The Best Children's Toys

Today's stores are filled with an endless variety of toys. Many of these toys promise to entertain, teach, develop or strengthen your child's intelligence--and many of them are nothing more than marketing tools for the latest popular movie, television show or video game. With so many choices, it can be overwhelming to wade through all of these toys and find what your child truly needs.

The main thing to remember is that toys should inspire your child to have fun, be creative, learn something and just play. No toy is a babysitter or substitute for you--a toy that recites a story will never be as rewarding or as beneficial as you reading a book to your child, for example. Children quickly learn what toys can and cannot do. If a toy only does one thing with no room for imagination or creativity, a child often loses interest in it. Look around the average toy collection and you’ll find a lot of toys that were opened with much excitement, played with on that first day, and then forgotten in boredom.

The best toys are the ones that allow your child to interact, imagine and create. This does not mean interact by pushing the correct button or waiting for a light to flash. Toys like blocks that can be built in different ways, knocked down and rebuilt can provide endless hours of learning and entertainment. Dollhouses, toy farms or train sets are toys that allow a child to create her own world. Dress-up clothes, musical instruments and play kitchens let your child imagine and practice what he is learning about people. Puzzles and and board or card games challenge her mind and improve her fine motor skills. Even the empty plastic containers in your kitchen or a couple of pots and wooden spoons can inspire your child and encourage his creativity and imagination.

So the next time you walk through the toy aisle, remember that simple is better and the best bells and whistles come from within your child--not from a toy box.