What Are Cause And Effect Toys (Inc Examples)
In everything that we do, there is a cause and effect. If you drop a ball, it will bounce. If you study hard for a test, you can get a good grade.
If you eat too much, and don’t exercise, then you will gain weight. Actions have consequences. This is an important life lesson and educating tool for young children, to help them grow and develop into smart, well rounded people.
There are so many examples of cause and effect in our daily lives, many of which can be used to teach your children this life lesson.
If your child is running around without looking, and they trip and fall, then this is an example of cause and effect, and you can help them understand that their actions have consequences, or that every action can have a reaction.
Whilst you can teach your children about cause and effect yourself, there are many tools and toys that you can use to help engage your child’s interest, whilst teaching them a valuable lesson and educating them about the world around them.
To help you educate your child, we have created this guide with all of the information you need about cause and effect learning.
What is cause and effect?
Cause and effect is a vital tool to teach children that actions have certain effects. This can often occur naturally through playtime, or can be stimulated by certain toys and games. Naturally, children will pick up on certain things.
For example, from a young age, children know that if they cry, they may get attention from adults, or babies learn to make noises when they want food.
The cause is the process of something happening, such as ‘the man stepped into the puddle’, stepping into a puddle of water is the cause, and the effect is that ‘his feet got wet.’
It is a new way of looking at the world, discovering how and why things happen, and that a person’s actions have consequences. With a thorough understanding of this, children can become more aware of their surroundings, more self aware and social beings.
Why is cause and effect education important for children?
Children have a natural sense of curiosity and love exploring the world around them. They often enjoy discovering new things, and start to learn through repetition, and through cause and effect education.
Cause and effect playing can help children in many different ways. It can help small children and infants predict and anticipate certain outcomes, which helps bring them a sense of control over certain environments.
This is a valuable lesson for small children whose lives are completely controlled and run by the parents or adults around them.
Engaging in this type of play can also help them practice new skills. For example, repetition of cause and effect outcomes can help children develop and progress their language skills, gross and fine motor skills, speed, and coordination.
Just like repeating the same movements would develop new muscles in the body, repeating cause and effect play can help form new connections in the brain, and further the mind’s development.
Not only this, but cause and effect playtime can also help children build strong emotional and social bonds, as other children or adults can join in with the fun.
When a child knocks something over, and an adult says ‘uh-oh!’ to make them laugh repeatedly, they learn to knock the item over time and time again to have a little fun together. This can help them build trust, love and relationships with those around them.
Cause and effect toys and games can also help children understand that their actions can have an effect on other things, and can have different outcomes.
They are valuable tools that can help children develop their skills and minds, as they can offer the opportunity for hand eye coordination to progress, teaching children repetitive actions, whilst also being engaging and fun to play with.
What are cause and effect toys – examples
The good news is that there are countless cause and effect toys available on the market for a wide range of ages, and for children with additional learning needs.
These toys are designed to engage the child, and encourage them to interact with the toy, teaching them that if they perform a certain task or action, there will be an effect of that action.
1. SpinAgain Stacking Toy
This toy encourages hand eye coordination, cause and effect learning and motor dexterity, as children are encouraged to stack the wheels, spin them, and move them in various ways to fit them on the pole.
They can then remove the pole, and start all over again, repeating the motions and finding new ways to solve the problem.
- Set of 6 vibrant, graduated discs that spin down a corkscrew pole and stack up any way you want; discs alternate between flower and star-burst shapes, feature 2 colors each
- Pull the pole from the base to watch all the discs tumble to the ground; keep on spinning and stacking again and again; flip the base to choose either wobbly or sturdy; practice sorting discs by color, shape, and size
- Great for ages 1+; made of strong, coated ABS plastic; FULLY safety tested, BPA-free
- Encourages hand-eye coordination, cause-and-effect learning, motor dexterity; vivid textures inspire tactile exploration, vibrant colors reinforce visual-recognition skills; practice counting the discs while stacking and spinning
- 2016 Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award; made in China
2. Pound A Ball STEM Toy
With this cause and effect toy, children can spend hours pounding the balls with the hammers, and watching them roll down the ramps until they reach the bottom.
Then, they have to learn to pick them up and place them at the top to go again!
It teaches children that they have to do something or move the balls for something else fun to happen!
- FINE MOTOR PROMOTION: This Multi-color pound a ball is ideal for hammering practice, Promotes dexterity, hand eye coordination, manipulation, arm movement, cause and effect.
- KID FRIENDLY: The design of hammer and balls are specially made for little hands and suitable for an easy grip. your child will love seeing the ball slide from layer to layer
- EASY PLAY: The smooth-sanded balls Drop down after hammered/pounding and sends the balls rolling down the ramp out the on the bottom tray.
- STIMULATING: Keep kids busy with this particular pounding ball action toy it is very helpful to grow up your infant's mind.
- GREAT GIFT IDEA: This pound ball makes a perfect birthday gift for your child and their friends. They'll unwrap it at the party and play together!
3. Playskool Giraffe Tumble Top Spinning and Popping Cause & Effect Toy
When a child touches or presses the head of the giraffe on this toy, the balls inside of its body will pop and swirl around, mesmerizing the child.
With fun popping sounds, bright colors and engaging action, this cause and effect toy teaches children that pressing the head of the giraffe has a fun and interesting effect.
- SPINNING FUN FOR LITTLE ONES: Wait 'til you see your little one's face when they press the giraffe's head. Surprise! See the colorful balls pop and swirl? They did it!
- POP-TASTIC PLAY ON REPEAT: With this popping toy for 1 year olds, repeating the press, pop, spin, tumble sequence helps kids practice nifty skills like the exploration of cause and effect
- SILLINESS FOR THEIR SENSES: Bright colors, a friendly-faced toy giraffe, fun popping sounds, and silly spinning action engages babies and toddlers in sensory play while having fun
- EASY PEASY STORAGE: The classic, kid-friendly design is sturdy, compact, and contained. There are no pieces to chase around the play-rug, and it stores away easily for the next poppin’ play session
4. Playskool Pop up Pals
This toy is made for babies and toddlers, and shows children that if they press a certain button, an animal will pop out of the box and appear as if from nowhere!
It teaches them that if they press a button, something interesting will happen.
- POPPIN PLAYTIME : Playtime POPS with bright colors, numbers, cute critters, and endless FUN in this favorite hands on, pop up activity toy for babies and toddlers ages 9 months and up
- KID-FRIENDLY DESIGN : The lever, beeper, key, and switches are designed for little fingers to easily slide, pull, push, twist, and press, to make the animals POP, Then just snap the lids shut and play again
- HAPPY HANDS ON PLAY : Meet giraffe, elephant, panda, lion, and monkey. This popular hands on activity toy introduces animals, colors, and shapes, while the engaging cause and effect play encourages fine motor practice
- STORE AND GO : Perfect for portable play, this Playskool Poppin Pals toy comes with an easy to grab handle for playtime on the go and simple storage