Buying the Right Toys for Babies
In the first few months, you baby still has fuzzy vision. They will typically respond only on what they can hear and what they can grasp. This is the basis on knowing the right toys to buy for your children. For those that don’t know what to give to their kids, here are some toys that you can buy for babies.
First, a good and reliable MP3 player is a good choice. With the MP3 player, you can play classical music for your babies. There are many who say that classical music is good for babies. You can also play music for different times of the day. Soft music can be played when the baby is asleep while classic nursery rhymes can be played when the baby is already awake.
Handheld toys are also good choices for babies. They would recognize the toys that they can feel with their hands and the ones that are along their line of sight. When you give them these toys, they’ll eventually recognize some of the toys and might even choose something they like. You will notice this when the baby will cry if their preferred toy is not what they are holding.
Babies will also get fascinated when they see their reflection. So that they will be safe and be fascinated at the same time, you can give them an unbreakable mirror. You have to choose the unbreakable type so that the baby won’t accidentally hurt herself when playing and smiling at her own reflection.
Buying Age-Appropriate Toys for Babies
Toys might be viewed as a source of entertainment for kids, but for babies and younger tots, it takes more than just that. It is also a crucial tool that will aid in their development and the acquisition of new skills or learning. Hence, buying toys that are appropriate for your child’s age is vital in facilitating in that development process.
Check out the guidelines below to find the right toy to buy, depending on what your baby’s age might be:
0-3 Months: At this stage of their growth, kids spend most of their time sleeping and eating. Experts believe they sleep at an average of 20 hours per day! Thus, it is important to pick toys that will maximize of the time they spend awake to encourage healthy development. The ideal toy for this age range would be anything that they can play close range. They cannot see anything beyond 8 inches from their face. Small toys that they can hold or play along with you is highly recommended. Plus, it builds instant bond between the two of you.
3-6 Months: At this stage, babies use not just their hands for playing, but also their mouth. You will notice that they will begin to grasp at you or uncurl their fist. Choose toys that tickle them or anything that produces movement or encourage movement. This will help them to explore more of their surroundings as they discover there is more to it than what it seems.
6-9 Months: Babies at this age usually learn how to crawl. Hence, you can give them a wide range of toys including bath objects, balls, or toys on wheels. These toys will incite their curiosity and also encourage them to use their motor skills.
9-12 Months: Babies about 9-12 months have more options for toys to play with. Anything with music or that requires them to push buttons are a good idea. They also enjoy toys that respond such as those that produce music when they touch. Just make sure that you look after them as they tend to expand their boundaries as far as play is concerned.
Follow these guidelines to make buying toys easier for babies and to ensure that they can get the most out of it.
Foot-to-floor Ride-on Toys For 1-Year Olds
Twelve months old babies may not completely understand what you say, but most of the time, they have a good hint what you mean, and they respond accordingly. Hey mimic other people’s actions, such as talking to the phone, playing with your stuff, etc, and they like seeing other kids, but most of the time, they don’t like playing with them. Above all, they surely know how to melt your heart by showing their affection through smiles, hugs and kisses.
Now what toy exactly you can give to your 1-year old baby?
Foot-to-floor Ride-on Toys
At first, you may need to help them understand the toy and what to do with it by putting them into the ride position. Eventually, kids will be able to get by on their own. Of course, you should always be nearby for your child’s first experience.
Clear the path, especially behind the toys, most kids tend to push backward before moving forward. Also, make sure you prepare the route for your child to follow. Follow your child as he/she play by staying a few feet in front and encourage your child to move forward by saying things like “come this way” cheerfully. Then, move a few feet further and so on.
Teach your child the concept of “stop” and “go” and directions through using simple words, like go, stop, get off, get on, go forward, go left, go right, etc. You can also use hand signals to make it easier for your child to understand what you want him/her to do.
Floor-to-floor ride-on toys are great toys to spend quality time with your child, get your child one and start making learning fun.
