The toy, that indispensable "instrument" in the integral formation of the child, must be entertaining and educational.
The toys that the child uses in their games must have their own characteristics that meet the physical and mental needs of each age. Hence the importance of being very careful when selecting them and offering them to the little ones.
The quantity and quality of the sensory stimuli that the child receives in the first years of life largely determine the characteristics of his personality and intelligence. The child has a need to explore, invent, create, test her own abilities. To achieve this, he needs toys.
Playing is the most important activity that the child does. Playing learns and is interested in new things, uses his senses, his imagination, his social skills. Through play he exercises his creativity. Playing is as important to the child as working is to the adult.
Through the game he investigates, knows the colors, distinguishes the round from the square, what is removed from what remains still, learns how things work, how they fit together, how he can make them.
According to age, the child has different interests and activities. These aspects must be taken into account when choosing toys. To facilitate this work, I present below some basic information about the activities of the child and the characteristics that toys should have at each age.
Until the first year of age
Bright colors and sharp sounds lick his attention, he is very curious about the things that are within his reach, he takes them in his hands, brings them to his mouth, explores their forms.
In this first stage, it requires toys that have elements that can be held in their hands, that do not break, that do not have sharp edges, that do not have small parts that can come off, that are not toxic, that are washable, that can be sucked without danger, that they do not damage the gums.
The items must be large enough so that they cannot be swallowed by the baby.
They should be bright colors that attract the baby and stimulate color recognition.
One to two years old
The child begins to be interested in his own abilities, uses the elements of the toys to hit them, throw them, or put them in bags, take them out, put them in line, make towers. He loves to pull objects. He has a sense of possession and will like to have his toys in a box or bag.
At this age, toys must continue to have the characteristics defined for the previous stage: that they can be held by the baby's hands, that they do not break, that they do not have sharp edges, that they are not toxic, that they are washable.
In addition, cube games, toys with elements of defined geometric shapes, toys with the possibility of being pulled, elements that can be stacked, threaded, as well as hammers, tools are indicated for this age.
Two to three years old
He begins to develop imagination, creativity, play various roles, and act protectively against something weaker. He is always active, looking for what to do. He is interested in assembling things, in understanding how the objects around him work.
He will continue to use, possibly in a new way, old toys such as cubes, or items that can be skewered, grouped, stacked. It must be complemented with toys that have elements that are assembled, whether they form a defined figure such as puzzles, or those that allow different figures to be elaborated, which stimulate the child's imagination and creativity at this stage.
Three years and older
Shows signs of abstract thinking, level of conceptual aptitude, has good concentration, discriminates in the selection of activities and develops individual interests. He is interested in the elaboration of projects of a certain complexity, combining the elements in different ways. He prefers toys that allow him multiple possibilities, with which he can experiment.
It is convenient to provide him with toys that allow him freedom of action, with which he can imitate adults, play different roles, assemble his own things.
If the child does not yet have, they should be given building blocks.
In conclusion we can say that:
We must insist on the convenience of giving children building blocks. This type of game contributes to the coordination of the hands and eyes at different ages: the child will gain precise control of the muscles, as well as concentration, perseverance, and will contribute to the development of abstract thinking.
There is an attitude that could be called discriminatory towards girls, considering that they should not get involved with building blocks as part of their childhood games. They tend to believe that this type of game is only for children. That attitude is not correct. Construction games contribute in a positive way to both the development of girls and boys.
An important feature that must be taken into account in the toy is that it is versatile, functional, that it can be used in various ways. In short, that stimulates the child's imagination and creativity.
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Main image taken from: https://hk.yougov.com/en-hk/news/2017/07/03/gendered-children-toys/
