1. Mariam Ekizyan April 24, 2012
Toys That Help Kids Learn At Every Stage
Shopping for children’s toys isn’t always an easy task. There are so many things to consider. For
example, are they age appropriate and safe? Are they valuable learning tools?
Throughout the years, toys have always played an important role in each stage of a child’s life. Not only
should a toy provide fun, it should help to stimulate the senses. As an integral part of everyday play, a
toy should contribute to a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development.
In our previous blog post, we provided some tips on how to choose a toy based on your child’s interests,
interaction with others and skills. In this blog, we’ll focus on toys for children of different ages.
Infants & Toddlers
During the first years of life, babies explore the world through their senses. They try to touch and feel
everything with hands, feet or mouth. Gradually they recognize familiar faces and match them with
voices, utter their first words and balance their first steps. Bright colorful toys that have simple designs,
can be pulled, squeezed, poked, twisted and do not break are perfect for this age. For example, stuffed
animals and washable dolls with embroidered eyes allow babies to feel different textures. Toddlers also
enjoy playing with toys that contain pictures, small non-glass mirrors (where they can observe
themselves) and toys that make noise in response to their actions, such as pressing the button. Picture
books with sounds, musical toys, or toys that move stimulate children’s hearing and eye-sight. Stacking
ring cones and building blocks with animal images, numbers or letters encourage not only hand-eye
coordination but can also help a child to match sounds with images and serve as the first stage of
learning letters and numbers.
Preschoolers: Ages 3 – 5
At this stage, children are quite energetic, active and curious. They learn many new things including
social skills, simple counting, their vocabulary expands and they become more independent through
refined physical mobility. Kids start exploring their body image and self, develop sense of time and
space, use their imagination, engage in conversations, ask many questions, and react to different
situations. At this stage, parents have a wide range of toys to choose from for their children. Simple
puzzles and board games stimulate children’s problem-solving skills, teaches them to co-operate with
others and follow the rules.
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2. Mariam Ekizyan April 24, 2012
Large crayons, colorful play dough, and other art kits give children unlimited opportunities to create any
shape or object they can imagine. Building structures with the blocks, pulling wagons, moving trains or
trucks, riding tricycles or low rocking horses, and kicking large balls enhances kids’ physical strength and
improves motor skills. Kids also enjoy to be read to. Toys can also affect a child’s behavior. Dress-up
clothing and puppets allow kids to express themselves and act as different characters such as a queen,
an action figure or a bee. Playing with dolls, tea sets, and instrument kits can help build a child’s sense of
responsibility as they try to imitate their parents or siblings through role-play. For example, with Corolle
dolls little girls act as mom, big sister or babysitter learning to care and nurture “their baby”.
Ages 5 – 8
More attention to appearance, control of behavior, development of personal opinion, understanding of
inner feelings, and rational thinking are key achievements at this stage. Children take initiatives and
make guesses, create their own fantasy worlds, coordinate with others in time and space, realize that
there are differences between people, their feelings and appearances. They usually engage more in
staged learning, creative expressions, working with peers, and serious games through which they learn
about the real world while using their counting and language skills. Sewing materials, printing and
stamp sets, sketch pads, paints and colored pencils help kids to express their creativity and capture their
fantasy world and feelings. For example, Alex craft kits help children create their own accessories such
as purses, scarves, blankets etc. Other great toys that stimulate mind and develop cognitive skills are
jigsaw puzzles, construction sets, board games, magnets, simple calculators and building toys. Playmobil
and Lego sets give children infinite possibilities to create and manage their fantasy worlds and come up
with different creative solutions. By using simple magnetic shapes such as Magformers, kids can build
complex structures such as space ships, machines, animals and much more.
Ages 9 – 12
During this stage, children are developing into preadolescents and experiencing physical, social and
mental changes. Small muscles of the body become stronger and kids enjoy using those muscles when
playing with things like musical instruments or small intricate building blocks. They start developing
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3. Mariam Ekizyan April 24, 2012
hobbies, make new friendships, join groups and create deeper bonds with family. Though they are still
willing to play, they understand the importance of self-discipline and focus their attention on academic
learning. Major changes occur in cognitive development. Thinking becomes more concrete and
analytical; imagination, creative expression, and potential for achievements grows. Children analyze
different behaviors, dig in to find the causes of the action or event, focus on performing versus making
things up, follow rules and envision their future. Skills such as negotiating, leadership and decision-
making improve as the child co-operates with their peers during school assignments or in groups.
Gender issues gradually arise and children feel conscious of their sexuality and their self image.
Many children enjoy playing rule-based games, such as trivia, card games, complex puzzles and board
games. Wise Alec and Professor Noggins are among the games that support school curriculum and
widen a child’s knowledge through questions and pictures. Arts and crafts materials and musical
instruments help children develop and pursue their hobbies while stimulating their imagination and
creative performance. For instance, children can conduct their own scientific experiments through 4M
Science kits. Mighty Mind toys stimulate decision making and creative thinking while children solve
puzzles and combine shapes to design different objects. Pathfinder wooden toys are a great challenge
for children and encourage them to explore the link between science, design and technology.
In this blog, we chose to focus on traditional toys versus their hi-tech counterparts. Non-electronic toys
encourage more imagination because they are not pre-programmed and therefore do not limit a child to
what they can do with that toy. Put a child and an electronic/video toy together and you will more than
likely notice that the child will become anti-social. Non-electronic toys on the other hand promote
social interaction with others. In many cases, non-electronic toys teach a kid many values such as
friendship and generosity. Such toys also encourage kids to get their bodies moving, which is really a
great thing with obesity fast becoming a problem among kids these days. If you want the best deal for
your money, non-traditional or non-electronic toys are a sure winner. As you may have experienced
yourself, electronic toys do not last long; they get broken easily, and even if they don’t get broken,
they’re only good for a period of time as a child eventually gets bored of repeating the same actions
over and over again.
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