What are non-cognitive skills and why they are important

In broad terms, non-cognitive skills are defined by scientists as “patterns of thought, feelings, and behavior” (basically, personality traits). When it comes to a list of specific skills, it varies. For educators, these are the personality traits and behaviors closely related to academic success. They can include going to class and participating, self-discipline, a sense of belonging to academic community, belief that success comes with effort, strategic planning and goal setting, and social skills like the ability to cooperate and create relationships.

Non-cognitive skills are just as important as cognitive skills. In fact, research indicates that students with stronger non-cognitive skills demonstrate higher academic performance throughout the school years. Moreover, non-cognitive skills influence cognitive skills. When students have well-developed non-cognitive skills, they demonstrate regular school attendance, complete homework on time, and actively participate in class, which leads to better grades and therefore development of cognitive skills. So, practicing non-cognitive skills from early age is a necessity.

How Eggs Time promotes non-cognitive skills

1. Many of our toys allow for collaborative play and promote cooperation and discussion. Eggs Time has developed several sets of action figures that kids can collect and share with each other or use for creative role play. These toys can aid in development of speech, social confidence, and communication skills, which are all important for successful school performance.

Toys to check out: King Egg action figures, Happy Egg Animal Puzzle Erasers, MagiK Egg action figures, MagiK Fruit Toys, MagiK Dino Toys, MagiK Cars, Lucky Egg action figures, Lucky Egg Animal Toys, Lucky Egg Animal Puzzle Erasers, Emoji Slime Toys.

You can find out more by checking out our digital catalogue at http://eggstime.com/digital-catalogue/.

1. Our video games are effective in training kids’ decision-making skills, strategic planning, and goal setting. For example, one of our games, Eggs Time Mazes, challenges the players to lead the character out of the maze. In order to complete this challenge, a child must use strategic planning, make rational and reasoned decisions, and concentrate on achieving their goal.

Games to explore: Eggs Time Mazes (play it at https://eggstime.com/upload/mazes/index.html) and Eggs Time Puzzles (play it at http://eggstime.com/upload/puzzles/index.html).

1. All our stories, in one way or another, promote virtues that improve social skills, motivation, discipline, collaboration, and goal achievement. Our MagiK Egg stories, for example, are meant to motivate kids to achieve their goals and follow their dreams. In one of the stories, a character wanted to learn how to fly but he didn’t have wings. He tried running and jumping, but nothing worked out. When at one of his attempts he ran into a tree, a bird with an injured wing fell on the ground in front of him. When our character helped the injured bird to recover its wing, the bird picked up this individual and flew him off the ground. Thus, his dream came true, although not in the way that he would expect. This story teaches kids to be persistent and keep pursuing their goals even if they can’t be achieved at first attempt.

Stories to take a look at: The Cookie Trouble (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnbIhq51mqU&t=6s), Spring And The Bird (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my5gzV9wjjA), and Pooky Rescues The Ball (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my5gzV9wjjA).

For complete list of toys, games, and stories check out our digital catalogue at http://eggstime.com/digital-catalogue/.

If you want to learn more about non-cognitive skills, you may want to read a report published by John Hopkins School of Education that explores this topic. You can find it at http://edpolicy.education.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NoncognitiveskillsmastheadFINAL.pdf.