Toddlers are at the stage of discovery in their lives. They come across new things around every where. Hence, the toys should be able to sustain their interest. Most parents complaint that although they spent a lot of money on fancy toys for their toddlers, the kids spend most of their time playing with household things or other mundane stuff.. While other parents find that after a few days, the toddlers totally lose interest in the toys, which then gather dust lying in a corner. And the parents wonder why it so happens.
The reason lies with the characteristics of the toddlers and the wrong selection of the toys by the parents. Parents forget that every child has his/her own way of playing and learning with their toys. You should keep in mind the following pointers while buying toddler toys. It is always better to buy toys that are durable and simple. A toddler's concept of play usually involves bashing the toy about a few times and maybe even hurling it across the room for good measure. Obviously, toys with delicate mechanisms should be avoided.
Simple mechanical toys and ride on toys enhance the development of small muscle skills. Toddlers are usually fascinated by toys that contain levers, push buttons, dials, hinges, and so on that they can manipulate in different ways. Such toys have far more value than fancy battery-operated toys, even though these can perform different activities all by themselves.
A ball is a delightful toy for every toddler. They can play with it in a number of ways, such as kicking, throwing, bouncing, rolling it and toddling after it. It is portable and they will be delighted if they can carry a large, but light beach ball around by themselves. In addition, the ball is a tool for initiating social interaction. The toddler learns that when she throws or rolls the ball to someone, they usually throw it back. Telephone toys also encourage interaction and role play through conversation.
It is advisable to buy books with stiff cardboard pages with large colorful images for toddlers to initiate them to the habit of reading. This will enable them to safely turn the pages back and forth and observe the contents even though they are hardly able to read the stories. As the toddler's attention span, memory and language skills develop; they will be able to point at the pictures and the names. Gradually, they will develop their reading skills and graduate to the story book stage.
Form boards and stacking rings also facilitate toddler learning skills by helping them identify colors, shapes and forms. Household items too can serve this purpose, but toddlers in this exploratory stage tend to take things apart and manipulate them, which may not be the best way to handle household items.
Even though toddlers normally love to draw and color, buying coloring books may be too early for those who are yet to develop the ability to properly hold the pencil or crayons. A generous supply of rough paper may be more than enough for such kids until they develop the hand and finger motion kills.
Avoid toys with sharp edges or that have toxic paints because toddlers have a tendency to put everything into their mouths. As for puzzles and blocks, it is advisable that parents buy items made of lighter material like cardboard or plastic. As toddlers love to knock down things, pieces made of lighter material will cause less damage.
Author: ksanjitha
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