If you have kids, then you will probably learn all about what toys exist these days. Just as parents of kids growing up in the 1980s learned all about Masters of the Universe and My Little Ponies, today’s parents will also know about the latest toys, many of them having to do with cartoons or children’s books that their little ones love.
Many of these toys are a lot of fun and encourage collaborative play. However, some are potentially dangerous, and parents need to consider before letting their kids have them. Let’s look at some of the potentially problematic toys that are on the market today.
Legos
Legos seem to transcend generations. You might also not think that these colorful blocks could end up on a potentially dangerous toy list.
There are a couple of possible issues when you bring Legos into your home. The first is that many of the sets come with tiny pieces. They can present a choking hazard if your child is too young to know not to put them in their mouth.
You also might have a situation where your child decides to build a castle or a space station on the stairs. If you head downstairs and something distracts you, you might not see all those towers rising up to trip you and send you crashing down to where you might suffer a sprained ankle or a worse injury.
You can combat these problems a couple of ways if you want your kids to enjoy the same Legos that you did as a child. You can either wait till your kids are older so they won’t put the pieces in their mouths, or else you can get them the Lego sets where the pieces are much larger, so there are no small, potentially bite-sized parts.
The other thing you can do is to talk to your kids about not leaving their toys on the stairs, assuming they’re old enough to understand why they shouldn’t do it. You can tell them to keep the Legos confined to their rooms, or possibly the basement or some other play area.
Slingshots
Some stores sell slingshots as toys. To emphasize this, they might have decorative colors and fanciful names. The popular Nerf brand makes some slingshots, as well as various other projectiles.
With slingshots, kids will probably be okay if they launch harmless foam balls at each other. Some youngsters might try to fit something else into a slingshot and launch it, though, such as a rock they pick up off the playground.
We cannot overemphasize the danger if something like this happens. If a kid fires a rock from a slingshot and hits another child or an adult with enough velocity, it can easily cost them an eye or some teeth. It could even cause a traumatic brain injury or kill them if it hits them just right.
If you’re going to allow your child any sort of a slingshot, look it over very closely. Even if you feel like the projectiles that it launches can’t do any real damage, be sure to tell your kids they are not to fire anything else from it. They should also only aim at blocks or similar targets and never other people.
Easy-Bake Ovens
Easy Bake Ovens have been around in various forms for several decades. The idea is the same with all of them: children make small baked items that they can eat by cooking them in the oven.
Earlier versions used light bulbs to cook the sweet treats that came with them, but more recent ones use electric heating elements. Still, even though that’s safer, any time that you have a toy that heats up, you need to keep a close eye on your kids when they use it.
You should only give your child one of these toys once you feel that they are old enough for it, but you should also be in the room while they use it. That way, if anything ever seems to be going wrong with it, you can swiftly walk over and intervene.
Generally, any toy that a child can launch or one that they can heat up is something that you should consider carefully before allowing your kid to have it. Childhood should be fun, but it does sometimes seem like toy company R and D departments don’t think out their designs enough before allowing some of this stuff to get onto store shelves.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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