Roles of toys in children’s development
Children’s development is an important stage and needs a lot of seriousness and concern. There are various things that we use to help our children develop, both emotionally and physically. Among the most used things are toys for playing. However, these toys need to be administered at different stages, depending on the child’s age. Some toys cannot also be safe for children and may affect their development. Therefore, it is prudent to use the most suitable toys for children at different stages of their childhood. This paper will delve into safe and suitable toys for children at varying stages.
Guidelines for selecting toys for children
Selecting toys for children is crucial as it helps in choosing the most appropriate and safe toys for their development. There are various guidelines put across to find a suitable toy for a child. One way is ensuring that the toy is appropriate to the age and skill level of the child. It is also prudent to ensure that your choice of a toy is interesting to the child, and he or she can play with it comfortably. It is also crucial to choose a toy that enhances the child’s developmental growth, so we have open-ended and closed-ended toys Zoromski, 2016). Open-ended toys are those used for multiple purposes hence does not limit the imagination ability of a child. They can be used to teach color, shape, and texture. Closed-ended toys, on the other hand, are limited and used for specific purposes. Additional guidelines for safety include choosing a large toy so that a child cannot swallow by all means to avoid choking and causing other irritations. Toys should also be strong and unbreakable to withstand chewing if a child puts it in the mouth. Always use ridding toys when children can sit on their own without support and also check the recommendations by the manufacturer to prevent issues like tipping. Homemade toys should be handled with a lot of care as they are always not tested for safety and be sure to give children paint toys without lead. Toys that use batteries to operate must have battery cases secure with screws to prevent children from opening them. They pose detrimental risks such as internal bleeding, choking and chemical burns. It is, therefore, particularly important to be careful when choosing a toy for your child to ensure that it is developmentally appropriate and safe.
Toys for 3-5 years children
Children within 3-5 years are always at a remarkable explosion in their learning capability, and introducing interactive educational toys is important. These types of toys teach them arithmetic and verbal skills, and they may include minicomputers or phonics boards. Zing 1-2-3 is one of the best toy games where kids match tiles with numbers and images on the cards, and the player who first gets the full cards wins by shouting Zingo! It helps to build number sense skills in children as they associate images with digits and texts and supporting early math learning through pattern and counting recognition. It is a two-level play with six double-sided Zingo cards, and seventy-two double-sided tiles, and Zingo zinger with easy cleanup. It is manufactured by Fat Brain Toys Company. Peppa’s Smart Tablet is another toy made by a good play guide. It is a tablet with six games and is a battery-operated toy going at $19.99. It helps develop cognitive, creativity, color, shape and pattern recognition, math, listening, and attention, as well as learning to read skills Zoromski, 2016). Children need to turn the tablet on and select the game they want to play. VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk is interactive toy from VTech that helps in teaching writing and reading skills. It has double-sided cards used to introduce numbers, letters, and animals, among other features. It also offers easel and chalkboard for writing and drawing skills, which is accessed by flipping the tabletop. Its price is$144.32 in the market.
At this stage, children enjoy learning and their minds want to take in so many things. These toys are developmentally appropriate for them as they provide a variety of new things interesting to them and help them widen their thinking and creativity skills. Educationally, the toys help to recognize numbers, letters, colors, shapes, and patterns as children interact with them. The toys also look appealing to kids as young learners will know more, the wide variety of games attract them and also excite learners with their attractive games and colors. Parents and I would choose these toys for their development and educative reasons if I had a child at this stage (Zoromski, 2016). The toys also are safe for them since they do not have dangerous edges that can harm the children and are recommended for them. However, these toys can be harmful to children as they may keep them indoors and miss outside adventures good for their development and growth. To avoid this, parents should guide their children and ensure that they set specific times for these gadgets.
Conclusion
Toys play an important role in the development of a child. Parents have the task of choosing the most suitable toys for their children based on their age, interests, and ability. They should also ensure that they provide the safest toys to avoid accidents when interacting with them.