Kids

Manufactures an educational toy at home so that your children learn vowels

At an early age, it is very important that toys are more than just entertainment. Educational toys allow children to develop their skills and improve their cognitive development, while having fun. With a homemade toy, the child will also learn the importance of recycling and sustainable consumption, which will translate into a better relationship with the environment.

Educational toys are a fundamental support for the cognitive development of the little ones. Through games, the little ones relate to the world around them and learn new skills. For a child, playing is discovering and, as long as they learn by playing, they will be much more willing to enjoy the stimuli that these types of toys offer them.

If you have a child of 3 years or older and you are wondering what is the best educational toy to stimulate and develop their creativity, a logic puzzle game could be the answer you are looking for. These games, if they also incorporate a competition component, will allow them not only to develop basic cognitive skills, allowing them to know the letters, shapes or colors, but will also stimulate them to develop basic social skills. 

In this article, we want to show you how you can create a homemade puzzle, with wooden sticks that you can recycle from summer ice creams. A toy that will amuse them, with which they will learn, and with which you can teach them the importance of being responsible with the environment through recycling. This homemade puzzle favors the development of memory, the understanding of basic shapes and also the development of fine motor skills. 

How to make a homemade vowel puzzle

Materials

– Paper

– Wooden sticks (can be recycled ice cream sticks)

– White glue

– Brush

– Pair of scissors

– Cutter

– Plastic cups

– Scotch tape

Ideally, to make this toy, you use ice cream sticks about 2.5 cm wide each. In this way, you will have enough space so that the letters and drawings are clearly visible.

To start, lay 5 wooden sticks horizontally and tape the ends to a work table. Leave the sticks on the table and we will look for the images that we will put on the sticks. As it is an educational toy with which the little ones will learn the vowels, the ideal is to look for images of objects that begin with each of the vowels.

For example:

– Bear

– Grape

– Island

– Stairs

– Edifice

– Tree

– Eye

– Magnet

You can search the images on the Internet or you can draw them yourself, you can even directly paint the image on the sticks with attractive and eye-catching colors. In this step, if you have been inclined to paint on the sticks or draw the images yourself, you can involve the children, so they can help you draw or paint.

Once you have all the images, cut them out and put them face down on a piece of paper or newspaper. With the brush, spread a thin layer of glue on the image and stick it on the ice cream sticks that you have prepared on the table. Let it dry for an hour.

Once the paint or glue is dry, using a cutter you must separate the wooden sticks. To guide you, you can use a ruler, if possible made of metal, so as not to hurt your fingers. When you go to cut, make sure that the cutter is very sharp, otherwise you will tear the paper. Now you will have to repeat the process with the rest of the images.

The ideal is that you take the opportunity so that each letter is associated with a color. For example, if you are going to use an “island” for the letter “I”, you can associate the letter with the color blue, since the island is always surrounded by water. If for the letter “A” you have chosen, for example, the word “bee” you can relate this vowel to the color yellow. If for the “O”, you choose “Eye”, you can search for or paint an eye green or brown and associate one of the colors to the word. 

With this small addition, you will make the little ones associate the information more easily and develop their memory. 

Okay, now that we have the words, let’s see where we put them. To do this, we are going to make some containers that allow us to classify and order by letters and colors. To do this, you only need 5 transparent plastic cups, preferably tube cups. Next, you just have to paste the letters and their corresponding color on each of them. That is, if for the “A” you have used the word “bee”, you must paste a yellow letter. 

Can my little one help me create this toy?

Yes, although from a certain age. Children from the age of 3 are able to understand and follow simple instructions such as “brush your teeth” or “put on your pajamas”. From this age they also begin to be aware of the passage of time, being able to differentiate morning from night and also the days of the week. At this age they also begin to imitate everything they see.

From the age of 3, they also learn basic grammar rules and are able to understand new words and, despite using short sentences, they are able to communicate with complete clarity. Their physical, social, and emotional development also accelerates at this age.

If your child is 3 years old or older, you can get them involved in creating the toy. You can make him choose the words that will go in each vowel, as well as help you paint or draw. At the same time, the child can begin to understand the importance of sustainable consumption, as long as you explain why creating toys is important. 

Remember that part of making the puzzle requires cutting the image with a cutter and that you have to do it yourself, as it is very dangerous for them.

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