fine motor development. To get started, be sure the paints your child is using are washable and non-toxic. Finger painting isn’t exactly known for being a clean activity, so once your child is done, they may need a quick soak in the tub to rinse everything off, and needless to say, you want to be sure that the chemicals they’re coming in contact with are safe to touch. In addition, you may want to lay down a sheet of butcher paper over the canvas or piece of regular paper your child is trying to paint, as this will make cleanup afterward infinitely easier. Other than that, though, finger painting is an incredibly open-ended activity, so let your kid have at it!

5. Drawing With Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk does two great things for your child: encouraging them to be creative, and encouraging them to spend more time outdoors. This might also be the most affordable activity on the list, because as long as they have a single package of chalk and a surface made of concrete nearby, your child will have everything they need to enjoy themselves for hours on end.

Looking for more great advice and tips on engaging your child’s mind, or need to pick up a few of the products to make it happen? Feel free to visit our site at ToysCentral today!

It’s important to teach your children important life skills from early on, and there aren’t many skills that see more daily use than basic counting. Counting is not just a skill in and of itself, but the basis for countless other skills that will develop throughout your child’s life. As children learn and grow through play, it’s important to have a wide array of fun learning games, toys, and activities to teach your kids these all-important skills, so let’s take a look at a few of the best. Here are some creative counting games:

Bottle Cap Number Matching

This game is a simple one, and can be done more or less for free as long as you plan ahead. Whenever you have something like bottled water or a soft drink, save the bottle and the cap. Once you’ve scrounged up enough bottles, separate the bottles and caps. Then, write one number on each cap, and write the corresponding number on each bottle. Then, have your kid try to screw the right caps back onto the right bottle. This is a great way to not just teach the concept of numbers, but how to recognize them in writing, as well as the fine motor skills required to screw on a bottle cap.

Hopscotch

Hopscotch is a playground classic, even for us, and it’s kept on for long enough to be passed down to our kids as well. If your local playground has hopscotch squares painted onto the blacktop, all you have to do is take your kid over there and let them play. If not, though, that’s no trouble at all! All you’ll need to set up your own hopscotch squares on your own patio is a stick of chalk, which can be even better of a learning experience as you teach your kids how to write numbers.

Counting Scavenger Hunt

Similar to the bottle game, you can set up a counting scavenger hunt with nothing other than things you can easily find around the house. Number ten household items from 1-10 and scatter them around the house, then have your child look for them, finding them and bringing them back in numerical order. If you want to up the stakes a bit, you can replace the household items with new toys, with your kid getting to keep every toy that they find in order.

Catchy Counting Songs

Teaching your child a fun counting song can help them remember basic numbers, but it can also teach them even more advanced concepts like basic multiplication. Even if you don’t remember any counting songs from your childhood, the internet is as great of a resource as ever, so do some poking around on YouTube to find one that teaches the skills you want and that your kid enjoys listening to and singing along with.

Classic Game of Uno

Another classic mainstay of family game nights the world over, Uno is also a great way to teach your child to read written numbers. In order to play the game properly, they’ll have to be able to read the numbers and match them with the card currently on the table. Of course, it’s also a great bonding experience that the whole family can enjoy together, so whether or not they learn something new by playing, the game has merit in and of itself.

Snakes and Ladders

Snakes and Ladders has the benefit of not just teaching counting skills, but being a fun and easy-to-understand game in and of itself. To play, your child will have to learn how to count both the number on the die, as well as the number of spaces they get to move their game piece, teaching them to count while having a blast doing it.

Imaginary Grocery Store

If you want to teach your child about numbers and start them early with some basic principles of money management, set up an imaginary grocery store! To do this, you’ll need some fake plastic food, coins and small bills, (real or fake) and a toy cash register. From there, you need to assign a price tag to each “food” item, and then let your child either go shopping or man the register. Either way, they’ll learn more about how to manage their money to buy the things they want while still having the money to buy the things they need. 

Looking for more great tips, advice for creative counting game and products to help along your child’s academic development? Feel free to visit our site at ToysCentral today!

In this day and age, kids seem to be going outside to play less and less, and that has resulted in general negative health trends among younger generations. Because of this, living an active lifestyle and exercising regularly is more important than ever, and the duty of encouraging that lifestyle falls to parents. So, how do you help your kid lead an physically active and healthy lifestyle that they’ll enjoy? Let’s take a look.

1. Limit Screen Time

Of course, the problem with encouraging your children to spend more time in outdoor games is that you’ll have to start by encouraging them to spend less time inside, so it’s best to get that discussion out of the way early on. Rather than forcing them to go outside, place a few reasonable limits on the screen time for kids per day they can partake in electronic activities like watching TV or playing video games. While they may be upset or resistant to this at first, once they realize how much there is to do outdoors, they’ll forget that they ever missed their extra screen time to begin with.

