Have you ever sat down with your child and really payed attention to what they are saying and doing while playing with their toys? Especially while playing in a group? The lessons are astounding! Try it someday, I guarantee you will be amazed by what your little one is learning, even with the simplest toys in their hands.
Toys should be introduced at a young age. However, you do not have to spend a fortune to give the children a strong learning foundation. Some basic toys can teach a large amount of habits and lessons; often ones that we do not even think twice about. There are many lessons that can be learned through playtime. Especially ones that are learned in a group environment, where there are interactions with several children. Group interaction often includes role play and a significant amount of imagination.
Consider the simple doll that you see clutched in a young one’s hands. In a childcare environment, this doll becomes a tool that teaches both girls and boys the lifelong lesson of love, commitment and compassion. This simple doll can also help the children learn how to build relationships, problem solve and teach them how to be better partners, siblings and/or parents.
During group play children will often work on confidence building, as well as problem solving, and relationship building. Pretty amazing for a game of House or Hide & Seek, right?
Now, imagine what type of lessons can be learned when you add in toys such as a play kitchen, some simple first aid items, musical instruments? You see children begin to form a plan, assign jobs, and teach each other and, most astonishingly, invent!
An amazing sight to see is how a child can take a normal ball, some musical instruments, a doll and turn them into a musical performance. One that you MUST watch and one that you MUST applauded and give great reviews. Add in stuffed animals, a chalk board and you now have a classroom. One that you may just find yourself attending!
Children must have toys to learn. They are the necessary tools that teach our kids the valuable lessons in life. We can show them by our actions, the way we would like them to act, however, without having the necessary items to interact with; they will not understand the “why” behind it all.
Children need to be shown, guided, and they need to be kept interested in the lessons; even if it’s something they want to do. Just think how bored you would be as an adult if you had to learn something major, without any physical object to cement that lesson. Would you retain it? Or think it was important? Similarly, our children’s mind will learn more if they can associate the lesson with an object that is important to them. Having a toy that they play with daily or that they play with in a group setting with their friends will make learning more fun, creating an environment that is easier to learn.
Toys and children go hand in hand. There is a reason you always see them together and more of a reason that there are so many “learning” toys. Although, you do not have to pay a fortune to have the most up to date ones. Little Einstein vs. Playskool is a discussion best left for the corporate heads, as it really is the child’s choice and what they want to play with on that particular day! Bells, whistles, beeps and bops. Does that make babies smart or will the soft baby rabbit that his Auntie gave him be more helpful? I suppose that depends on the child’s capacity for learning, or if the child is more apt to be bothered by the loud noises vs. soft and cuddly.
Eventually most toys will be a benefit to the children, regardless of their name brand, cost or content. Because eventually, every child is going to pull, push, bounce or grab what is meant to be on every toy. It is the very fact that they have learned to do it that matters. They have learned that, playing with that toy every day, there is a button/knob/zipper that makes noise, and they want to hear it! They have learned that the bunny is going to be soft when they hug it.
Learning skills through hands on playtime with toys; something we could not do without the correct tools. From infant through the late childhood years, they learn how to interact, react, and teach and much more from the toys. We, as adults, may think we are carefully planning our children’s playtime by purchasing just the perfect, new toy; however, they are going to learn the lessons necessary when they are ready. Those will come from their own imaginations and from any variety of toys.
Is there a perfect toy? As long as there are children learning, enjoying and building relationships, I would say that the perfect one is the one the child is learning the most from! So when you think that you are wasting your money on toys, think again. Your child is engaging in more learning than you probably thought possible from just a glance. Be thankful that you had the foresight to bring joy and education together for them, be ready to hear about what they did or how hard they played today.
Translation: they succeed today in learning through toys and playtime. Their day was successful, so was your parenting!
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For young children playtime is essential. I agree that toys should be introduced at a young age. Even simple toy’s like building blocks help develop a child’s creativity. A question for other parents out there: how do you limit the number of toys? I try to keep their toys to a minimum but they always seem to have too many. What are your suggestions?