Tips When Choosing the Right Toy for Your Child's Age

I’ve always had a lot of difficulties choosing the right toy for my daughter when she was a child. I remember that once she was able to say what toy she liked I let her choose. Not the best thing to do. She was four when in a toy store she fell in love with a toy race car and, without any hesitation, I bought it. What a beautiful car, red with orange and black flames painted on it! It was a car with batteries and remote control.

At home, the first thing we did was to put the batteries into the car and play with it using the remote control. I’ll never forget what happened a few moments after the car started rolling on the floor. My daughter got scared of it, I never understood why maybe the noise it was making and since then she has never touched that car again.

What happened that day made me aware of the fact that I had to improve my knowledge about how to choose the appropriate toy for my kid.

I hope these few tips will help you decide which toy best suits your little one.

• The age written on the box is not always a good indicator of how appropriate that toy is for your child. It usually represents the ages that the toy has been deemed safe for so we should not ignore it completely. We need to be aware of the fact that a toy considered to be safe for a certain age group is not necessarily appropriate for its educational level.
•  The same toy good for one child may not be the best choice for another child of the same age. It is easy to understand why: children learn at different rates, and while many toys are made for the average child of a certain age range, your child could be ahead or behind. Rather than relying solely on numbers, take cues from what your child is comfortable with.
• Speaking of babies, they need toys that are safe and stimulating. Bright, contrasting colors, unusual textures, and interesting sounds are good things to look for. Toys that make noise or light up in response to the baby's actions provide an opportunity to learn about cause and effect.
• The toys you buy for a toddler should allow the child to develop his motor skills or learn about shapes, colors, animals and other basic things. The toys that incorporate both motor skills and intellectual development are even better. Social skills are also beginning to develop at this stage, and it’s important to learn your toddler to share his/her toys with other children. However, it's important to remember that young toddlers often prefer to play alongside other children rather than with them.
• We are talking now about preschoolers; they are ready to learn about letters and numbers. Plenty of toys can help with this, from alphabet blocks to talking books. Finding something that your child enjoys playing with that teaches these things will be a great asset to him.
• There are toys good for a wide range of ages. For example, building blocks and simple wooden puzzles with large pieces can grow with a child. He could learn different things from them as a baby, toddler, and preschooler. Some electronic toys are designed to teach children different things at different ages as well.

In conclusion, finding the right toy for your child's age is not as difficult as it sounds. The trick is to be less concerned about numbers and more concerned about your child's developmental level. As long as a toy is safe for your child if he is having fun and if he is learning from it, that is always a good thing.