How to choose suitable toys for children?

It is well-known that toys play a very important role in children’s growth process. But currently there are a wide variety of toy categories on the market, and parents are also inevitably troubled when choosing toys for their children. Is it okay to just buy the toys that children like? Or is there any way to help parents choose toys that are suitable for their children?

What Are The Functions of Children’s Toys

1. Motivate children
The physical and mental development of children is achieved through activities. Children’s toys can be freely manipulated, manipulated, and used by young children, which is in line with their psychological preferences and ability levels, can meet their activity needs, and improve their enthusiasm for activities.

2. Enhance emotional understanding
Children’s toys have intuitive images, allowing children to touch, hold, listen, and watch, which is beneficial for the training of their senses. Children’s toys not only enrich their sensory knowledge while developing their sensory and motor abilities, but also help consolidate the impressions they gain in life. When children are not widely exposed to real life, they learn about the world through toys.

3. Causing association activities
Some children’s toys can evoke associative activities in young children. Some toys are specifically designed for thinking training, such as various chess pieces and intelligence toys, which can improve children’s abilities in analysis, synthesis, comparison, judgment, reasoning, etc., and cultivate thinking depth, flexibility, and agility.

4. Cultivate the quality of overcoming difficulties and striving upwards
Children may encounter difficulties when using toys for activities, which require them to rely on their own strength to overcome and persist in completing tasks, thus cultivating excellent qualities of overcoming difficulties and striving for progress.

5. Cultivate a collective mindset and spirit of cooperation
Some toys require children to work together to complete them, cultivating and enhancing their collective awareness and spirit of cooperation.

Pay Attention to Children’s Age Characteristics and Psychological Development Level

When parents choose toys for their children, they should first consider their age characteristics and psychological development level.

Generally speaking, for infants under the age of 1, toys that can cultivate cognitive abilities can be selected, which are of moderate size, bright colors, and can be loud and dynamic, and should be easy to grip and play with, such as ringing bells, colored balls, etc.

When choosing toys for children aged 1-3, they should choose vivid and easy to operate drag toys such as small cars and ducks, or toys such as cars, guns, blocks, and balls to promote the development of their movements.

For children aged 3-6, their finger flexibility and hand eye coordination have been enhanced. We can choose various structural toys, sports toys, music toys, performance toys, and also purchase some puzzle toys, such as puzzles and children’s chess, to promote the development of children’s hands-on operation ability, imagination, and creativity through these toys.

Other principles of choosing toys:
1. It combines puzzle and fun. Stay away from electronic screens and carefully maintain children’s curiosity and curiosity;

2. Open toys are preferred. Passive toys are often just temporary interests, and after playing them three or five times, they can easily pile up in corners. Open toys are the main ones that can make children love and enjoy playing for a long time.

3. Each type of toy should be few but not many. In terms of music rhythm, puzzle construction, aesthetic creation, language enlightenment, etc., try to give children a variety of toys, but do not give too many types of toys, otherwise children will be at a loss.

Pay Attention to Toys’ Characteristics

Parents should also pay attention to several characteristics of toys when purchasing them.

1. Safety. This is the primary concern when purchasing toys. It depends on whether the material of the toy meets the standards, whether the surface coating is non-toxic and harmless, and whether there are safety hazards during children’s play. So it is recommended that parents choose toy factories with rich experience to purchase, which will be relatively more secure and reassuring.

2. Educational. Toys can help children develop good habits unconsciously, such as exercising logical thinking ability, memory, and language expression.

3. Entertaining. The essence of toys is still entertainment, so when choosing toys, try to match the child’s interests as much as possible.

In addition, parents should also be careful not to buy toys that are too small for infants and young children to prevent them from entering their mouth and nose; Some fragile and pointed toys are not suitable for children to play with; If it is a plush toy or doll, pay attention to whether the small decorations on the toy are sturdy and whether the filling meets hygiene standards. All toys should be easy to clean and disinfect.

The price and value of toys may not necessarily be equated. Parents should not be superstitious about high-end toys, but pay attention to their practicality and variability. Beautiful porcelain toys and vivid mud dolls are toys that children cannot play with. If you buy cloth dolls for your child, you can buy those that can be freely worn and decorated. This way, parents can prepare small clothes (which can be made from discarded clothes) and various small decorations for the doll, allowing the child to dress up freely. It is not only fun but also exercises the child’s hands-on ability, and the child never gets tired of playing.

The amount of toys can also affect a child’s interest in playing. Generally speaking, more toys are not necessarily better. Some children may lose their focus and enjoy the new and the old, which may be related to having too many toys. So, how many toys are more suitable for a child? Experts suggest that at the age of one, there should be no more than 10 types of toys; at the age of two, there should be around 20 types; at the age of 3-6, it is appropriate to maintain within 30 types. These data can be used as a reference for parents. If a child has a lot of toys, parents can put them away first and then replace them regularly to enhance their child’s interest.

Conclusion

It is also interesting for parents and children to make toys together, such as using paper to make a small windmill, plastic bags or cloth strips to make a small kite, cardboard and toothpicks to make a small toy, etc. The process of making toys itself is a process for children to learn knowledge and skills, and because it is made by themselves, children will also love it and cherish it.

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