Reasons to Give Your Children Educational Toys
Most of the children today are preoccupied with computer games. With tables and smartphones getting popular, they are now into smartphone apps. While these games may not be bad at all as there are games that are also mentally stimulating, kids spend most of their time in playing these apps. This may not be good to his emotional and social development, which is why it is still best to give children educational toys. Here are the reasons why:
Educational toys are brain stimulating. Toys can help in the child’s mental development. Studies have shown that when the brain is stimulated at an early age, the child can easily acquire new knowledge and at the same time retain what they learned. You can’t force young children to study at a young age but you can let them play educational toys to stimulate their brain.
Kids usually love to draw even at a young age. Parents can subject them to formal art training at a young age but when they can’t afford, they can just give the kids a drawing book and coloring pen. They will draw a lot of things which may not be recognizable at first but later on, they can become experts in creating works of art.
Instead of buying smartphones and tablets for your children, invest in educational toys instead. They can have a good time playing with these toys at the same time these can help them in the future as they develop their creativity and mental capability.
3 Basic Ways To Educate Children With Their Toys
Walking through toy stores can be daunting for first-time parents, as obviously, you want your kids to have fun playing, but you also want more from their toys than just stuff for their entertainment. As parents, we definitely want our children to learn about the world they live in every way they can. Educational toys are great for this purpose, as these stuff entertain kids and teach them at the same time.
For first time parents out there not sure of what to buy from toy stores, here are some old-fashioned toys to feed your heart joy and mind.
Learning Books
For parents with kids at schooling age, or in preparatory level, books are essential items in the house. Certainly, no house can have enough books. Investing on learning books will make your house a representation of learning and knowledge about the outside world for your child. Thus, make sure you have a good selection of good books, be it fiction or non-fiction. Fill your home bookshelves with book on arts, science, and history. Educational books will teach your kids the importance of study habits and reading as well.
Building Blocks and Legos
Most kids would love to play building blocks for hours through building buildings, bridges, cities, various creatures, towers and even a community or city using legos. The more blocks, the better, as kids will really work on their imagination and small-motor skills on playing lego.
Art Supplies
To prepare your kids for schooling and even spark their imagination and creativity at such young age, hand them a piece of paper, pencils, and crayons, and let them draw random things they can think of, such as animals, dinosaurs, mountains, etc. Of course, you need to guide your kids when they play pointed objects like pencils.
Keeping Kids Busy Indoors With Wooden Puzzles From Monkey Bean Toys
Aside from giving your kids the classic children’s stuffed toys, racecar toys, blankets with cartoon characters, wooden learning boxes, and more, you can also give them some colorful and fun toys that will work their mind as they play, such as dazzling wooden puzzles. For instance, consider animal wooden puzzles with detachable parts your kids can construct and play with. Wooden frog puzzles toys are also very interesting, it shows the developmental stages of the life of a frog, from egg, tadpole, young frog, to mature frog, and watch them get mesmerized by the transformation.
Another good wooden puzzle you can give is the discovery theme puzzle, such as the mini butterfly discovery puzzle. Unlike some toys available in the market, which features peel off labels and easily damages the toy, this type of wooden puzzle can keep its wings for a long time. Little kids will find themselves challenged in piecing together the parts of the butterfly’s body and discovering its secrets. The best part about this puzzle toy is its small and portable (about 6in by 4in by 5in in dimensions), and anyone 18 months and above can play with it.
For wooden puzzles with more interactivity, try the classic hide-and-seek puzzle. This toy is great for teachings kids farm words and sounds while introducing them to spatial relationship skills. This is great for slightly older crowd (2 and up).
For ages 3 and up, consider the 10-triangle puzzle. It’s a great wooden puzzle that teaches your kids from a young age about geometry, hand-to-eye coordination, and builds spatial-relationship skills.
The Importance Of Giving Your Child Educational Toys
Though there are lots of benefits, educational toys are essential for children for one single thing – cognitive skills development. Parents would definitely have easier time if they could just accept the fact that kids love, and will always, spend most of their childhood time, playing with toys. In the past decade, more and more parents seem to understand this and accept it more, which is mainly the reason why they’re now choosing all sorts of educational toys for their kids.
Letting your child play with educational toys is one of the best ways to help them establish contact with the world they live in. Toys stimulate child’s senses, from sight, hearing to touch.
The Rule of Thumb
A rule of thumb in buying educational toys is to keep in touch you’re your child’s interest. Educational toys are great, there’s no question with that. However, what good would it bring if the child doesn’t want to pick it up and play with it? This is why parents should always consider their child’s interest when shopping for educational toys. Though all baby toys have the potential to be educational, not all would be interesting for your kids. This is why parents should first understand their kids’ interests.
