Tiny Tools, Huge Impact: Benefits Of Toys For Child Development
Childhood is a beautiful experience filled with curiosity, exploration, and learning. Children are like empty vessels that could be filled according to the way they are nourished and exposed to the environment around them.
It is very essential for them to touch, feel, twist, throw, catch, run, walk, think, etc. in their early years so as to understand themselves and the world around them.
Unlike the adult brain, which always filters out unnecessary information, children are like magnets for all the new information around them.
The more they are exposed to new activities, the more neural connections are established in their developing minds, which help in their holistic development.
Playtime is the way to do that, and toys are the tools in that learning process.
The importance of toys in child development
As care-givers, it is very essential to understand how toys develop various skills in children. Many consider playtime as just a source of time pass with no real meaning, but it does wonders for achieving developmental milestones in children.
There are different toys designed for different age groups to enhance a fixed set of skills at a particular age. The variation in the toys depends on their grasping power at that age.
For example, the primary reflexes in infants are sucking and grasping. Their first ever toy is their body, where they try to suck on their thumbs, grasp their toes, try to open and close their hands, reach out for objects, etc.
With time, their sensory skills develop, and they tend to add on to new skills because of their curious nature, thus enhancing their skill set.
Skills Developed Through Playtime
Childhood gives an opportunity for your children to become rainbows, filled with immense skills, knowledge, and a hunger to explore. The more they are exposed to challenges, the better their resilience becomes to tackle various situations in life.
Toys are more than just playtime tools; they are a ticket to endless adventures, exploration, and learning.
There are various toys for child development that help in the enhancement of various cognitive, psychosocial, spatial awareness, language, emotional, physical, and social skills in children.
Also, among the new pro-tech toys, it is believed that the basics are always better. The basic, simple toys implant foundational skills in children, thus adding more advanced ones with time.
This is also one of the reasons why the playschools are filled with countless basic toys, puzzles, building blocks, and colorful adventures.
A. The Role of Toys in Skill Development
In simple words, let us begin by saying that toys are the ticket to your child’s overall development.
Now, to understand how toys develop skills in children, we need to understand how they trigger various sensory organs in the children, thus empowering them with various skills along with fun.
When children hold or play with toys, they unknowingly advance towards physical, mental, social, and emotional development. Here is a clear explanation of how toys develop various skills in children:
1. Cognitive Skills
These skills help the brain to think, see, process information, memories, and pay attention. Research shows that these skills decrease with age, and thus, childhood is the prime time to optimize them.
When the children are allowed to touch, play, manipulate different toys, solve puzzles and quizzes, stack building blocks, build Lego, etc., they tend to challenge their brains to learn something new.
This challenge stimulates their brain cells, thus forming new advanced neuron connections in the brain which helps them solve challenges in any game activity. This thus, also helps in the development of their self-confidence, concentration, spatial awareness, reliance, and self-esteem.
2. Motor Skills
These skills are very important to develop good synchronicity between the mind, hand-eye, and leg coordination.
Activities like crawling, playing with clay dough, drawing, coloring, playing with blocks, holding spoons and objects, etc. develop fine motor skills in the early years of life.
These fine motor skills give way to learning gross motor skills like riding a bicycle, dancing, playing sports, etc. that help in developing the confidence to become independent and reliable in life.
3. Social and Emotional Skills
Playtime always has a positive impact on social skills, thus also encouraging emotional openness in children.
There are many games that demand playing together, like board games, hide-and-seek, outdoor games, etc. This motivates the children to learn to wait for their turn, follow rules, share, empathize, and sympathize with their peers.
Games like role playing, dressing up, kitchen sets, etc. also help them express how they feel and create stories, thus opening their imaginative, creative, and story-building headspace.
These skills help them to face different challenges in their lives while embracing their creativity and social and emotional well-being.
4. Language and Communication Skills
There is well-known research that shows that babies only one hour old have the capability to differentiate between their native language and an alien language.
This is because the sensory and brain mechanisms for hearing are developed at 30 weeks of gestation, which helps them reflex inside the womb towards the things they have heard from outside, especially from their mothers.
Although there are many speaking toys that help children listen and learn, the above study shows that child-caregiver communication is the most important source for the development of language and communication skills.
It is mandatory for the family to spend quality time with their children, talk to them honestly, open up emotionally in front of them, give them advice, and correct them like a friend when they go wrong.
All these would help them have a clear mental space, be receptive to your words and have the tendency to have clear conversations with others in the future.
A clear and honest conversation at home would also encourage them to approach you in case of any trouble, anxiety or fear.
B. Age-Based Toys for Sequential Development
Children show different sensory reciprocation according to their current age and development.
