Children are our precious future growing in the present, so providing them with enough food, clothes, toys, and hours of amusement is not all they need. There are a lot of psychological aspects of parenting. You need an explicit plan and thereafter continuous monitoring while helping your baby grow.
Babies need toys. There are millions of toys on the market. From the above discussion, it’s quite clear that making a budget and buying some nice and amazing toys wouldn’t be enough. Toys should be a medium to use so your kid will learn and grow up to be mentally and physically healthy. Present world is marked with newer challenges of life, and today’s kids will surely face harder and trickier challenges that we might not be able to imagine. That’s why they need preparation. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’d burden him with lots of learning materials’ like books of Aesop’s Tales. A simple puzzle game, for example, can make him or her gather courage to accept challenges. Try these out.
Concept of Development
There are five basic aspects of development that your well-chosen toys should ensure:
1. Spiritual development
2. Social development
3. Cultural development
4. Moral development
5. Conceptual and intellectual development
You might like to learn more about these types of development from here.
Development by Age
Let’s have a step-by-step conception on how children grow and how we can help them enjoy their early life and yet grow up with a healthy mind. Aside from the snug baby strollers, there are things that you need to concentrate on.
Year 1 (0-12 Months):
As they are just infants and, especially for the first three to four months, they only learn by observing their surroundings, some soft, brightly colored and patterned toys are best for them. Colors and contrast of colors attract them dearly. Red has been proved to be the most attractive color among kids of this age.
The second thing is sound. Various funny and sweet sounds like rattling and quacking really engage them.
We must be careful enough not to buy them small toys that they can put into their mouth. Also sharp edged toys must be carefully excluded from the list. Instead, round shape is something they enjoy most because they tend to slip from their hands and they have fun trying to keep hold of them again and again.
Plastic toys, being soft and harmless (only if not licked and tasted frequently), are the best ones for kids of this stage.
Animals and dolls with smiling faces have a deep impression on their attitude, and they grow up good tempered.
Year 2
By this age, the baby is aware of cause and effect and enjoys any toy that responds to his actions. It may be a whistle that sounds when blown or a truck that runs at his push. If he has a mobile phone that makes different sounds when pressing different buttons, he may be aware of differences and any particular sound that he likes.
There may be talking toys as well. Though he may not know 1, 2, 3, the button-specific sound is surely going to teach him the relation between a push and a sound. Also, this might be the passive introduction to a language. The interaction, after all, is something he’ll enjoy.
Board books with lots of real pictures are great fun for this age. They are also promoted to read books and learn through reading subconsciously.
Year 3
At this age, children play more purposefully. Several points are as follows:
1. They are capable of solving easy puzzles. Therefore, you might as well introduce them to easy computer games for kids. Whatever debate there is as to whether we should allow them to operate computers frequently, this is the best time to teach them how to take intellectual challenges through computer games, which keep them engaged and forces them to think and make instant decisions.
2. They like real-life sound and figures. They want their phone to have a ringtone.
3. Behavioral differences between boys and girls start to become clear. While a boy likes to drive a car or brush fire from his machine gun, a girl fondles her doll and pretends to feed her and change her dress.
Play kitchens and doctor’s kits are some excellent choices for this age.
4. At this age, they are very active, and we can buy them a horse, Toy Stable, or a tricycle to ride.
5. Running and playing together becomes more and more enjoyable at this age. Here is the starting point of growing socially. He will quarrel over a ball or boast that he has bought the biggest of all horses. There you are with all your plan, patience and monitoring power to promote him, correct him, and guide him.
Year 4
Now the learning ability has grown vigorously. It’s time you bought interactive educational materials like art supplies and craft kits, blocks of different shapes, building blocks. They grow dreams of being a doctor, an airplane pilot, or an expeditor. Play materials at this stage should be selected, keeping a sharp eye on and supporting their taste and ambition. Along with computer-based games, puzzles with greater complexities, action figures, and bicycles with supporting training wheels are helpful for them.
Today’s computer technology has changed the way we thought just 30 or 40 years back. Now, besides games, we have tons of visual and verbal stories for kids that pave the way to learning through thrillers, mysteries, and fantasies. They are no less than football or chessboard games.
Buying or Making
Yes, making toys is a thousand times better than buying them. Instead of buying a big car for your 4-year-old, you could show him how to make simple toys, and you’ll be amazed to see his enthusiasm for making newer things made by his own hand. On the internet, there are hundreds of videos showing how your kid could make a simple helicopter blade with only one tiny piece of paper, a motorbike using two gas match lighters, or a car with matchsticks. The only thing you’ll need is that you’ll have to assist him for the first two or three toy projects. Next, he’s sure to be a better maker than you. Children are only great learners if they have fun while learning.
Area of Attention
Not all toys are good for your kids. For example, the machine gun is fine if he plays cops and robbers. But if he starts aiming the gun at anyone for fun and expects them to pretend being hurt, it’s time you teach him not to misuse any power he’s got. Same way, a doll with a grown-up figure, micro skirt, and high heel might look innocent, but your little daughter is very likely to start liking a sexy look and dreaming of growing up with that manner.
Buying your kid some toys is no less important than selecting healthy food or a good school for him. Our kids are our treasures. Let’s take utmost care for them even while buying them toys.
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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