December 24, 2011
Have you gotten your money’s worth out of your kids educational toys/workbooks/software etc. or not?
Question by jessalynn: Have you gotten your money’s worth out of your kids educational toys/workbooks/software etc. or not?
Do you find educational toys, games, software, workbooks, etc. to be of help or a waste of money? Which were used and helpful? Which were set aside or hardly used? Were there any that were so fun the kids didn’t have to be prodded to use them? Thanks in advance for your comments. 
Best answer:
Answer by nicola278
One software I really liked was Clifford Reading when my daughter was in SK. Reader Rabbit is OK but I liked Clifford better. The setting is at an amusement park. I found leap pads OK but my children mostly played with them on long car rides. They are one more activity that reinforces skills well though.
My best values have been : regular wooden blocks, stories on CD which I mostly borrowed from the library, our sandbox, legos and a painting easel.
You can’t always tell what will stimulate your child’s interest.
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2 Comments on Have you gotten your money’s worth out of your kids educational toys/workbooks/software etc. or not? »
December 24, 2011
Stormy S @ 8:36 pm:
I never bought “educational” toys or software, workbooks for my kids. My kids got/get toys that help them use their imaginations. When they were small we had a “city” built out of cardboard boxes. My kids have books that they enjoy reading. They have video games, DVD’s They have coloring books, bicycles, skates, basketballs, basketball hoop, board games, erector set, tinker toys (Old wooden ones from my childhood), American Girl Dolls, (they’re not interested in Barbie or Bratz). They have baseball bats, mitts, and balls, they also are active in dance, martial arts and Girl Scouts. I feel they get enough of an education just being busy children.
sandraoho1907 @ 8:39 pm:
A lot of the toddler toys were really superb. Most were by the same people who make the Leapster toys. The Leapster LMax was something my youngest would pick up and play with, no prompting required. My oldest had a “laptop” style toy that did basically the same thing and he played with it nonstop as well. The key, I think, if you want them to play a hand-held educational package is to NOT provide them with a pure gaming hand-held system (Nintendo DS, PSP, etc.).
For software, we do a lot of simulation and linear learning software. That, they use. We also have music composition software that’s cool and they & their friends use a lot. I no longer buy the other DVD’s, they tend to be a waste of money.