Choosing Age Appropriate Toys For Your Kids
Parents check out many toys and usually, the packaging will tell them what ages the toys are made for. There are so many choices these days that often parents argue with themselves on choosing the right age-appropriate toys for their children. The world is based on technology and even when children are newborns, batteries are needed for different toys that stimulate kids.
As they begin to enter toddler years, there are apps on phones, tablets, and computers that toddlers can play learning games. There are also age appropriate toys available for young children to develop their motor skills. As they grow older, their motor skills become refined.
The Importance of Age-Appropriate Toys
It’s important to purchase toys like blocks, shape balls, corn poppers, read-along books, etc., so small children get an idea of playing with toys that are not electronic. This can also include markers, crayons, and paint so they can learn to express themselves.
Parents will see that their kids aren’t picky when they get a new toy and usually they are content and happy. Parents should be more concerned about what the toy represents and if it is age-appropriate. Toys should basically be safe and help stimulate their child’s senses as well as being fun to play with.
Playing is very important in regards to social skills and mental and physical health and development. Parents should look at the purchase of a new toy as a learning tool so kids can grow and develop.
Here are some tips for choosing age-appropriate toys for your kids.
Keep it Simple
If the toy doesn’t do anything worthwhile other than a stuffed animal, you are not allowing your child to use their imagination. If the age appropriate toys sing and dance and all your child has to do is press a button, then the toy is in control. Essentially, your child should be in control of the action of the toy, so think about this before purchasing toys that do the work for your children. Toys that are can do certain actions, limits kids from the ability to use their imaginations. The best choices in toys are simple toys because this lets your kid create scenarios and learn how to be spontaneous.
Limit the Electronics and Video Games
The age of electronics is here and it’s impossible to keep your child away from devices unless you don’t buy any. This is not the answer either, because they will eventually be behind when they start school. You can still set limits on video gaming, tablets, TV and other electronics that your child shows interest in.
This is much better for their health because playing with electronics is more sedentary and can cause kids to become overweight or develop bad posture. Loud toys can begin the process of hearing loss at an early age, and language delays can result from electronic toys as well because you are not interacting with your child’s vocabulary enough. This results from not reading to them or having conversations.
Attention spans are also more limited by constantly playing with electronic toys. This is caused by a number of flashing lights on a car, for instance, that doesn’t require your child to focus on the lights for long. In addition, kids have problems with their attention span with toys that aren’t moving frequently. This is because they are looking at toys that move, but not for long periods.
Make Sure the Toy is Educational
Educational toys are big sellers and parents are worried that their kids have to learn everything before they start school by buying all educational toys. It’s fine to let your child listen to audio-books or learn classical music at a young age. Just watch for the toys that stress that they help boost the brain development of your child.
It’s similar to the vitamins that claim they can boost your brain functions. Some toys also claim that they can help your child become a math and reading whiz which is not true. The creative toys are the ones that have been around for years and have the good brand names behind them, which are good brain boosters.
Don’t Overstimulate your Child
Parents that have loads o fage appropriate toys out for their kids are teaching them absolute confusion. These kids don’t know what toys to play with and have trouble focusing. It’s better for parents to put toys away and keep rotating different toys for your child.
Kids might have short memories when younger, so if parents bring the same toys out a few weeks later, this feels like a new toy for them. In addition, if your child has many toys of the same kind or similar, let the child understand what the first toy does before you load the same type on them all at once. Kids don’t need four different sized bags of blocks out all at once.
You can also use the same toys for your child for a few years because they go through many phases and their motor skills develop better as they age. If your child starts with blocks and throws them, keep the blocks because in two years the same child will be using the blocks to build something unique.
Blocks are a unique concept because they can be played with by anyone at any time and actually help kids develop frustration tolerance if they play them with their siblings and friends. They also realize that they have to depend on others to cooperate with this skill.
How to choose Age Appropriate Toys
Children like toys they can understand so they don’t become overly upset. In addition, the toy also has to be appropriate for age and development. Here are some ideas for kids in interval age groups:
0-6 Months
Infants love movement, sound and black and white. They start to notice their own body, work on their eye-hand coordination, reach, and grasp. Appropriate toys for this age are rattles, mobiles, boxes, and anything they can grab and hold onto. They can hold things and know how to shake things.
6-8 Months
This age group can hold items now and understand cause and effect. They will repeat their activities until they get it. They can use both hands now to transfer toys and put things into small boxes. These same toys can be used for older babies.
8-18 Months
At this age, babies look for the end result, can master a goal and make things happen. They understand sizes, shapes, and space. Age appropriate toys for 1 year old are shape sorters, push/pull toys, blocks, stacking rings, and easy pull apart toys. You can also check here what toys are appropriate for 1 year old girls and what toys are popular for 1 year old boys.
18-24 Months
Toddlers can start playing and using their imagination and pretending. This is a good time to let them play dress up, play with dolls, tea parties, toys, cars, trucks, and toy school buses.
2-4 Years
This is the age of preschool and when kids learn how to socialize. They play pretend frequently and use their imaginations. It’s nice to buy them mini-farm toys, dollhouses, to expand their imagination. Large crayons, paints, and play-doh help them learn how to be creative. This is when kids begin to develop both large and fine motor skills. This is a good time for puzzles, LEGOs and Tinker toy construction sets. Kids at this age love noisy toys so drums and pianos are great or a hammer and peg set. You can also check here age appropriate toys for 3 year old.