By: Jesse Alcontin – November 16, 2020
Some gifts are big. Some gifts are small. But the ones that come from the heart are the best gift of all. When we give, we genuinely want the best for whoever is going to receive our present. As parents, it’s our natural instinct to want what is best for our children. And perhaps, that also applies to giving them gifts – we only want the best. Want to know some educational gift ideas for your children? We have them here and it is for different ages!
FOR OUR BABIES (AGES 0-5)
The goal of early childhood education is to activate our children’s own natural desire to learn. And do you know when do they actually learn a lot? When they play. Toys can be an essential tool in paving the way for our children’s progressive knowledge. A great educational gift can even open doors to our children’s lifelong passion.
1. BLOCKS
There’s a reason why blocks have always been here for a very long time. It’s not just a classic, it’s also a great toy that benefits our babies. It boosts our children’s imagination, problem solving, self-expression, and creativity! Children can do whatever they can imagine with blocks because they can think of numerous ways to build it, stack it, and balance it. We can even grab the opportunity to help and play with them.
You can buy blocks from these shops online:
Milk & Honey https://www.milkandhoney.ph/101-educational-toys
Kids Company https://kidscompany.com.ph/toys
Play & Grow https://playandgrow.ph/collections/educational-wooden-toys
2. FLASHCARDS
Flashcards are actually more versatile than it looks. It is a proven effective method to help our babies learn diverse topics because it relies on the part of the brain that captures and processes visuals. Fun fact: did you know that visual memory is the strongest part of human memory? So, a simple usage of flashcards to boost their memory is a very inexpensive investment on our children’s future!
You can buy flashcards from these shops online:
Iprice https://iprice.ph/toys/learning/flash-cards/
Buksan PH https://www.buksan.ph/home
3. SHAPE SORTERS
This is definitely another classic. As children, we were given this as a toy where we choose the right shape block that would fit in the holes. And thinking that in present times, our children can benefit from this toy kind of gives us nostalgia! It enhances our kids’ motor skills and spatial reasoning, while at the same time, a golden opportunity for them to learn shapes too!
You can buy shape sorters from these shops online:
The Discovery Depot http://thediscoverydepot.com/
Kids Company https://kidscompany.com.ph/baby/infant-toys
Lazada https://www.lazada.com.ph/shop-baby-shape-sorter-toys/
4. PLAY GYM
This is more than just a space for our children to spend their time playing, but also for learning. Mainly, this promotes freedom and movement, especially if they are still starting to learn how to crawl, how to sit, or how to walk. Adding in some other toys in their space would help better with their hand and eye coordination and stimulates their cognitive development.
You can buy play gyms from these shops online:
Haenim Toy https://haenimph.com/
Wood 4 Tots https://wood4tots.com/
The Baby Hub https://babyhub.com.ph/collections/play-with-pieces
5. SOUND BOOKS
We know that it’s not instant that we get our babies to read. So why not kickstart it by giving them sound books? These come in various topics. Some books have recorded sounds of animals, music, story, or phonetic sound books. And these are all great for our babies! Not only does it help them in their hearing ability, but in speaking too. Repetitive sounds they hear can make our kids repeat it by themselves too! We know that reading a book personally to our children is also a great experience for them, but there’s no harm in adding more options for their learning.
You can buy sound books from these shops online:
Galleon https://www.galleon.ph/subjects-c868/childrens-books-c1814/pets-c2304/discovery-noisy-baby-p42774407
Fully Booked https://www.fullybookedonline.com/genre/children-s/toddler.html
FOR OUR KIDS (AGES 6-12)
6. PLAY DOUGH
If adults get a stress ball as reliever, our kids get a play dough. Squeezing and playing with play dough manifests a great aid for our kids to calm down. Playing with clay can eventually help them ease tension, release excess energy, and refines focus. Above it all, kids get very creative when molding their clays! They can freely be creative to make animals, plants, and shapes that they can think of.
You can buy play dough from these shops online:
Toy Kingdom https://www.lazada.com.ph/shop/toy-kingdom/
Toys R Us https://toysrus.com.ph/
7. PAINT KITS
Painting can help our kids to improve their self-expression. Isn’t it that a picture paints a thousand words? As parents, we should be aware that there are times when our kids are having difficulty expressing what they think or want. And we can actually alleviate it by giving them their own painting kits! This way, they can work on their creativity, mobility, and hand-eye coordination while allowing their selves to have more freedom with their own thoughts.