How to know if a toy is appealing for the child? Simple, put the toy near your kid’s sight and see if your kid walks (or crawls) to the toy’s direction to grab and play with it.
Parting Tips
Whether it’s an educational toy for boys, or girls, you should never look past through your child’s enjoyment. Learning and enjoyment should come hand in hand.
Also, don’t overwhelm your child with tons of educational toys. Introduce your child to one educational toy at a time.
5 Educational Toys To Feed Your Child’s Creativity
Art Supplies
Hand your kids some pencils, colored pencils, crayons, scissors, and some glue and let your child run his or her imagination to come up with random things. Give your child the encouragement and you will be surprised on what he or she can do. Of course, guide them as they use sharp and pointed objects.
Blocks and Legos
Most kids, if not all kids, love to play with building block toys, especially legos. Building block toys are very educational toys, they allow your child to be more creative and patient as well as working your child’s small-motor skills. Let your child build buildings, towers, bridges, creatures, and even cities with blocks and legos.
Puppets
Get your kids some animal puppets or make your own puppets using socks, paper bogs, cloth, felt or popsicle sticks. Build a small stage for the presentation, tell stories and take turns with your kids. Making your kids tell stories is a great way to develop their imagination, communication skills, and social skills.
In the Kitchen
Kids, especially girls, love to play kitchen. Whether it’s getting to play with real food or mixing clays, kids love to pretend they’re in the kitchen, cooking. Give your kids safe kitchen utensils and kitchen toys as they play in the bathtub. They will have a good time mixing and pouring water and scooping bubbles there.
For a more fun alternative, you can use puffed cereal and some plastic bowls and utensils on the floor to let your children play. Of course, you have to vacuum afterwards to clean the floor and get rid of the mess.
Top 5 Toys For 3 Year Old Boys
Rather than depending too much on manufacturer supplied age recommendations, it is indeed, way better to know exactly what boys at the age of 3 really love to play with. Boys at 3 love toys that will let them play with other kids – toys for group playing. The following is a list of 5 of the most preferred toys of boys around 3 years of age. Hope you can find the best gift!
Sneak in the Learning Combo Pack
Help your kids learn as they play, they’ll love you for it! This toy incorporates fun with brain power-building time as it includes three learning favorites that catch the attention of three year olds. This toy set includes the Dado Cubes, the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel and the Upper Case A-Z Magnatab.
Stomp Rocket Junior
This toy is very easy to use and set-up, even small kids can help. Kids can set up the rocket, jump, stomp, and even launch the rocket on their own. Kids will easily love this toy set, as they will be grinning ear to ear on the distance they made the rocket fly. Kids can play this toy both indoor and outdoors. The set includes 4 safe, a launch pad, foam rockets, hose, and stand.
Pirate Pals Combo Pack
Take the pirate fun from the sea to your home with this toy set. It comes with a darling learn-to-dress Pirate doll and a pirate ship that is fully outfitted – the fun is on deck! The package includes; dress up friends pirate, and parents ahoy Matey bath time ship.
Wooden Blocks are Good for Kids
Many children these days are into computer games. Gone are the days when you will see many children playing in the park or having fun in the playground. Most kids nowadays stay home and are glued into computer screens, television and all other sorts of gadgets. There may be games and puzzles that children can play when they have the technology but it is still different when they used toys. Children should play toys not computers. They should enjoy childhood and their minds should just be limited to what the can do. Although it is good to encourage children to learn fast so they can grow up to be the best, they have the right to choose what can make them happy and enjoy their childhood. Wooden
blocks are one example of toy that is good to give kids.
To some parents it can be boring or it can be simple. But no one knows what a child can do to the wooden blocks. It can actually stimulate a child to think of what they want to do with it. To an adult it is a very simple toy because of course, one’s mind is far to advance to know how to play or use it exactly. But to a child’s mind it is something different. The imagination of a child can be seen on how they will use the toy. It can stimulate a kid to think out of the box on what he or she can do on a simple wooden toy. Parents can be surprised on what they will find out about their kids.

