17Nov Play-full Learning at the Very First Toy Village in the Philippines

Playing is the most natural thing in the world, but there’s much more to it than just having fun—it can help develop children’s intelligence too.

“Our vision is to provide high-quality toys that help children learn and ensure that these will aid their development significantly,” says Natalie Tanchip, founder and owner of Pocketful of Kids Toy Village.

That’s why at the recent launch of Pocketful of Kids, the very first interactive toy village in the country, children were given a first hand experience of popular American and European toy brands.

“The notion of bringing learning into playtime is really something that Pocketful of Kids wanted to push,” explains Natalie Tanchip, founder and owner of Pocketful of Kids. “Our vision is to provide high-quality toys that help children learn and ensure that these will aid their development significantly.”

The toy village featured toys that were subdivided to touch the eight intelligences—bodily-kinesthetic, verbal linguistic, logical mathematics, visual spatial, musical, naturalistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. According to guest speaker Joy Abaquin, directress of Multiple Intelligence School Philippines, parents should let their kids wander through the toy village and see which intelligence station they are most naturally attracted to to determine their strengths and areas of improvement.

The Word Smart
Children with strong verbal-linguistic intelligence love to read, write and tell stories. They will most likely be future writers, public speakers, teachers, and actors. The best toys for these kids are word puzzles, alphabet blocks and story books from popular toy brand Alex as these can develop good vocabulary, spelling proficiency and good memory for names and facts.

The Number Smart
Kids with mathematical-logical intelligence have the ability to reason deductively and can recognize and manipulate abstract patterns or relationships. They will likely turn out as mathematicians, computer programmers, lawyers or accountants. Toys from the Educational Insights brand like abacus, counting and picture sequencing games are some of the most appropriate toys for this bunch.

The Picture Smart
Spatially intelligent kids have the ability to create mental or physical “picture” to understand the information being presented. They typically become graphic artists, architects, cartographers and sculptors. That’s why visual puzzles like the ones from Swiss brand Hape Educo and arts and crafts from bestselling toy brand Alex are strongly suggested by experts for children with this kind of ability.

The Music Smart
Children who have musical intelligence have great sensitivity to the rhythm of sounds (e.g. pitch, timbre, composition). Students strong in this intelligence will enjoy listening to music and may ultimately work as singers, songwriters, composers, or even music teachers. Toy instruments like pianos and xylophones from Italian brand Tatiri work best for kids with this kind of predesposition.

The Body Smart
Athletic children are said to have strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. They are usually good at physical activities and may have a tendency to move around a lot while expressing themselves. When encouraged by sports activities and toys like building blocks and crafts from Learning Resources brand, these kids can become athletes, surgeons, dancers and even inventors.

The People Smart
Children who have interpersonal intelligence work effectively in a group and are skilled at communicating, mediating and negotiating. To enhance this smart, kids can try out the pretend theater play sets from Alex and perform skits where they can hone their social skills as they interact with their peers. Children with this kind of smart may become future teachers, therapists, and salespeople.

The Self Smart
Having the ability to understand one’s own emotions, goals and motivations means that a child has strong intrapersonal intelligence. These kids have good instincts about their strengths and abilities and with the help of books, dolls and puppets from number one American toy brand Melissa & Doug, they can become philosophers, psychiatrists or religious leaders.

The Nature Smart
Children who are strong in this intelligence will enjoy and thrive when learning about nature topics, such as flora and fauna. Through toys like bug catchers and fishing tubs from Alex and kiddie laboratory sets from Learning Resources, these kids can grow up to be scientists, forest rangers, botanists, farmers and biologists.

The House of Smarts
Aside from housing these popular toy brands, Pocketful of Kids toy village features a mock coffee shop, bank, townhall, and theater. It also has a library and other services for kids like a health and food section and a playground. The toy village also extended its reach to parents and guardians through parenting seminars and workshops conducted by no less than child experts.

“As parents, we play a vital role in equipping our children with the opportunity for growth, innovation and learning. What more effective way to do this than by providing them with toys and a child-friendly environment that boost their innate intelligences,” says Tanchip.

Pocketful of Kids is the very first interactive toy village in the country that carries popular American and European toy brands that encourage children to wonder, discover and learn through play. For more information, please visit 15/F Strata 2000, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas or call (02) 634-7888 or (02) 634-2888.

Tags: toy village philippines