How To Choose The Best Baby Toys.
With all the choices available, picking the best toys for your
baby can be a bit of a minefield. Advice, on what to buy, can
also vary considerably. However, there are some basic guidelines
which when followed, should help parents make the best choice
both for the child and themselves.
Firstly, toys, in addition to keeping a baby amused, are a vital
factor in the early learning experience.
A baby does indeed learn from the things that she plays with, so
the more things she has access to, the more she can learn.
Consequently many parents spend a fortune on baby toys only to
be disappointed when the child discards them very quickly.
Babies learn about their world by using all five of their
senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. It is important
that all these senses are engaged and stimulated by the toys
they are given. Through playing with their toys, babies:
• learn to control their body movements and begin to exercise
control of their world • learn to work things out, solve simple
problems and develop ideas • begin to develop muscle control and
co-ordination • begin to develop their imagination
According to the founder of the Institute of Achievement of
Human Potential a child spends approximately ninety seconds
playing with an average toy. After looking at it, feeling it,
tasting it, sniffing it, and shaking and banging it to see if it
makes a noise, the toy is discarded, much to the disappointment
of the doting parents.
Does this mean that the child has an extremely short attention
span or that they are not very smart? On the contrary, in that
90 seconds the toy has been completely “road tested” by all the
child’s senses.
So what should a parent look for when buying toys for babies?
Unfortunately, we now live in a predominantly electronic age.
While electronic toys may be suitable for older children, then
for a baby, apart from flashing lights which might amuse it for
a short time, they do not offer much for the development of a
very young child.
There are some questions that parents should ask themselves when
choosing toys
• Is the toy likely to hold the baby’s attention? • Will it
survive the “abuse” that even a baby can inflict? • Is it too
complicated – babies need solid simplicity? • Will it challenge
the baby so that baby will not get easily bored or frustrated? •
Will it encourage the baby to think and stimulate creativity and
imagination? • Will the child be engaged in play and not simply
a spectator? • Can the toy be played with in more than one way?
• Does the toy have novelty value – different to toys they
already have? • Does it that “fun appeal” that will encourage a
parent to join in with the play?
Then there are the more basic considerations such as
• safety (sharp edges, risk of choking), • size (can the toy be
easily manipulated by the child), • colour (babies recognise
primary colours much better than pastel shades) • durability
(babies can be quite destructive) • washability (it is
inevitable that toys will get dirty and are inevitably destined
for your baby’s mouth)
If all this seems a little overwhelming, then rest assured, most
of the above will quickly become second nature. Toys are fun
items and there is no reason why buying toys cannot also be a
fun experience. Instead of spending hours trudging around
toyshops, it is possible to consider all the possibilities from
the comfort of your home, by simply clicking your mouse. One
excellent place to start is by visiting
ment">The Baby Store
a virtual “baby superstore”, from where you can actually buy
everything your baby needs.
To explore the extremely wide range of baby toys, chosen for the
highest quality and best value for money, then visit
ment">The Baby Store. Shop at your leisure and have
everything delivered to your door.
Happy Shopping.
About the author:
Buying toys for babies can be a minefield. The choices are so
wide, how does a parent make the correct choice? Hopefully
having read this article you will be in a position to make a
better choice. Find out where you can purchase the widest range
of high quality, best value for money toys by visiting
ment">The Baby Store
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