2. Fuel an Active Lifestyle

Of course, if your kid is going to engage in active outdoor play, they need to consume a diet that will provide them with plenty of energy to do so. Be sure to provide a balanced diet that includes plenty of healthy vegetables, leafy greens, and lean protein. To encourage them to eat the healthier food you’re making, involve your kids in the meal prep process. Whether it’s just picking the recipes or actively helping you cook, kids are much more appreciative of the food that they helped make, so getting them to eat healthy will be far easier.

3. Make Time Outdoors a Routine Thing

The reason that many attempts to get outside more often fail is because of a lack of time. It seems like there’s never enough time to do everything you want, but while you may have to make some sacrifices, it’s entirely possible to establish a regular outdoor time routine for you and your children. Be intentional about going outside several times a day at around the same time, using activities like going on daily walks with the dog to do so. Eventually, finding time to go outside will no longer be a struggle for you and your family.

4. Encourage Them to Join a Sport

One of the best possible ways to get your kids outside and get them to be more active is by enrolling them in a sport. While sports aren’t for everyone, if your kids are the athletic type, then have a chat with them about their interests. Look with them for a sport they enjoy, and find a local children’s league near you. If they end up enjoying the sport, you not only have a way for them to play outside on a near-daily basis, you also have an opportunity for some family bonding time by helping them practice.

5. Encourage Them to Find Fun Activities

If your children aren’t interested in sports, though, that’s completely fine! There are plenty of non-sport activities that kids of all ages can enjoy outdoors. A few of our favorite ways to get non-sporty kids outside include low-intensity games like four square, or more creative activities like coloring with sidewalk chalk. Of course, you know your child best, and if you’re willing to get creative, a surprising number of indoor hobbies can be adapted to the great outdoors, so do some experimenting with your child until you find something that they enjoy doing.

6. Provide Them With Play Equipment

Of course, if you want your kids to engage in these outdoor activities, you need to make sure they have the means to do so. If they’re playing a sport, for example, be sure they always have the equipment they need to stay safe and succeed. If they’re going on frequent walks with you, be sure they have a comfortable pair of shoes that give their feet proper support. Essentially, look at what they need to partake in a certain activity, and be sure that they’re never without it, allowing them to spend all the time they need and want in the great outdoors.

7. Lead by Example

Of course, the best way to get your kids to be more physically active is to be more physically active yourself. Adults need time outdoors just as much as children, so every member of the family stands to benefit from spending time outdoors. If you’re going outside with them, your kids won’t view outdoor activities as something they have to do, but a chance to spend some quality time with their parents and siblings.

Looking for more great advice on how to help your kid live a fun and healthy lifestyle, as well as a place to buy toys to make it happen? Visit us at ToysCentral today!

Every kid looks forward to their birthday. It’s the one time each year they get to eat cake, get presents, and most importantly, have a party! What better way to celebrate than with a collection of fun-filled birthday party games that will keep the young ones entertained?

From classics like pin the tail on the donkey, to interactive activities like board games and DIY crafts, we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together a list of the best kids party games, including teenage parties too! Whether you’re planning an indoor extravaganza or an outdoor adventure, these games will ensure that everyone has a blast. 

Scavenger Hunt 

When deciding on what fun party games to include, it’s important to find something that everyone can participate in. You don’t want to leave anyone out! One great way to get all party attendees involved is with a scavenger hunt. 

Hide small, silly items like rubber duckies, stuffed animals, or other easily spottable things around the house. Make sure not to hide them anywhere too difficult or hard to reach. Instead, tuck items in hallway corners, cupboards, and other areas. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your hiding spots! 

For the instructions to the scavenger hunt, you can include clues in the kids’ party invitations or hand out slips of paper to give them hints. Whoever collects all the items in the scavenger hunt first wins a prize!

 

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

This is one of those classic kids’ games that never go out of style. “Pin the tail on the donkey” has been enjoyed by children since the late 1800s. In case you need a refresher, here’s how the game works: 

First, one of the players is blindfolded. After they’re spun around three times, they have to pin a tail to a picture of a donkey. Each child has a turn to pin the tail. The one who pins the tail in the correct spot (or the closest to it) wins. These types of party game ideas are a great pick for small children, because they’re simple to understand and play. 

Pinata Party Game 

If you need birthday party ideas that involve more physical activity, a pinata is a fun way to have guests let out their energy. Pinatas are another classic birthday staple. Usually, they’re filled with candy and small toys for kids to gather once the pinata bursts open. We recommend you play this game outdoors to minimize any mess occurring inside the home. And of course, the birthday boy or girl should be the one to hit the pinata. 

