Choosing The Best Toys
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The best toys for kids are ones that will encourage their creativity.
We cover toys about once every couple of weeks on this site. There are other sites and videos out there that cover toys every single day. If you want to find a review about a toy you’re interested in, or if you’re looking for new toy ideas for your kids, then you should really have no trouble finding one.
When buying toys for your kids you should have two primary goals, and they should complement each other. You want to find a toy that your child will like and that will encourage them to be creative in their play. No need to worry though as fulfilling these two goals together is usually pretty easy to accomplish.
The first goal is pretty clear. You want a toy that your child will play with. It’s very likely that your child has plenty of toys already that they don’t play with. Adding another toy to that pile doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Just because a child doesn’t play with a toy any longer doesn’t mean it was a bad toy, it’s simply possible that they’ve outgrown it or played too much with it (they overexposed themselves to it). When looking for new toys for your child, it’s important to know what they enjoy so you can choose the best toy.
Equally important in searching for toys is finding a toy that will encourage your child to be creative. The more open-ended a toy is, the more likely they will be creative with it. Most toys will encourage creative play, so you’re generally alright with most toys. Some toys are better at allowing kids to be creative than other toys.
For example, LEGO are one toy that really allow for your child to be creative and build out and design what they want. We’ve discussed LEGO in the past, and why they’re such an excellent toy. They are very open ended in nature, and really allow your child to put them together how they want. Buying a LEGO kit that has a pre-designed endpoint still allows your child to either follow the instructions or not.
Most open-ended toys are excellent for encouraging children to play creatively. Magnet tiles are another great toy, and especially work well for younger children. Blocks are also an excellent choice as well. Musical toys encourage kids to start to make different sounds, and get an understanding of music. They may try to mimic that sound, or they may simply try to follow the beat.
Most standard toys will encourage your child's creativity: dolls, action figures, cars, and trains. Kids can dream up some pretty wild scenarios with all of these toys and more. If you don’t often watch your kids play, I’d encourage you to sit back and do so for a bit so that you can see what they come up with.
As kids grow up, they generally start to lose some of their creative expression. Encourage them to keep being creative for as long as you can, and buy toys that will help to encourage them as well.
