Vtech Draw To Explore Creative Centre Big W

Draw to Explore Creative Centre

Developmental Benefits

Letters Names Phonics

Word Building

Visualisation Memory

Creative Play

Developmental Benefits

Draw to Explore Creative Centre

Letters Names Phonics

Teaches letters and their sounds, the building blocks of reading.
Phonology is the term used to describe the rules governing the structure and order of speech sounds. The journey towards reading proficiency starts in the pre-school years. Once children understand that there is a correspondence between the marks on a printed/electronic page and spoken language they are able to begin to read. They can then translate the units of print 'graphemes' to units of sound 'phonemes'. Phonological awareness is the ability to detect and use phonemes in words. This skill is crucial for children when learning to make sense of text; they need to be able to relate the sound structure of spoken language to symbols on a page.
The national curriculum states that children should be taught phonemic awareness and phonic knowledge to decode and encode words. These types of skills can be encouraged in young children by giving them opportunities to notice changes in sounds within words and listen to lots of nursery rhymes. Young children enjoy interacting with toys that give them the opportunity to play with letters and words. The words and letters are often repeated by the child. Young children like to hear letter rhymes and songs repeated over and over again. This is all part of their learning experience and is preparing the young child to become proficient at sounding out words.

Word Building

Expands Vocabulary through age appropriate words.
In the first year of life infants are exposed to a spoken language but it is rare for them to be able to produce words. Baby sign language helps during this formative period where Infants understand certain words but cannot produce them verbally. Infants use symbolic language when they gesture and can even use a sign to mean a word. There is a gap between how many words babies understand and how many words that they can say. During the second year toddlers begin to produce words and are building their vocabulary; they can be using around 50 words by the middle of their second year. By the time a child is 6 years old they will have an extensive vocabulary of around 10.000 words. They achieve this large vocabulary through practice, repetition and by storing the words in their long term memory. Children learn about 5 new words a day and games and toys can help expand their vocabulary.
Once a child has learned the meaning of a word it becomes part of their vocabulary; this leads to faster comprehension of text and frees up space in their working memory for new words to be learned. Object and action words are used extensively in younger children's vocabulary. Toys and games that reflect the types of words that are most common in young children's vocabulary reinforce learning. Objects, for example ball and table, are often pointed to and named by adults when the child is young. Action words then begin to be used, such as, 'put the ball on the table'. The next stage in word building is the use of 'state' words which are words that modify the noun such as 'my ball' or 'red ball'. Word games are a fun way to reinforce understanding of the pronunciation and meaning of words.

Visualisation Memory

Engaging graphics & visualisation activities develop memory.
As babies develop they begin to use mental pictures of objects that are no longer within their field of vision. These memory skills can be enhanced through presenting visual stimuli more than once; repetition is essential for the development of memory skills. Young infants' memories are influenced by context; for instance, they can imitate an adult's actions with a toy but only if the toy is identical in colour and features to the one that the adult played with. Older infants can remember, for instance, how to press a toy animal to make a sound even if the toy is slightly different to the one which the adult used to demonstrate. Infants' memories become less context dependent at the same time that infants start to crawl and walk. Giving babies plenty of opportunity to explore their world allows them to enhance their memory skills.
As children's attention span increases so do their memory strategies. This means that children can use deliberate mental activities, such as visualisation, to increase the chances of retaining information in working memory and then shifting it to their long-term knowledge base. Lots of rehearsal and organisation is needed to use memory to its full advantage; repetition is an important part of both infant and childhood learning. Children can both learn and practice memory strategies using toys and games. Toys that encourage children to remember visual stimuli, answer questions and then repeat the activity over again enhance learning.

Creative Play

Use imagination in a variety of ways and contexts to communicate ideas
When children engage in creative play they are showing that they have the ability to produce something new and original. Children benefit from opportunities where they are free to use their imagination and explore. In order for creative play to occur children need to be in an environment that is rich in stimulation. Curiousity will drive children to take part in creative play.
Creative play is different from other forms of play; it enables children to develop confidence in their own abilities as they begin to think and work independently. Games and activities that provide choices and also a number of alternative solutions encourage a certain amount of risk-taking. Games with alternative answers can lead children to think creatively and differently. Children need encouragement to play and think creatively. Opportunities to engage in creative play boost children's confidence and enable them to come up with better ideas. Children benefit from the knowledge they gain through creative play.

Description
Features
Specifications
User Manual

Best for ages:

3 to 6 Years

Highlights

The Draw to Explore Creative Centre by VTech provides children with an interactive and fun way to give them a head start on how to write.

Description

The Draw to Explore Creative Centre by VTech® provides children with an interactive and fun way to give them a head start on how to write. Animated demonstrations help preschoolers follow along to learn proper stroke order for uppercase and lowercase letters. Customize the creative center with your child's name and the screen will show them how to write it step-by-step. Choose a drawing activity and your child will learn to draw by progressing from simple lines and shapes to 26 different objects. Your little artist can then explore their creativity by drawing their own pictures with the included stencils and stamps while listening to the cheerful music.