According to this, there is a clear bifurcation between the ages and the types of toys they need to be exposed to. Hence, care must be taken to regulate toy selection among kids to embrace the developmental milestones in them.
Here is a clear differentiation of the age group and the types of toys for child development:
1. Infants (0–1 year)
Babies less than 1 year old try to understand the world with their eyes, touch, smell, taste, and feel. This means that they need to be exposed to sensory toys.
Let us understand how toys develop skills in children less than a year old:
- Push-pull toys: These toys help in developing fine and gross motor skills, which would later help them become runners and climbers.
- Rattles: The sound of a rattle can help babies learn where the sound is coming from and how shaking the rattle can produce sound.
- Teethers: Teethers encourage children to have a sense of their mouth (lips, tongue, jaws, etc.). This helps them understand the sensory stimulation of their mouth, which later also helps them learn to speak their first words, like “dadada” or "bababa,” etc.
- Ring stack: Rings come in attractive colors with a cone. Babies learn the shape and size by holding the ring or by putting it inside the mouth.
- Stuffed animals: These soft, textured toys can help babies learn about different body parts, how they look, how they make noise, etc.
2. Toddlers (1–3 years)
At this age, the baby has enough control over his or her hands and legs and likes to do things on their own.
At this age, they are filled with ego-centricism, that is they believe that the entire world revolves around them and whatever they do is right.
Let us now know how toys develop skills in toddlers aged 1–3 years old:
- Balls: When they are rolled, bounced, thrown, or caught, balls help them develop gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and dexterity.
- Theme-based toys: Playing with animals, vehicles, Barbie dolls, etc. helps them understand emotions.
- Musical toys: These toys help them in the development of their hearing, cognitive, and language skills.
- Shape sorters: Nesting cups or blocks, pegboard puzzles, and different geometrically shaped blocks with pipes help the child with hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.
- Cycling: Cycling helps in the hand, eye,and leg coordination, along with proper sense of direction, thus imparting various motor, spatial awareness and social skills.
Also read: https://rforrabbit.com/blogs/articles/selecting-the-right-tricycle-for-your-child-guide
3. Pre-schoolers (3–5 years)
At this age, children have adapted their basic skills well, thus driving their curiosity to learn more. So, get ready for their never-ending “why, "how”, and “when” questions.
This age is ripe to expose them to educational and imaginative toys that push their creativity, storytelling skills, and imagination to new leaps and bounds.
Ways of how toys develop skills in preschoolers aged 3–5 years old are:
- Puzzles: Simple puzzles of alphabets, numbers, identifying fruits, vegetables, etc. develop their cognitive and spatial awareness skills.
- Books: Story books, poem recitation, interactive sessions and dialogue exchange, etc. develop their thinking, imagination, and creativity.
- Art and Craft: Drawing, coloring, origami, etc. enhance their gross motor skills while also encouraging them to follow rules.
- Climbing Games: Slides, small ladders, and hurdle games develop their physical and cognitive skills when they have to make use of their hand, leg, and eye coordination.
- Pretend-play toys: Doctor kits, kitchen sets, etc., help toddlers learn about the different roles and responsibilities. Such games also encourage them to show empathy and sympathize with others.
4. Elementary schoolers (5–10 years)
This age group initiates the next stage of development, where the kids utilize what they have learned to multiply it into many more complex skills.
At this age, children are more receptive to educational, experimental, and active roles that teach them basic science, math, and logical reasoning.
Let us now decode how toys develop skills in elementary schoolers aged 5–10 years:
- Science Experiments: This makes them understand the scientific existence of the world around them and survival skills.
- Board games: This enhances their social, emotional, and cognitive headspace.
- Construction kits: This encourages them to creatively engage themselves in building anything they desire and experiment with their thoughts. It opens new doors of creativity and logical reasoning in them.
- Sports: This helps them develop good social bonds and sporting spirit, along with emotional and physical development while riding scooter, playing outdoors etc.
- STEM: This motivates them to understand the basics of science, technology,engineering and mathematics, thus stimulating their logical headspace for future careers.
Also read: https://rforrabbit.com/blogs/articles/discover-the-ultimate-benefits-of-kids-scooter
Conclusion
Children have a heightened sense of learning and adaptability skills, which should be exploited in their younger years so as to prepare them for their future generations.
Playtime is not just a time to play but also a time to incorporate priceless skills that build the foundation of a child’s personality. The more attention the care-givers give towards the holistic development of their children, the higher is the probability of their success in life.
Also, R for Rabbit offers an exclusive range of toys and gear that could help your child learn and groom their skills, along with a safe and reliable fun time. So, if you wish to purchase anything for your child’s active development, do remember to checkout this website.
Lastly, do not forget that toys are a way to open the gates to your infants’ future, so make sure you give them a good one.
