New Online Store Gives Children an Alternative to iPad – Fun Educational Toys That Teach

VICTORIA, Australia April, 2012 – A new study called “Screen Time: How Electronic Media – From Baby Videos to Educational Software – Affects Your Young Child,” reveals that electronic tablets like the iPad are “revolutionary” educational tools. However, the Australian newspaper warns parents to make sure their children don’t overuse these gadgets because this may lead to learning or behavioural problems*. www.oola.com.au/

“People are relying too much on modern technology that discourages social interaction and genuine child-like play that we had as children,” says Kelly Brough, founder and CEO of Oola, an organisation which encourages independence and the development of self confidence in young children by offering high quality, educational toys that promote open-ended play.

2,200 parents and children from the U.K. and the U.S. participated in the survey that found 20 per cent of kids between 3 and 8 years old have their own iPod, 15 per cent of the children have used their parents’ iPad and a whopping 9 per cent of the young children surveyed have their own iPad*. The study also found that 77 per cent of parents believe that using the tablet is good for their children to help them develop creatively*.

Kelly remembers a time when children did not have iPods or iPads and had to discover alternative methods of play and she insists that discovery process was an essential part of growing up.

“Stores like Kmart and Big W are flooded with ‘plastic fantastic’, mass market toys which do little to build individuality and creativity,” says Kelly. In fact, Oola was founded as a result of the lack of traditional toys and educational playthings available in mainstream stores.

Previously a director of the UK’s largest adult e-learning organisation Learndirect Ltd, and a mother of young children herself, Kelly is uniquely positioned to comment on learning methods for children and the tools that can encourage positive development in Aussie kids.

“I remember playing with jack in the boxes, tin tops and jigsaw puzzles and I wanted to give my children the opportunity to discover joy in the simple things in life too, without being exposed to too much technology, especially under the age of eight like the children in this study,” says Kelly, who sells jack in the boxes and other assorted toys that Aussie parents and grandparents can relate to.

For more information on ‘fun toys that teach’ reminiscent of an age when children didn’t have their heads super glued to a screen, visit www.oola.com.au/.
 
 
* Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/parents-warned-of-side-effects-of-tablet-computer-overuse-on-children/story-e6frg6n6-1226314156128

Contact Information

Kelly Brough

Founder and CEO

Oola

(61) 03 9005 5956

service@oola.com.au