Choosing The Perfect Toy for Toddlers
Children aren't fussy when it comes to playing with a toy. They need something that is fun and stimulating. Toys are designed and made to be appropriate for the age of the child and should be safe and enjoyable to play with. Look for toys that will help with your child's development.
My Tips for suitable toys.
To let a child use their own imagination keep them simple.
Toys like building blocks allow them to form different combinations and encourages them to create things from their imagination.
Playing with soft toys having dinner parties with them also develops their imagination and let them role play events they may have seen.
Your Choice of a toy will largely depend on your child’s age I will explain how as they develop then the type of toy they enjoy changes.
If you buy electronic toys there can be problems
There are many electronic toys around today that parents buy.
How often do you see children playing with handheld electronic gadgets?
Many have their own simple laptop, mobile or DVD player. Although these entertain children they do not encourage them to think and play. Children like watching and being entertained so in this sense they are good. Remember to limit time with electronic games as they can cause weight gain as the child is often inactive. Also if the sound is too loud this can damage hearing. It has been shown that children who spend a lot of time with electronic toys become visual passive learners. We want to encourage children to learn through being active, using their imagination and actually learning by taking part in their learning.
Electric toys do not require attention for long periods of time, this can lead to a situation where the child cannot concentrate for long periods of time. Problems that can occur are when you start them reading as their attention span will be low.
My Advice is also beware of so-called educational toys.
Many toys that are promoted as being educational but do not always achieve what they say they can. It is often better for children to learn things like mathematics and conversation through role-playing shops and other things they have experienced. This is far better than having a small electronic laptop that says it will boost your child learning.
What happens is that children often experiment with answers until they get the correct one. Some toys encourage children to get the correct answer so they can be rewarded with a game. This means that children can just identify the answer to get to the game. They do not need to understand why that answer is correct and the others wrong.
Do not give them too many toys at once.
Many parents seem to allow children access to all their toys. This means they can easily get distracted by the offer of another toy and as they easily bored and move onto the next toy. If the choice of toys is limited then they will use their imagination more and play longer with the toy.
It is far better to let them play and then remove the toy for a few days. Once they see it again it will be new and they will be encouraged to play with it again.
Simple toys like building blocks and drawing boards are great and do not need to be taken away. Your child develops better skills, coordination and ideas over time. Using these assorts of toys will promote their mental and physical development.
What Toys Do Children Like To Play With
Children like to have toys they can achieve success with. They get frustrated and bored if they cannot understand what they need to do. You should look at toys that they will understand. Therefore it is best to purchase toys that are suitable for their age range, as these are designed so the child understand what to do and is capable of doing it.
Toys From Birth To 6 Months
Your child will enjoy playing with things that make noises, toys they can shake, roll, pick up, or squeeze. This helps them develop their hand-eye coordination.
Good examples of toys for this age are:
As mobiles, move, can be grabbed, swiped at and make noises. Many come with designs like padded animals that hang down and your baby will be able to reach out and grab or hit them. These are great to have on play mats. As your child lies there they can look up, stretch out and play with the mobile, this will benefit their eye-hand coordination.
Toys After 6 months
Your baby will enjoy sorting shapes. Passing objects from one hand to another, and starting to experiment with different shapes and sizes. So a great toy would be a shape cube where different shaped objects of different sizes are put into a cube. Each shape only fits into a certain place. Your baby will enjoy this and experiment until they can recognize what to do and achieve success.
Other Suitable toys
Suitable toys would be push and pull toys, building blocks, and stacking cups are a few examples. You can even get rings to put onto a pole. Anything that encourages them to move, sort and identify different sizes and shapes.
Toys for babies aged from 16 to 24 months
Now is a good time to look for toys that will grow with your child.
Examples of this are plastic animals. The reason for these sorts of toys is that your baby will enjoy just holding and squeezing them at first. Then as they develop they will put them into a pretend zoo or farmhouse, and eventually, they will role play stories with them.
Remember that toys allow children to practice skills, work something out on their own, solve problems and develop their imagination. Choose toys that will help them develop their skills. Encourage creative thinking and development of motor skills. Shape sorters are great for getting children to solve problems.
Toddler Age Toys
When your child becomes a toddler this is the time they like to role play what they have seen. Great toys would be dressing up clothes, a shop, kitchen, toy cars and garages.
At this stage, your child will have gone through the playing individually and will be wanting to socialize more. Now they want to start expressing themselves, showing what they know and what they can achieve. They will enjoy painting, colouring and making objects from Play Dough. Also, they will like building and making things, and playing music. At this age, they have developed their motor skills and are keen to learn more through play.
You will notice they understand how things work. Like the TV, light switches, cooker, the car, the mobile phone and many other things we use every day. So to encourage them, even more, get toys that represent things they see their parents using every day. You will also need to help them develop not only their mental thinking skills but their physical skills. So now is the time to get bikes, scooters, footballs and anything else that will promote their activity.
Simple board games, making things, even cooking with mum. They will start to understand other people's opinions and how they do things. Of course, this is the first time if playing a board game that someone else may win, so they will also learn how to be both competitive and also a good loser.
What to look for when buying toys
Be careful if you decide to buy electronic toys because of the downsides mentioned previously.
At each stage, your child will have different learning, social interaction, motor skills and physical needs. So take their age into account when looking for stimulating toys. Of course, make sure that the toys are safe and well made. That they are not too simple as this will lead to boredom. They should not be too difficult, as this will cause frustration and discouragement.
It is not easy buying toys. However, if you follow the guidance and match toys to your child's development needs. You will not go wrong.
Take a look at all the great toys available and make a valued decision. You should look for well-made toys that meant high safety regulations.
You know your child and what they like so buying toys around their interest, what they know and what they have seen and experienced is always a good way to proceed.
There are many great toys on our store and you can also find more here.
Great Toys And Activitys For Your Little One Are Available Here
