Your Best Guide to Selecting the Proper Toys for Your Kids
Whether you have toddlers, babies, or older children, you undoubtedly understand how playing with various toys can aid in your child’s agility, development, creativity, and more. But the toys you choose for your kids can make a vast difference, and what you choose should be appropriate to your child’s age, their interests, and their developmental stage. For instance, open-ended toys can spark your child’s imagination, and they can enhance their creativity and skills in solving problems. You can even make your child’s toys yourself with everyday items, but of course, this may take careful consideration. The bigger question is how you can choose the appropriate toys for your kids and how you can carefully consider what they need.
Here is your best guide.
Think about open-ended children’s toys
Your children’s toys can aid in their development, and they can have a good impact on how they think and create. Whilst you can always give your children a whole range of toys, think about open-ended children’s toys as well. These are toys that your kid can use in various ways to encourage their creativity and imagination. Some popular open-ended children’s toys are blocks, which children can use for building and stacking and ‘pretend’ play. You can also give them balls that they can bounce around and catch and crafty pieces such as coloured crayons and paper, stickers, and markers. You can also encourage them to have collections (beads, buttons, coins, and the like).
Even cardboard boxes are great open-ended kids’ toys as children can use them for make-believe plays as shop counters, cars, ovens, dollhouses, and boats.
Image/CDC
Choose based on your kids’ ages
A lot of toys come with information for the age range of the child who can play with them, and this is entirely useful if you aren’t sure what to select for your child’s age. But you also have to think about your child’s interests and their developmental stage so you can have a better perspective on what you should choose.
Also, the age information on each toy is essential for your kids’ safety, as toys with small parts aren’t recommended for babies. If you have a baby, the toys you choose for them should be all about interacting with you, other members of the family, or their carers. Babies love looking at the faces of those who play with them, and you can share special moments with your baby as you play with a baby mobile in bright colours, listen to a toy playing musical tunes, or teach them to hold a rattle.
If you have a toddler, you would already know that they love playing with blocks, boxes, buckets, pegs, and various containers! This is an age when they are getting to know their physical range, and you can provide them with soft play at home toys where they can slide, climb, and more. Your toddler may also appreciate musical instruments, such as drums which they can bang on and shake.
If you have an older child or children, they often appreciate solving problems and using their creativity and imagination. For older kids, you may want to offer games or puzzles that can encourage them to think and socialise with other kids as well.
Author: Diane Hutton