Saran Wrap Ball Game  

For added excitement, try this fast-paced game at a kid’s birthday party! The Saran Wrap Ball game is easy to set up. The ball itself consists of a central prize at the center with layers of saran wrapped around until it forms a big ball. Start by wrapping up the big prize, incorporating smaller toys and treats into the ball as you go.

Playing the game itself is also simple. Everyone sits in a circle and takes turns rolling dice. The player with the dice tries to unwrap the ball while the person next to them keeps rolling. When they finally roll doubles, the ball passes to them. The idea is to unwrap as fast as possible so you can get a prize wrapped in saran!

Rock Painting

Who doesn’t love arts and crafts? With this rock decorating activity, kids can get messy with paint and have their own souvenir to take home after the party. Using simple elements from nature, kids can create their own pet rocks with googly eyes, paint, and other materials. Gather some rocks, paint, and craft supplies, or just purchase a rock painting kit with everything you need. Don’t forget to lay out newspaper or a covering over whatever surface the kids paint on. This will make cleaning up much easier later. 

Who am I? Card Game 

Board games are indoor games for kids that work with any occasion. Because they vary in skill level, they make great activities for teens and tweens alike. “Who am I?” is a game that can be played by all age groups with a bit of tweaking. 

Here’s a short summary of how the game is played: players take on the role of a person, character, or object and others try to guess who or what they are by asking yes-or-no questions. For younger players, these roles are usually simpler, such as common objects, animals, or cartoons. To make this game fit alongside party games for teenagers, have them guess celebrities or popular TV show characters. 

Plan Your Child’s Birthday Bash with Toys Central

There you have it— the best birthday party games for your child’s special day. Whether they’re a teenager or a tot, there’s something on this list for every kid to enjoy. For even more fun birthday games, visit Toys Central to find all kinds of board games, activities, toys, and more! 

It’s difficult to keep your kids occupied sometimes. Every kid loves toys, but they can only keep a child’s interest for so long before they play a little too rough with it. Instead of going through expensive toy after toy, why not give art and crafts a try? Although crafty kids’ projects are a lot of fun, they often leave a mess. Paper craft ideas are an easy solution to this problem. They’re simple, fun, and easy to clean up. We’ve created a list of five crafting ideas your kids will love. Bring out the paper and scissors, and let’s dive into some easy paper crafts! 

1. Paper Lantern

Paper lanterns are a staple in festivals and holidays around the world. Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, the Chinese New Year, Diwali, or another occasion, these lanterns are a festive and fun way to get your child involved. We love this easy kids craft from The Joy of Sharing. This project uses mandala art for the lantern, but it’s easy to swap it out for a different pattern to trace. 

2. Beach Collage 

Collages are great crafts for kids, and although any scene can be made into a collage, beaches are especially colorful and fun. Save this idea for a rainy or cold day, when the family is craving the warmth of summer. Making a paper collage is easy, and all you need is construction paper, scissors, and glue. Encourage your kids to get creative by adding elements like a big yellow sun, sand castles, and more!

3. Handprint Paper Animals 

All your child needs for this craft is their hands, scissors, paper, and markers! Their handprint traced on construction paper makes the base of the animal. Other details like ears, horns, or spikes can be added with more paper and coloring with markers. To learn how to make every animal from eagles to cats, follow along with this tutorial from Avnis Busy World! 

4. Butterfly Life Cycle Fortune Teller  

This paper toy is perfect for school projects! Teach kids about the life cycle of a butterfly with this adorable fortune teller craft from Red Ted Art. Your little one may need a bit of help folding their fortune teller correctly, but they’ll love coloring and adding their own butterflies onto their creation.

5. Paper Chain Wall Decoration

We love craft activities that kids can keep and display at home. Once your child finishes making this rainbow paper chain, they can admire their work on your wall. Paper chains are simple and addictive to make. Don’t be surprised if yours ends up covering the entire wall! Here’s an easy tutorial to make these unique crafts. 

We hope this list of easy paper craft ideas has inspired you to help your kids get crafty! For more information and products on everything play, visit Toy Central today! 

It’s a well-known fact that children, especially in very early childhood and through their toddler years, learn through play. Before they’ve developed more academic concepts to base their understanding of the world on, the best way that they can build that understanding is by directly engaging with the world through play. As such, it’s important to make sure that you as a parent are providing your child with the right activities to encourage their development. Let’s take a look at a few of the best play ideas and kids activities for toddlers.

1. Doing a Puzzle Together

Some of the best toddler learning game Puzzles you’ll find, allowing your child to think through a problem logically and find the right solution using only their intuition. By doing puzzles with your toddler, you can provide them with hints and suggestions when they get frustrated, as well as create time for a great bonding experience in general.

