Race-Along Bear

Developmental Benefits

Cause & Effect

Language Development

Motor Skills

Developmental Benefits

Race-Along Bear

Rewards baby as they learn that their actions have reactions
Babies are exploring and experimenting with the world almost from the day they are born. Cause and effect is a scientific concept that babies learn very early in their lives. A delightful example of this is when babies begin to explore gravity by dropping toys whilst sitting in their highchair. The toy drops downwards and makes a noise as it hits the floor. Parents will tend to pick the toy up and return it to the infant. This enables the baby to continue with their experiment and learn more about cause and effect; babies learn a great deal through repetition and it is good to facilitate opportunities where babies can begin to understand that, for instance, a toy will always fall to the ground. This type of learning through cause and effect continues throughout childhood. Encouraging children to be curious about the world facilitates learning through experience. Toys that reliably make a noise when pressed, pulled or touched teach babies that their actions have an effect on the world. VTech bath toys with their pouring and squirting features encourage cause and effect awareness.
Children demonstrate that they have understood the concept of cause and effect when they talk about the consequence of actions. Before children use spoken language researchers discover what young infants understand about the world by presenting them with unexpected events. For example, babies are beginning to understand that toys reliably fall to the ground and that if a toy train goes into a tunnel it will come out the other end. If babies are presented with an unexpected event where, for example, a moving toy train disappears behind a screen but does not come out the other end they will stare for a long time at the screen. VTech toys offer babies and children the opportunity to learn more about cause and effect by pressing buttons and listening to the sounds, moving toys around and playing educational computer games.

Introduces the alphabet, letter sounds and vocabulary.
Babies start to babble at an early age and this can be seen as the first signs of language. They are predisposed to pick up the sounds of the language that they hear around them. Adults can facilitate babies’ language development by playing with them, focussing on particular toys, reading books and naming everyday objects. The more babies are exposed to language the faster they will begin to pick up it up. There are social skills involved in language acquisition such as realising that it is necessary to wait until the other person has finished speaking. Babies begin to learn about conversational turn-taking from an early age; if a baby is babbling the adult waits for a pause and then talks to the baby. Babies learn to take turns even before they are using words. Social interaction is important for language development and turn-taking games are a fun and educational way for babies and young children to learn.
Young children also need to practice their language skills. Toys that name alphabet letters and everyday words satisfy young children’s need for repetition and rehearsal when practicing words and sounds. For instance, young children can press a button repetitively to hear the same sound or word again. Babies and children learn a lot through repetition and pick up words rapidly in this way. Once children begin to read their vocabulary expands enormously.

Encourages fine motor skill development.
An infant’s growth and development in the first year of life is rapid. Many movements that young babies make are in preparation for the next stage of their development. When young babies watch a mobile they are constantly moving their head, arms, legs and even their mouths in response to the movement of the toy. Sound and movement attract a baby’s attention; if a toy is placed almost within reach of babies their movements become more animated. Bath toys provide opportunities to develop and use motor skills to great effect. For example, a young baby has greater control over their leg movements than their arms. You will often see young babies in a bath reaching with their legs towards a floating toy and kicking. All these movements strengthen muscles in readiness for the next stage - walking.
As babies develop they become more adept at grasping objects. Young infants learn to grasp an object, for instance a cube. The grasping, at first, is quite clumsy but through repetition, and across time, infants become adept at grasping and develop fine motor skills. Infants first use the ulnar grasp where their fingers close against the palm when trying to hold an object. Within another month they are able to move the object from hand to hand. After the first year, infants adopt the ‘pincer grasp’ where they use their thumb and index finger to grasp even very tiny objects. Shape sorters help infants to fine tune their visual perception and hand coordination. Soon infants are building towers with two cubes; this also requires fine coordination skills. As the child grows computer games have been shown to help with hand and eye coordination. Spatial skills can also be enhanced when playing games that require concentration, quick responses and finely tuned motor skills.

Best for ages:

12 to 36 Months

Highlights

Zippy electronic race car encourages little ones to push, pull and twist while teaching colours, numbers and vocabulary.

Description

Rev up playtime with the Race-Along Bear! This chunky race car is the right size for little hands. Press the bear's head or pull back on the race car and release it to send the car zooming, encouraging toddlers to chase after it. Pretend to race along with the bear! Practice motor skills while pushing down and pulling back on the car. Twisting the flag back and forth makes a clicking sound, reinforcing fine motor movements. Songs, phrases and melodies teach colours, numbers and vocabulary with flashing lights and buttons to press. On your mark, get set, play!