Playtime is a big part of early childhood development. Babies and toddlers thrive on the interaction and stimulation they achieve with toys during fun playtime. As young as 3 months old, parents will notice responsiveness from their little one as they shake a rattler or squeak a toy, and this alert responsiveness has to continue to be nurtured throughout the child's early developmental years. Toys play a big role in this nurturing process.
Toys are tools that create a fun-filled environment conducive to grooming social, language, behavioral, intellectual, emotional and other developmental skills that are essential to a child's learning process. A toy can be as simple as a teddy bear rattle or as complex as a toy that teaches your child to manipulate different shaped objects into the matching shaped cutouts on a box. Toys can be made from a variety of different materials, ranging from soft-sewn characters to rubber bouncing balls. They are designed to hold a child's attention while encouraging them to have fun and feel good about the time they spend in playtime.
What to Look for
The first thing to look at when shopping for toys is the age of the child. You want to make sure the type of toy purchased is age-appropriate and not too advanced for the child. Be mindful of small pieces and how the toy is put together--you want to stay away from toys that can be a choking hazard or potentially hurt the child.
Stick with colorful and entertaining toys. These types of toys will hold the attention span of a child longer. Try to think in terms of the senses: sight, hearing and touch. Toys that are overly complex may get a young toddler disinterested and bored. Incorporate the child's likes into toy choices. In other words, if a child likes a specific character, they will gravitate to toys that utilize that character.
Look for toys that will stimulate learning, educational development and coordination. Toys with bright colors, patterns, sound recognition elements and matching make for good toy choices. Also, toys that encourage a young child to develop hand-eye coordination are important playtime tools that are not only fun, but also helpful for child development.
Inspect the quality of the toys. You do not want to purchase toys that are made poorly or out of the wrong types of material. Aim for toys constructed from solid molded plastic that have smooth edges, and definitely check toy recall sites for information on specific toys you plan to buy.
Common Pitfalls
When it comes to toys, it is easy to get carried away with the numerous choices that are marketed by today's toy industries, but it is not necessary to invest in a quantity of toys to develop your child's playtime. Also, refrain from impulse toy buying. Since toys can come with hefty price tags, you may be inclined to toy shop cheaply at drugstores and dollar type stores. However, those cheap toys are often poorly crafted and may have sharp edges and small pieces that can and do break off easily.
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