There are enough choices in a megastore’s toy aisles to occupy your kids for days if not months. But is it quality play? Choose wisely when adding to your children’s toy box, being especially mindful of their ages and stages.
Crawl
Purpose: To keep your child safe and entertained as she explores the world around her.
Play: New parents will be enticed by the “make your baby smarter” claims on certain products, but don’t be fooled. The best tool for boosting brainpower is attention — and lots of it — from loving adults. Anyone who’s ever watched a baby gaze at a rattle, shake it, and then taste it knows that infants use all five senses to learn about their surroundings. Toys!3 shop owner Bruce Weiner likes Taggies toys at this age. “Taggies are soft and colorful,” Weiner says. “They offer a great tactile and auditory experience and are available in a range of price points.” Weiner says this age group is also enchanted by nonbreakable mirrors and musical motion toys such as carousels.
Plus: A good set of building blocks that will grow with your child is a must. “I like the Brio brand, but any wooden set that offers lots of different shapes for creativity is great,” Weiner says, noting that playing with blocks teaches kids about geometry, balance, perception and gravity — all in the name of fun.
Walk
Purpose: To encourage your child’s imagination through play.
Play: Help your child during this magical age of make-believe by providing plenty of opportunity for pretend. Weiner suggests the deceptively simple Bilibo shell. “It doesn’t look like much, but children take this plastic shell and transform it using their own creativity and imagination,” he says. “Kids can sit in it to spin or slide, or they can use it for dress-up, or they can put their dolly to bed in it.” Speaking of dollies, this is the ideal time to invest in a dollhouse fully stocked with people, furniture, and accessories. Kids hone fine-motor skills dressing the figures and manipulating their settings and work out a myriad of emotional issues through the characters.
Plus: Be sure to allow for safe rough-housing opportunities as well. Active play builds muscles and gives kids confidence to meet physical challenges. One of Weiner’s favorite toys for this is Rody, an inflatable rocking horse that’s super-durable and strong enough for grownups to get involved.
Run
Purpose: To help your child master important skills in a playful way.
Play: This is a great age for playing board games. Weiner especially likes the classic mancala, a simple logic challenge that teaches math without a number in sight. Or Rivers, Roads & Rails, which is a close relative to dominos but boasts a colorful maze that’s more engaging than simple dots. “It can be played cooperatively or competitively,” notes Weiner. Both games teach logic and enhance eye-hand coordination.
Plus: As you prepare the house for the holidays, don’t forget the playroom. Gift-giving occasions are a great excuse for clearing out old toys. Avoid tears by having your child help make choices about what to keep and what to hand down or donate. A nice touch is to reunite stray pieces and wipe toys down before passing them along.
Rebecca Kavanagh is an EduGuide contributing editor.