Toddlers like to learn actively. They are little explorers and mainly develop new skills through play, following their own unique interests and keeping their own pace. In that way, the toys you choose to give your child at this age can play an important role in shaping his development in the years to come. For a first-time shopper, buying toys for toddlers may seem like an easy thing.
However, by now you probably already know that this is not the case. Walking into a toy store today leaves you overwhelmed and crippled with choice. There is an incredible variety of toys on the market for kids of all ages, so how can you choose the right one?
Look for versatile toys
Toddlers don’t exactly follow instructions very well, and they like to play with toys in their own way. Sometimes that means using a toy in a way that the creator never meant for it to be used.
Therefore it is a very good plan to choose toys that aren’t very restrictive in terms of how they need to be used, ones that are more ‘open-ended’, if you will. This means that your kid can play a variety of different games, or have his own ‘style’ of using a particular toy. Building blocks are a great example of this type of toy.
Choose something that your kid can grow with
One of the worst things that can happen when you get a new toy for your kid is for them to lose interest in it after a couple of days or even hours. Although you can manage to avoid that by paying close attention to the type of toy your kid likes, there’s something you can’t and should never want to avoid – your child is growing.
This is a bit of a problem, especially at this very young age, because they develop so quickly that it’s hard for toys to pick up. Try getting something that spans a wide age-range, and adapts to your kid’s growth, so that he can stay interested in it for years, rather than months.
Five year old boys are incredibly enthusiastic, imaginative, and energetic – they’re simply bursting with all these characteristics. That’s why they need toys to challenge them; otherwise, they get bored very quickly. Look for puzzles, learning toys and building toys to find something that will keep them curious, engaged, and busy.
