Educational toys in the classroom

Entering a classroom, whether one full of preschoolers or school age children, one has no doubt that educational toys are part of the modern educator's curriculum. From manipulatives, to dress up, to board games, to musical instruments, to interactive electronic toys such as robots or turtle roamers, the breadth of educational toys is vast. While it is not uncommon to find computers in the modern elementary school classroom, it is not yet common to find children actively engaged in video games for educational development. However, as computers and video games take an ever larger role in our lives and the lives of children, so too will their role in educational toys and games. This underscores a crucial point about the fluidity of the definition of an educational toy. As the perception of what is "educational" changes, so too will the integration of new toys into our children's classrooms.

Plato, the Greek philosopher, says in Laws:

"I'm going to explain how one should describe education: It is this I insist that man who intends to be good at a particular occupation must practice it from childhood both at work and at play he must be surrounded by the 'special tools of the trade.'
We should learn to use the children's games to channel their pleasures and desires towards activities in which they have to engage when they are adult..."