Our children are taking in everything, every second, of every day. So our job as parents is to provide our children with the tools they need to grow and learn. There are thousands among thousands of children toys that claim to be great learning tools, but how do we choose the right one's for our own little one?

Having a set of reliable toys that are played with on a daily basis can help encourage your child's learning even more. When a child plays with the same toys each day (i.e. is listening and learning the same things each day), it becomes easier for your child to actually remember what they are learning. Therefore, establishing a few main "go-to" toys are important in your child's learning routine. These "go-to" toys should encourage the correct learning level for your child. Learning levels should NOT be based on age limitations set by manufacturers that are listed somewhere on the toy's box. These age ranges are simply suggestions based on very broad ranges of learning levels. In reality, each child is different and should be using toys that are appropriate for their individual learning level.

The LeapFrog learning Baby Tad has been used in my household for my son for almost 3 years now. It's a stuffed animal (Frog) that encourages learning in a fun way. The best feature of this toy is that it has a "daytime" mode and a "nighttime" mode. Because my son recognizes this as a "toy" that he plays with during the day, he also registers it as a "toy" when he is going to bed at night. He therefore feels comfortable going to bed next to his "toy". During the day, we turn "Tad" onto his daytime mode and play away. The greatest daytime feature that Tad has, for us, is the music aspect. My son, along with most children, learns especially well when music is used as the learning tool. Music helps to create fasted neurological connections in the brain, thus encouraging faster learning and retention.

As mentioned, we also use Tad for his nighttime mode. I am a preacher of having a bedtime routine that is used on a nightly basis. This helps your child easily prepare and wind down for bed once the routine begins. Tad has definitely become part of our nightly routine. After finishing the majority of our bedtime routine, I lay my son down in his bed and we turn Tad onto his nighttime more by pushing his nighttime mode button on his chest. I then have my son squeeze Tad's left hand and Tad tell us that he will play music for 5minutes before bed time. We then press his hand one more time and Tad tells us "10 minutes until night-night". He then plays a soothing loop of music for 10 minutes. During those 10 minutes, the light on Tad's heart lights up and serves as a little night light for my son. After the 10 minutes, Tad's light and music turn off and my son is fast asleep!

Jessica Roberts- MomsWithAnswers

To read more about Baby Tad and other recommended learning toys, please visit my site at the address below.

[http://momswithanswers123.webs.com/recommended]