Children’s Toy: Everything You Need to Know

Children relate to the life around them through play. Therefore, a toy plays a fundamental role in their development. Toys build bridges connecting each child’s universe to the world. Thus, they help them to understand, explore and enjoy it.

With different purposes for each age stage, we find a wide range of options when choosing the ideal toy for a child. 

Musical toys for babies

This type of toy is perfect for stimulating babies because of the music player that includes classical melodies recreated especially for the ears of the little ones. Plus, large, easy-to-press buttons activate playback.

As well as stimulating babies with the tunes, the screen lights up with colorful lights and flashes in time with each song to attract the baby’s attention. The comfortable handle is easy for the baby’s little hands to hold.

Robotics toy for kids

This toy is perfect for developing children’s creativity since they have the possibility of creating different figures with the tools and pieces that the toy brings.

In addition to building and programming robots and models with the parts, they can complete more than 60 exciting activities included in the toy set.

Educational toy for kids

This children’s toy is a computer that includes educational activities to learn while having fun in areas such as basic math and science. It has an alphabetic and numeric keyboard.

Also, the computer has an interactive screen with fun animations. It also includes different melodies and has the possibility of personalizing the computer by adding details such as the child’s age, name, or favorite food.

With this toy, children will be able to set up their own work desk at home and learn about technology and science. They have the chance to experiment and thus become little scientists.

Likewise, these educational toys help children to acquire knowledge, stimulating their skills while they play. They will also be able to do experiments with other children, so it will also help them to encourage playing with other children and interacting.

What are the benefits of toys for children?

Play is a key process in child development. Undoubtedly, the best way to stimulate them is through the implementation of toys. These facilitate children’s contact with the world around them, generating new skills and learning.

Among the advantages of using toys, we can mention the stimulation of the sensory senses and the development of their motor skills. They also promote creativity, encourage the child’s autonomy and expand her imagination.

Toys have a lot of benefits. However, if the child has too many toys or the wrong toys, this could lead to inattention in other activities.

How to choose the ideal toy for a child?

Finding the ideal toy for the child is a task that requires time and attention. The most important factor to consider is the developmental stage of the child. With the developmental stage, we refer to the cognitive and physical abilities that the child is going through and learning at that moment. The state is usually associated with age, although it is not an exact variable.

Remember to consider the tastes of the child when choosing a toy. It is essential to know the interests and preferences of the child. The toy must fit his world and his imagination so that the moment of play is fun, attractive, and playful. You have to know the product you are buying, know how it works and how to play. In this way, we will consider if it is the right one for the child.

Many times children ask for toys that are trending, either because of advertising stimuli or because other children have them. Before buying a fashionable toy, it is convenient to take into account if the said toy complements the child’s personality and if it adapts to her needs.

Ideal age

When choosing a toy it is essential to know the child. We must know his tastes, his age, and the point of neurological development in which he is, in order to give him a toy that allows him to be stimulated correctly.

• Babies and 1 year. For the little ones, what is recommended are toys that stimulate their five senses—for example, rattles, cloth dolls, and teethers. Also, toys that encourage their first steps and the development of fine and gross motor skills. Here, nesting games, balls, or the well-known paw-pat are ideal.
• 2 to 5 years. At this stage, children enjoy toys related to role-playing and artistic or vocational. Those toys that give rise to imagination and creation are ideal. For example, building bricks, coloring books, or a kit of molding compounds. It is essential that these toys allow children to play independently to develop their autonomy.
• 6 to 8 years. At this age, children develop abstract thinking and reflective capacity. His creativity turns to every day and resembles his real world. Electronic, puzzle, robotic, or explanatory games about how things around them work are their best options.
• Older than 9 years. The role of the child in a social group becomes essential. Therefore, those toys that encourage shared play, such as board games, are ideal. Games related to art, science, and technology are also recommended, which are part of children’s main interests.

Materials

As we know, the toy market is a very wide world in which we can find products made with different materials. There are some materials used more than others, due to their versatility, durability, and low cost. They are wood, for glamping houses, blocks, and small furniture, and plastic, for building bricks and nesting games, to mention a few examples.

Other very popular materials are cardboard, used to make puzzles and books, and cloth, used for dolls and stuffed animals. It is important when choosing a toy, to consider its useful life. Also, the use that the child will give it and how versatile it can be for his imagination.