There is an overwhelming variety of toys on the market. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when trying to pick out a new toy, whether for your own child, or someone else’s. A few toys from each of the following categories is ideal in your home:
Construction Toys: Help encourage development of spatial and math skills. Some of my favourites: simple wood blocks, Megablocks™, Lego™, and Magformers™.
Quiet Toys: All kids need a break from the loud world sometimes. Create a quiet spot in your house and stock it with age appropriate board games, puzzles, and books.
Imaginative Toys: Anything that encourages your child to make-believe is a great toy. The ability to form a mental image of something that is not there (imagination), is an important building block of creativity and intelligence. Examples include play kitchens, train sets, dress-up clothes, a stick, etc.
Gross Motor Toys: These types of toys will get your kids moving and help them expend some energy! Provide your kids with anything to climb on or jump from. These toy are typically more pricey and hard to store making them ideal candidates for renting instead of buying. Check out these gross motor toys from Just Play Toy Rental.
‘Creating’ Materials: This category includes toys such as Play-Doh, markers, crayons, paint, stickers, rulers, tape, glue, glitter, construction paper, plain white paper, grid paper, or anything from your recycling bin!
What’s the one toy you would recommend to a new mother?
~D.
