How could parents choose the best toys for children?
When parents want to spend some quality time with their children on a festival, reward them for their good behaviour or show their love to them? A carefully-chosen toy is perfect. However, adults might find it difficult to choose the best toy for a child because they could be too busy to do it. Maybe googling the key words “the best seller toy” or “the most popular toys for boys” in an online shopping site could help you immediately. But there is not a 100% sure thing to guarantee that the toy you choose would be accepted as the best toy by your kids. Therefore, you need understand what kind of toys could be considered as the best for children. As a daddy, I have concluded some practical suggestions on choosing toys for my children.
First, children at different ages should be given different toys. A baby under 3 years might love those toys that they grab, seize or chase. A induction escape crab with bright colors will definitely attract a baby’s attention. When chasing this lovely crab, they will develop their muscle. Besides, they are curious and sensitive to sound and light. A talking and dancing cactus (shown in Picture two) will amuse your baby for hours. Of course, you can join in the interaction between your kid and this cactus. You can’t image how much fun you can have with your kids.
Picture 1: Induction escape crabs
Picture 2: Funny talking and dancing cactus
When children grow up, they will definitely want different toys. For example, my daughter loved a flying pink fairy when she was six years old. When she received it, she loved it so much that she learn to control it to fly immediately. She even told me that her dream came true when she made this fairy fly. Similarly, a boy will love a tank car toy like the one in Picture 4.
Picture 3: Induction Flying Princess
Picture 4: Collision Inertial Tank Car
Second, toys should be both amusing and educational. Usually, parents take it for granted it is enough for toys to bring fun to our children. What else should toys be? Actually, most toys could have two functions in the same time: entertainment and education. On one hand, most people believe that toys are made to entertain us. That’s true. After a busy day, everybody want to find something to do or not to do so that we could kill the time. Because of this need of ours, toys are made. Yet, when choosing a good toy, parents should not pay more attention to its’ function of entertaining your children than their function of education, making them think, driving them to concentrate or practice their stunts. For example, when you choose a DIY wooden puzzle assembly building craft model as Picture 5, you could make your children develop their hand-on skills. When they finish building a model, they will think how they could use the gadgets provided along with the model to make it move. What they learn and practice during the process of assembling and making this toy move might make them interested in mechanism or craftsmanship.
Besides, if a toy is designed according to Montessori educational theories, it will definitely make your children play to learn. For instance, there is a Montessori toy in Picture 6. While assembling these blocks, children could develop their color recognition, spatial sense and creativity.
Picture 6: Animal Puzzles and Blocks
Picture 7: Creative Assembly
Picture 8 is another block and assembly toy, which could become the best for girls. In order to build up beautiful flowers and pots, they have to observe each block and choose them carefully. It could take them hours to finish this flowery project. They will learn to concentrate and be patient and careful.
Picture 8: Succulent Garden Building Blocks
In recent years, toy producers have paid more attention to making their toy products become more educational than ever. Maybe this is because they believe their new toy products could attract more parents to buy. After all, they believe that parents want their children learn something while playing toys. Therefore, it’s quite easy to find toys which could not only entertain but also educate our children. Just spend one second thinking about what this toy could make my kid learn.
Third, a good toy should also be rewarding. People tend to ignore those things that they get easily. So do your children. When they believe that they could get whatever toy they want from you, they will merely ask you to buy for them. After getting the toy, they could become tired of it very soon because they think they could get a better one when they ask you to buy. The best toy should not come so easy to them. They should try their best to earn it instead of simply requiring it from parents. At first, you should know what toys your children want you to buy for them. But do not say no to them directly. You’d better tell them you will buy them if they could improve something or present some good behaviour to you. The toy is not a gift but a reward. When my daughter received a top launcher like Picture 9 after she managed to recite 10 English animal words, she was very happy. Whenever she showed these tops to others, she remembered she made great progress in English study. She became confident in remembering English words. This toy is a reminder that she could do anything she want.
Picture 9: Tops and Launcher
Choosing the best toys shouldn’t be taken as easy as shopping in Walmart. When choosing toys, parents should know what benefits their children could get from them, how to stimulate them to learn and improve. Last but not the least, good toys could also help parents consolidate their connections with children.
