Throughout time toys have played a significant role in children’s learning and development, especially educational ones. It’s not exaggerating to say that toys are the best companions to our kids. In general, parents do not always have time to be their companions, even though they strive to spend time with them as much as possible. Somehow, toys play this magical role to make your child’s time more playful and meaningful.
To cultivate your child’s interest, they need to have a few different types of learning toys.
Plush toys or stuffed animals
Usually, a plush toy is the first type of toy that every child will have, like a teddy bear or stuffed animal. It seems that it’s a never-die industry everywhere in the world. If this type of toy exists forever, there must be something that we shouldn’t ignore.
Kids love hugging soft animals to sleep. Studies showed that teddy bears help improve psychological well-being. “It’s human nature to crave these feelings from childhood to adult life” said psychologist Corrine Sweet. Nevertheless, parents should be aware of the materials and components when choosing stuffed toys for kids to avoid unnecessary dangers.
Puzzles
Unlike dolls and stuffed animals, puzzles are important toys to help kids learn and enhance their necessary critical skills through play. They could grow with your kids in parallel as they will become more interested in solving puzzles with greater difficulty. Once they are interested, they will spend the whole day solving puzzles.
Apart from brain development, puzzles, like jigsaws and wooden puzzle board, are excellent educational learning kits for children, to keep their mind away from mobile devices.
Essential skills kids will benefit from puzzles:
- Fine motor skills.
- Memory and cognitive abilities and skills.
- Problem-solving skills.
- Independent thinking skills.
- Object sorting skills.
- Ability to solve particular needs.
- Ability to combine objects.
Musical toys
Music is a beautiful international language that can cross beyond nations, cultures, and races.
Music plays a significant role to enrich our lives. It’s essential for kids to grow and boost brain development, which is a critical part of developing cognitive abilities, language, listening, and speaking skills.
Kids are naturally curious about the sounds from different instruments. Being curious about something means they have an interest in it. That means it can be a powerful tool to develop necessary skills through musical toys.
Other vital skills kids can acquire through musical toys:
- Cognitive skills enhancement and sensory development.
- Gross and fine motor skills development.
- Self-expression and self-confidence.
Role-playing toys
Kids love role-playing! It helps engage kids with learning through imaginative plays. In general, kids learn from real-life environments much faster than from any books. Role-playing is an essential scenario-based learning tool for kids to understand the importance of their behaviours, activities, relationships, and roles in this society.
Furthermore, kids have the opportunities to “outgrow” and develop these core skills:
- Critical thinking skills.
- Communication and collaboration skills.
- Decision-making skills.
- Risk analysis skills.
- Interpersonal skills.
Role-playing toys provide simulating scenario-based learning environments for kids to learn and explore in immersive environments.
Dress-up play toys
Similar to role-playing toys, dress-up play toys provide imaginative simulating environments for kids to experience and explore possible real-life scenarios through fun plays. Kids have room to design their clothes for toys with their creativity and imagination. In the whole process, kids can enjoy pretending to be the role or character they are dreaming of being, which helps develop their interpersonal skills and self-exploration.
Furthermore, it’s also important to develop gross and fine motor skills in early childhood. Parents can also play with your kids if possible as that’s the best way to understand more of your kids, like who they want to be and what they want to do in the future.
Builder and construction toys
STEM or STEM-related toys, such as builder and construction toys, have successfully grabbed massive attention from parents and educators worldwide. The reasons behind this are quite simple – the STEM workforce is in high demand all over the world, especially in an ever-connected world, as it is essential to cultivate your child’s interest and ignite their passion in STEM areas with STEM toys at an early age.
More are more STEM-based programs or campuses will be built up worldwide to meet the increasing enrolments. The United States and China have been putting many efforts into supporting and encouraging kids and teenagers to pursue STEM curricula.
Vehicles toys
Vehicle toys, such as cars, trucks, trains, or aeroplanes, have the potential to stimulate children’s development in a prolonged way. Research showed that car toys might aid kids’ emotional, social, and physical development as well as language and communication skills.
They allow your children to simulate sitting on the vehicles with creativity and imagination on the road, which provides a dynamic learning environment for them to experience many possible opportunities and scenarios for the future through imaginative play. Kids can be the creators of their future and life. Parents can participate in their games or encourage them to play with their companions. It’s a great way to develop their teamwork and communication skills for the long term.
Board games
Although we cannot say all kids love games, they usually wouldn’t hate them. Actually, interactive-based learning games, such as board games, are prevalent among kids.
Here are the essential skills kids can expect to gain through interactive-based learning games:
- Focus and concentration.
- Communication skills.
- Independent thinking.
- Problem-solving skills.
- Improving self-esteem: they learn how to accept reality when they lose games.
Although we cannot only rely on toys to develop children’s abilities and skills, it’s also undeniable that toys play essential roles in enhancing their development in multiple areas from different perspectives.