A teaching clock is the most effective toy to teach children how to tell time. Knowing how to tell time is an important skill that everyone of us must learn at an early age and children should master. They are surrounded by clocks – at home and at school. Depending on the kind of toy clock your children have, these toys could help them improve other skills like fine motor skills, cognitive skills, social and emotional growth and many more.
Time Telling
Time is a concept that all of us must learn. Most aspects of our lives revolve around time and knowing how to tell time is an important skill that children need to learn at an early age. Children need to know how to manage time and there will be a time that they will be in a situation where there are a lot of things that they need to do but not a lot of time to do them. Time telling also includes plenty of mathematical concepts which could help children boost their math skills.
Fine Motor Skills & Hand Eye Coordination
Fine motor skills are a set of skills that involve using a small group of muscles in the hands, fingers and wrist to make precise movements. Hand eye coordination is the ability to make coordinated movements with the hands and eyes. Playing the piano, buttoning, zipping and using a pair of scissors or a pencil are only a few examples of actions that require refined fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.
Most toy clocks feature movable hands that children can move. This is good exercise for fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Some teaching clocks even come with removable pieces like blocks. Children love to play with these toy pieces because of their bright colours and they are good for tactile stimulation especially if they are made from wood.
Shape & Colour Recognition
Everything around is made of shapes and colours. This is the reason why it is important for children to learn about shapes and colours at an early age. Teaching clocks come in a wide selection of designs and styles but most of them come in bright colours and feature fun shapes that are guaranteed to attract the attention of your children.
Having the ability to recognise shapes also makes learning other things easier for children. For instance, if a child knows what a circle looks like she will have an easy time remembering learning the letter O and number 0.
Colour recognition also helps children develop their ability to recognize the details in visual images or visual discrimination. It will also help them expand their vocabulary and improve their communications skills by using descriptive words and phrases. So instead of saying banana, they could say yellow banana.
Social & Emotional Growth
Teaching clocks, especially the ones with mini toys built right in, offer many opportunities for little children to play and interact with others. Interacting with others through play helps children develop their social skills and emotional growth. When playing with others, children will experience different emotions, even strong ones like fear, anger and disappointment. They will also learn how to be patient and take turns when playing.