You can buy paint kits from these shops online:
CNC Paint https://cncpaint.ph/collections/diy-paint-by-numbers-kids
Vinci https://vinci.ph/
8. BOARD GAMES
We are well aware that children don’t play much board games as much as we did during our childhood. Kids these days are more inclined with gadgets. But we can still introduce other options for them to learn and have fun at the same time. Some of the best would be snake and ladders, Monopoly, chess, and scrabble. This does not only encourage individual learning but also a chance for the whole family to bond and play together.
You can buy board games from these shops online:
Kids Company https://kidscompany.com.ph/toys/games-puzzles/board-games
Gaming Library https://www.gaminglib.com/
9. SLIME
There’s a craze with slime among children and this is something that is more meaningful than it looks! Playing with slime is very beneficial to our kids’ sensory experience. The weird texture of the slime is the main reason why it is loved by many of our children. It awakens our children’s curiosity. Why does it feel cold, why does it stretch, why does it adapt with different shapes, and many others. It promotes mindfulness and independent playtime as long as our kids are informed that it is never a good idea to swallow it.
You can buy slimes from these shops online:
Toy Kingdom https://www.lazada.com.ph/shop/toy-kingdom/
Cheeky Monkeys https://www.cheekymonkeys.ph/slime-making-party/
10. LEGO
This is like an upgrade of our babies’ blocks! This time, it is a little bit more complicated and detailed. Which is in effect, advantageous to our children’s development. To name a few, playing with Lego can enhance motor skills, teamwork, creativity, mathematical thinking, persistence, and lateral thinking. It’s a toy that works wonders. A single Lego may be tiny, but it has huge help with our kids’ progress!
You can buy Lego from these shops online:
Bricks 4 Kidz https://www.bricks4kidz.ph/
Lego https://www.lego.com/en-us
FOR OUR TEENS (AGES 13-18)
11. JOURNAL
Some call it journal, some call it diary. But we call it a great help! As teens, our children are starting to have a life of their own and that is normal. There are things that they want to keep in private. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t need us. Why not show them support and respect by giving them their own journals, right? They can keep track of notable experiences and memories. They can freely express their emotions, critical thoughts, and write whatever’s under the sun.
You can buy journals from these shops online:
Noted Journal PH https://notedjournalph.com/ Fully Booked https://www.fullybookedonline.com/category/office-stationery/notebooks-and-journals.html
12. LAPTOP
With the advancement of technology, and given the situation of education in the Philippines, needing a laptop has not only become an option but a requirement now. It can be a personal computer too, whichever works for our children and also our budget.
You can buy laptops/pc from these shops online:
PC Express https://pcx.com.ph/
Silicon Valley https://www.siliconvalley.com.ph/
CompLink https://complink.com.ph/
13. MOBILE PHONE
Like laptops, phones are now a necessity. As long we teach our children about their limits in phone usage, it can be very helpful for their education. Everything can now be found online. This can help them answer their homework. Phone is very important for communication too. When used properly, our children can have a lot of advantages from their mobile phones.
You can buy mobile phones from these shops online:
Kimstore https://kimstore.com/
Abenson https://www.abenson.com/mobile/smartphone.html
14. STUDY TABLE
As kids, our children have watched us work on our own desks in our rooms. And since they have hectic schedule of things to study now that they are bigger, it would mean a lot for our kids to get a study table of their own. “Mommy has her own table, while I got one for myself too!”. Our kids sometimes like to be similar to us and that is very lovely.
You can buy study tables from these shops online:
Furniture Manila https://www.furnituremanila.com.ph/product-category//study-tables/
Bonny Furniture https://www.bonnyfurniture.com/product-category/officefurnitures/officetables/computerstudytables/
15. BOOKS
Yes, everything is very techy now. But nothing beats a good collection of books! A book can open the mind, free the heart, and speak to the soul. Let’s still encourage our children to be interested with reading because it had been one of the best learning tools for generations!
You can buy study books from these shops online:
Bookturnal https://www.facebook.com/bookturnalph
Avalon http://www.avalon.ph/shop/pc/home.asp
THE BOTTOMLINE
Above all these, education is a gift that no one can take away. And if there are ways to help them achieve better quality of education, why not give in? It is great that we are providing material gifts to our children. But let’s also keep in mind that our personal involvement with their education is also something that they will never forget. As much as we can, let’s continue giving the best of both worlds to our children!