Age-appropriate toys help children learn and practice skills important to child development. The key is to choose quality toys that engage children and teach them while they play. Make sure a variety of toys are accessible to children each day. Avoid deep toy boxes that are difficult to navigate, and instead offer smaller containers with a few meaningful selections in each one.
Significance
Toys provide children with a creative outlet and encourage them to use their minds and their muscles. Playing stimulates the mind, helping children to develop cognitive and language skills. Toys that encourage movement help children develop gross and fine motor muscles. Pushing cars and trucks across the yard or floor uses the larger gross motor muscles of the arms, torso and legs. Playing with blocks builds fine motor muscles in the hands while teaching problem-solving skills.
Time Frame
Babies benefit developmentally from soft books, rattles and other hand-held toys that encourage reaching, grasping and mouthing. The National Network for Child Care recommends that you choose toys for toddlers that provide opportunities for stacking, pouring, opening, closing, pushing or pulling. Preschoolers enjoy dramatic play items, such as dress-up clothes, puppets and props, as well as balls, wagons, riding toys, blocks and art materials.
Considerations
Younger children need additional help from adults to reap the benefits of play time. Introduce dolls, rattles and soft blocks to small children, and stay close by to help them continue the play. Older children also benefit from interactive play. Encourage your child to choose the toys during assisted play, and follow his lead. Perhaps a kitchen set leads to restaurant play or tea time. Engage with your child to make the play meaningful. Interactive play using toys promotes language, social and physical development.
Features
Too many toys at once can be overwhelming to children. Keep the play environment clutter-free, and group similar toys together. For example, provide a science and nature box with a magnifying glass, toy critters and a related book. Or place the block box near the transportation box to encourage creative play using both. Make sure modeling clay, sorting toys, puzzles, balls, riding and climbing toys are accessible to encourage healthy child development.
Expert Insight
Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., a professor of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, says that toys are important to child development. Sawyer recommends that play be loosely structured and improvisational to encourage creativity. When choosing toys, look for toys with solid construction that are age-appropriate. Sawyer cautions that learning isn't generated from the toy, but from the "parent/child interaction surrounding the toy or game."
