Learning Toys Give Kids a Head Start

It's the first day of school. You watch as your child walks to the bus stop, wearing a brand-new backpack filled with a big box of crayons, a packet of colorful construction paper and pencils you sharpened the night before. The curly shavings reminded you of your school years.

Traditional school supplies haven't changed. But a new generation of interactive learning toys helps parents prepare kids for school, and reinforce lessons learned in the classroom. From bright, colorful toys for babies to creative and challenging activities for teens, learning toys serve as valuable child development tools.

For example, engaging toys for babies and toddlers use classical music to stimulate brain development. Interactive reading toys for preschool and elementary-age children introduce letters, words and numbers, then adapt as kids progress with more challenging reading exercises. A talking globe gives older kids a worldview, while a publishing kit gives aspiring writers the chance to see their words and pictures in a hardbound book.

The online toy store eToys shares toys from its bestseller list:

Early Learning

Jumbo Music Blocks (Neurosmith): This huggable, oversized block stimulates babies and toddlers with classical music, colorful shapes and activities that help build fine motor skills. (Ages 9 months to 4 years)

Music Blocks with Mozart Music Cartridge (Neurosmith): A portable music machine inspired by studies showing classical music's positive impact on cognitive development. Thousands of musical combinations. (Ages 2 to 5)

Preschool and Elementary School

Imagination Desk (LeapFrog): Kids color to music while friendly characters teach letter names, letter sounds and the numbers one through ten. (Ages 3 to 8)

LeapPad Learning System (LeapFrog): This award-winning interactive toy introduces kids to letters, words and numbers, then lets kids sound out words and eventually read at their own pace. (Ages 4 to 10)

Elementary School and Middle School

Interactive Talking Explorer Globe (LeapFrog): Locate continents and countries; then learn about the capitals, currency, languages, music and more. (Ages 8 to 17)

IlluStory (Chimeric): Creative kids use this publishing kit to write and illustrate a book, then they send it to a publisher for printing and binding. (Ages 7 to 12)

Based in Denver, the new eToys Web site (www.etoys.com, AOL keyword: etoys), is a one-stop source for children's products, offering an amazing selection of popular, learning, specialty and collectible toys, plus software and video games. KB Toys, a company with an 80-year history of delighting parents and children, owns and operates eToys.