The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Perfect Toy for Your Child's Age
The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Perfect Toy for Your Child's Age
Blog Article
Finding yourself standing in the middle of the toy aisle, overwhelmed by countless toys to choose from for your little one, can be a bit of a fix. Should you get nesting blocks for your one year old or a play kitchen? Would plush toys be good enough for three-year olds?
These questions often end up confusing parents and instead, they buy toys that hinder their child’s learning journey.
But don't worry, it doesn’t have to be that difficult! Follow our easy guide below to find the best toys for your child.
The Importance of Choosing Age-Appropriate Toys for Child Development
But first. Why is it important to choose toys according to development stages?
Age-appropriate toys, like those from the Montessori approach, are purposefully designed to support your child's learning and growth.
They are all about encouraging exploration, independence, and hands-on learning. Made from natural materials, these toys focus on simplicity and functionality, all of it to sharpen your little one’s senses. Also:
They come in different shapes and sizes, which helps babies improve their fine motor skills as they interact with them. They are designed to capture and hold a child’s attention
because if you give a two-month-old a complex puzzle, they won’t be able to solve it, not because they’re incompetent, but because it’s beyond their current abilities. A simpler toy, like a bunny rattle, would be more appropriate for their age.
Toys also teach kids about order and organisation. Children learn to sort and arrange objects, which helps them become responsible adults later on.
Now that you know how widely important it is to choose age-appropriate toys, let's see which ones suit best.
Toys for young infants: Birth to Six months
New born and babies rely heavily on their senses and for the first three months their vision is still a bit blurry. Toys with bold colours or patterns are the best at this tender stage. Babies are intrigued by what they see and by what their hands and feet can do. They also turn their heads to some sort of attractive sound.
Toys at such a stage should stimulate their senses without overwhelming them. You should consider:
Soft & Sensory: Plush toys with different textures are perfect for your baby to touch and explore. Crochet toys are the best for young infants.
High-Contrast: Babies love high-contrast patterns, stuffed toys or colourful rattles will help with their visual development.
Music: Gentle, soothing music can calm your baby and engage their hearing. Recordings of lullabies, rattles and poems work best for this stage.
Toys for older infants: Seven to Twelve months
Older babies evolve to rolling over, sitting, bouncing and then to standing. They can identify commonly spoken names, body parts and can find hidden objects. They start to explore and eagerly reach for anything in sight.
You may have had to swipe away your keys, phone or even the remote control away from them, resulting in a tantrum! But that's because at this age their curiosity is at its peak.
For them you should consider Montessori toys such as:
Floor gyms: Strengthen muscles and stimulate their senses with colourful hanging toys. Provides entertainment as well as complete engagement.
Mouth and sensory toys: Teethers, rattles, stacking toys like our Rainbow stacker, and chase toys support teething, grasping and hand-eye coordination.
Building and Moving: Large blocks, wooden cubes, push and pull toys, lightweight balls and crawling obstacles help build muscle strength and coordination.
Squeaky toys: Toys that make squeaky noises or crinkle promote interaction.
Pretend Play: Baby dolls, colourful stuffed toys with smiling faces and toy cars are perfect for imaginative play and brain development.
Toys for 1-year-olds:
The one-year mark! Your little one is now fascinated by any toy that responds to their actions. One-year olds are able to form a few words too and can identify and name familiar things. They can also walk, crawl and climb a bit so you need to keep a close eye on them.
Toys best for kids this age encourage interaction, exploration and give out sensory feedback. You can consider:
Building and Sorting: Stacking rings, nesting cups, hammering sets, shape sorters and toys that have knobs, dials, lids etc are perfect for little hands to explore and help develop hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.
Musical Fun: Simple, sturdy instruments like triangles, drums, and maracas are great for making noise and exploring sounds.
Pretend Play: Push or pull toys that make noise, play vehicles like wooden cars, school buses or fire engines and bath toys like rubber ducks or toy boats are perfect for their imagination and keeps them entertained.
Toys for 2-3-year-olds (toddlers):
Two- and three-year olds have now advanced to rapidly learning language and forming complete sentences. They are also good at naming things, remembering where certain objects are kept, and love physical play that involves jumping and climbing.
They enjoy rough-and-tumble play and have good control of their hands for gripping things. It's also time to get toys that aid their interaction with others and boost their imagination. A few are:
Social Play: As your toddler starts playing and interacting with others, games and building toys like big wooden blocks, bowling sets, rainbow stackers and spin tops are great for sharing and taking turns during play dates.
Problem-Solving Toys: Wood puzzles with 4 to 12 pieces, snap-together blocks, sorting objects by size, shape, colour, or smell, and items with hooks, buttons, buckles, and snaps are also perfect for improving hand-eye coordination. Our Sudoku colour sorting puzzle is just right for toddlers.
Imaginative Play: Dress-up clothes, playhouses, toy figures, dolls, and wooden animal sets are great for pretend play. Construction sets, child-sized furniture like kitchen sets and play chairs also aid imagination.
Active Play: It's time to introduce ride-on toys! Tricycles, and balance bikes help kids work on balancing and pedalling skills, preparing them for the transition to a two-wheeler.
Creative Play: Large non-toxic, washable crayons and markers, big wooden paint brushes and finger paint, chalkboard with chalk, and rhythm instruments all aid in cognitive development and improve hand-eye coordination.
Toys for 4-5-year-olds (Pre-schoolers and Kindergarteners):
Pre-schoolers and kindergarteners are a curious lot. They have a longer attention span, talk a lot and ask loads of questions. They also like to experiment with their still emerging physical skills.
Four and five are key years for literacy, learning about numbers, and self-regulation all essential for school success. This is a great time to introduce toys that help them learn about Math and verbal skills.
You should consider:
Fine Motor Skills: To develop their motor skills, wooden toys educational like pegboards, geometric puzzles and tracing stencils. Letter and word games, as well as wooden phonics books help improve verbal skills.
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Math Skills and Self-Regulation: Puzzles, counting peg boards, dominoes, and simple card games enhance maths skills. Try teaching them about time with a toy clock.
Games that involve taking turns, like wooden bowling balls, following rules, and handling winning or losing gracefully help strengthen self-regulation.
Toys for 6+ year olds:
Your little one is now growing up and they have begun to develop their own sense of interests. Some like to read, some to paint, play with dolls and even build new things.
Some interests could be influenced by their friends and they might want something because everyone else has it. For kids this age, here are some great toy ideas to support their growing passions:
Personalised Play: Support their passions with their favourite toys and activities. Readers will love chapter books and word games, while little golf enthusiasts might enjoy toys like our Golf set. Young builders would love wooden blocks and wooden figurines like our Indian Village couple to go along with them.
Creative Crafts: With advanced fine motor skills, craft kits, origami, jewellery-making beads, science kits and advanced art supplies are great options to keep them engaged and creative.
Complex Games: Games and construction toys get more intricate. Strategy board games, chess, and other complex puzzles become favourites. You can also choose games that involve everyone to play together.
Conclusion
It's also important to remember to choose safe toys for kids. Safe toys are well made and do not pinch, cause splinters, are painted with safe materials and are non-toxic.
Remember, toys play a huge role in a child's development, shaping their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional growth. By choosing toys that match your child’s developmental stage, you can give your child a toy that is just right – it’s like handing them the perfect tool to unlock their potential!
Here at Brainiac Toys, we’ve got it all! After extensive research on Montessori toys, we bring you a wide selection of safe, hand-made, ones designed to support your little one’s development at every step!
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