inflatable

Educational toys, are typically built for and used by children. One could make the argument that an educational toy is actually any toy. Most children are constantly interacting with and learning about the world. This definition is ultimately too broad because one could make the same argument about a rock or a stick as it is not uncommon to see a child play with almost anything nearby.

The difference lies in the child’s perception or reality of the toy’s value. An educational toy should educate. It should instruct, promote intellectuality, emotional or physical development. An educational toy can teach a child about a particular subject or can help a child develop a particular skill. The key difference is the child’s learning and development associated with interacting with the toy.

More toys are designed with the child’s education and development in mind today than ever before. As parents and educators grow more sensitive to the real or perceived development needs of children, toy manufacturers seek to manufacture and market to these parents.

Wooden toys which tend to last for a long time serve to maintain interest and durability for the child especially if the toy becomes a favorite.

As mentioned previously, educational toys claim to enhance intellectual, social, emotional, and/or physical development. Educational toys are thus designed to encourage reasonable development milestones within appropriate age groups. For preschool age youngsters, simple wooden blocks might be a good starting point for a child to begin to understand causal relationships, basic principles of science (e.g. if a block falls from the top of a structure, it will fall until a surface stops its fall), and develop patience and rudimentary hand-eye coordination. For a child moving towards elementary school, other, more sophisticated manipulatives might further aid the development of these skills. Interlocking manipulative toys like Lego or puzzles challenge the child to improve hand-eye coordination, patience, and an understanding of spatial relationships. Finally, a child in elementary school might use very sophisticated construction sets that include moving parts, motors and others to help further understand the complex workings of the world. Importantly, the educational value derived by the child increases when the educational toy is age appropriate.

Entering a classroom, whether one full of preschoolers or school age children, one has no doubt that educational toys are part of the modern educator’s curriculum. From manipulatives, to dress up, to board games, to musical instruments, to interactive electronic toys such as robots or turtle roamers, the breadth of educational toys is vast. While it is not uncommon to find computers in the modern elementary school classroom, it is not yet common to find children actively engaged in video games for educational development. However, as computers and video games take an ever larger role in our lives and the lives of children, so too will their role in educational toys and games. This underscores a crucial point about the fluidity of the definition of an educational toy. As the perception of what is “educational” changes, so too will the integration of new toys into our children’s classrooms.

Air mattress
An air mattress is an inflatable mattress/sleeping pad. Due to its buoyancy, it is also often used as a water toy / flotation device, and in UK is termed as a lilo (”Li-lo” being a specific trademark).

For sleeping
An air mattress, also known as an airbed is an inflatable mattress, the wide majority of which are usually made of PVC vinyl plastic although recently developed textile-reinforced urethane plastic or rubber version exist. The deflated mattress can be rolled up or folded and carried or stored relatively easily, making them a popular choice for camping trips and for temporary bedding at home for guests. They are inflated either orally by blowing into a valve, or with a manual foot-powered or more commonly inflated via an electric pump. Some are even automatically inflating (up to a certain pressure - some additional inflation is also needed) just by opening the valve.

The three main categories for use of air mattresses are camping, temporary home use (guests) and full time permanent use (in the bedroom). Some air mattresses are specifically designed to perform both functions (camping and guest use) while others are specifically designed for one purpose alone (permanent use in the home or RV). Other air mattresses are designed in shapes with wheel well cut outs specificly intended for use in vehicles such as pickup trucks or SUV’s.

Lightweight, reduced-size and reduced-thickness air mattresses specifically intended for camping and backpacking are sometimes called sleeping pads, especially when a layer of foam insulation is added under the air chambers. Better quality air chambers, that are designed for permanent use in the home, are constructed of vulcanized rubber, covered in canvas or of polyurethane. These chamber are then installed into a cloth shell or tic. Permanent air beds will look almost like conventional beds with the exception of having a hose (1 air chamber) or hoses (2 air chambers) coming out of the head of the bed. These hoses will be connected to an Air Inflator, with 2 outlet valves, that will have a remote control(s) so that each person can adjust the firmness of their side to ones own exact needs. The firmness can be adjusted up or down, with the simple push of a button, on the remote(s).

Permanent airbeds were originally created for medical use, but later redesigned to work without an external power source by utilizing batteries for their power source. Because there is no need for external electricity, pumps or motors, permanent adjustable air mattresses became available for consumer use.

Some government safety agencies have warned against letting infants sleep on air mattresses, because they can be too soft and suffocate smaller children (especially those below the age of 8 months) within folds or while entrapped between the mattress and the bed case.Additionally there have been several recent governmental studies and regulations enacted due to the poisonous nature of the phthalates and dioxins contained within all PVC vinyl air beds and other soft vinyl products. The European Union has made similar efforts to prevent the use of vinyl materials in toys and bedding