2. Visiting the Park

Of course, there’s more for a child to learn than just academic concepts; they also have to learn about their physical surroundings. Visiting the park is the perfect way to help them develop a more active lifestyle, gain an appreciation for the great outdoors, and burn off a bit of extra energy while they’re at it!

3. Pretend Play

Pretend play is an essential part of any child’s development, and for good reason. One of the most important parts of childhood is the child’s bright, active imagination, and by encouraging them to engage in pretend play, you foster this imagination, fostering what will become a creative and curious spirit later in life.

4. Reading to Your Child

Reading to your child isn’t just a great way to help them calm down before bed, it’s an excellent teaching tool as well. As your child listens to more and more stories, they’ll develop a deeper understanding of words and of language, allowing them to apply those concepts for themselves early on in life. Needless to say, this will benefit your toddler greatly as they head into school, giving them a head start on countless reading and grammar concepts that they’ll have to learn.

5. Playing With Building Blocks

Playing with building blocks gives your child the best benefits of both puzzles and pretend play, allowing them to create whatever they want, but also making them consider the best approach to do so. Naturally, this serves to both bolster their imagination and help them think through a problem carefully. Explore these kids activities with your little one

Looking for more great toys and toy recommendations for your children? Visit our site at ToysCentral today!

While building blocks toys are a timeless classic among children’s toys, they’re actually far more beneficial for kids to play with than most people give them credit for. The simple action of playing with blocks can have an incredibly positive impact on your child’s cognitive development while also allowing them to have fun and learn through play. So, what are a few of the specific benefits of playing with blocks? Let’s take a look. 

1. Encourages Kids to Create

Encourage creativity in small children, allowing them to build any structure with Building blocks game that they can imagine. With a high-quality set of blocks, your child will be able to experiment freely with different structures and shapes, seeing what works, what they enjoy, and how it all comes together. This fosters a 

spirit of creativity from a very early age, and allows you to encourage that spirit as your child continues to grow.

2. Develops Special Awareness

Of course, while your child can build whatever they want, the blocks aren’t limitless, per se. They still have to follow the rules of gravity, so through trial and error, your child will be able to develop spatial awareness and understand concepts of positioning and weight, and how those affect the integrity of their structure.

3. Stacking Helps Fine Motor Skills

Once your child has a concept of spatial awareness, however, they’ll need to develop fine motor skills in order to use it. As children learn to place blocks in precise positions to ensure their structure stays standing, they’ll strengthen their fine motor skills, skills which can be applied to just about every other aspect of their lives.

4. Encourages Focus

Though your child will eventually become quite the skilled little builder, they’ll need time to build up that confidence first. In the early stages when they’re still figuring everything out, they’ll learn to focus entirely on the task of building the perfect structure. Having learned to focus on building, they’ll be able to focus on their other goals and tasks as well, a skill which will benefit them for the rest of their life.

5. Can Help Teach Letters and Numbers

Finally, labeled building blocks can help teach your child to recognize and identify letters and numbers. If you play with them, you can point out the specific character each block is labeled with, and eventually, they’ll learn to recognize that character in other places as well, giving them a jump-start on their reading and writing skills.

Looking for more great toys and toy recommendations? Visit our shop at ToysCentral today!

For parents of small children, bath time can be a harrowing experience full of screaming and suds. Many kids don’t appreciate having to sit still and be scrubbed. They are all too willing to voice their displeasure on the matter, so to ensure bath time goes smoothly. It’s important that you have what you need to turn it into a fun experience. That being said, let’s take a look at a few of the best bath toys for your kids to enjoy.

Wind-Up Boats

Wind up boats are a fun novelty for your kids that’ll give them hours of bathtime entertainment. All they have to do is wind the crank, set the boat in the water, and watch it jet across the tub. It’s perfect for creating a fun, splashy diversion that’ll make taking baths that much more manageable for your little one.

Rubber Ducks

Rubber ducks are a classic bathtub toy that you may even remember from your own childhood. Your kiddos are sure to enjoy them just as much as you did. Though they don’t do much on their own, they’re a surprisingly versatile toy in the hands of an imaginative child. Countless colors and decorations available for rubber ducks, they’re sure to fuel hours upon hours of make-believe bath time fun.

Bathtub Fingerpaints

If your children tend toward the creative side, bathtub fingerpaints are nothing short of the perfect toy. Not only do they give your children the chance to express themselves without making a mess, they actually help clean them up in the process! Each paint is simply a pigmented soap, so once your kiddo is done painting, you can easily wash them off, and they’ll be squeaky clean.

Bubble Bath Solution

Many of us have fond childhood memories of playing in a bubble bath, so don’t be afraid to pick up some bubble bath solution and let your kids do the same. All you have to do is mix the solution with water, and your kid will be ready to enjoy some sudsy fun!

Looking for more great toys and toy recommendations? Feel free to visit us today at ToysCentral!