Your toddler must be very fond of toys and why not, children just love toys. The role of toys is very important in the development of a child. It is not only essential for recreational purposes but also for learning and development. The future development of a child very well depends upon how has been treated in his formative years. Parents must ensure their child is getting best possible opportunities for learning and progressing purposes. While we are focussing on learning, toys come into the picture. The importance of toys has been established in aspects like sensory skills, social and motor development of the child. From that perspective, it becomes important for parents to choose right kind of toys for the toddler, considering its future implications.
The first rule is to get hold of simple and solid toys. The reason is children love to break toys by throwing away or banging them or using them against the walls. In such light, what’s the point of purchasing a delicate or sophisticated toy? Parents must be quite alert while purchasing toys. There are factors like loose parts, sharp edged toys or toxic paints harmful for babies etc that should be considered while parents decide to buy toys. The logic is quite understandable because of child’s habit of putting everything in his mouth.
A baby develops his first taste of social skills while he plays with ball. Point to be noted here is, while a baby throws ball to someone the latter throws it back and in the process there is development of social skills. Toys with buttons, levers, push buttons must be givn preference because toddler will learn to do something on his own. Take for example, toy telephone which is quite useful in sowing the seed of conversational skills. Similarly, parents should opt for storybooks, building blocks and push-pull toys.