Play is a child's main way to learn when they are little.  Your children learn best by seeing and attempting new skills through play of all kinds.  My daughter is almost two years old and she already amazes me with her fine motor skills.  Her little fingers are always busy trying to figure out the way things work and I can see the wheels in her head working overtime as she is processing everything that she is doing.

I love toys that help foster developmental skills and because of this, I'm thankful that I found the Explorer Ring from The Pencil Grip.  This toy is guaranteed to aid your children's growth in NINE different skill areas!  Now that's a toy that packs a lot of educational punch!  Keep reading to learn more about the Explorer Ring toy!

The Explorer Ring is a 12" plastic circular tube containing colorful round beads.  These beads are trapped within five compartments of this tube.  There are also five unique "doors" which can be opened and closed by your child.  Each "door" requires a different skill to be performed so that it can be opened and the beads can move through to the next compartment.

Here are the skills that your child must master in order to open each of the five doors:

• Pinch two buttons together on opposite sides of the blue door.
• Twist the orange disc back and forth.
• Turn the yellow crank in one direction.
• Turn the blue key.
• Pull out the green plug.

At first, Riley didn't understand what was being asked of her by this toy and kept trying to play with it while the Explorer Ring was lying flat on the ground.  Of course, no matter whether or not she opened the doors, her beads weren't moving since she had the ring lying horizontally.  As soon as I picked the ring up and held it for her vertically, she understood exactly what the object of this game was and went to work.  She really seemed to like figuring out how to open each of the doors and this held her attention for a long time.

I was having fun holding the ring for her and watching her interacting so intently with the Explorer Ring.  I also loved knowing that this toy was encouraging the following skill sets:

• Gross Motor Skills
• Fine Motor Skills
• Bilateral Coordination
• Motor Planning
• Visual Perception
• Social Skills
• Sensory Processing
• Pre-Academic Skills such as Cause and Effect
• Eye-Hand Coordination

Whew!  That's a mighty tall order for such a toy!  As your child progresses with the Explorer Ring and becomes more adept at playing with it, there are even suggestions included as to how to keep challenging your child with it, including trying to move all of the balls around the ring with their eyes closed.  I highly recommend the Explorer Ring from The Pencil Grip for your toddler.  It is a wonderful educational toy which is well-made and makes learning FUN!