Best Toys for Kids
Play is the work of childhood and toys are an important tool for playing. Kids have much shorter attention spans than adults, so they get bored easily. You don’t need to own every toy in the market, you just have to own the right toys for your kids to enjoy playing while learning. In this article, we will be sharing about a simple toy guide-” best toys for kids” to help you choose the right toys for your child.
There are two toy categories–the first one is the “close-ended toys” and the second one is the “open-ended toys”. What’s the difference between the two? In order to make the most out of playtime, we need both kinds of toys at home.
Best Toys for Kids – Close-ended toys
For this type of toys, there is a specific purpose and way to use them. They’re repetitive and offers a specific outcome. These are some of the earliest structured learning toys a kid will encounter.
Benefits of close-ended toys:
- Gives your child a sense of familiarity
Close-ended toys provide clear purpose to each material which helps them acknowledge and identify many things as they grow up.
- Promotes mastery
Close-ended toys offer repetitive ways and responses which helps kids memorize techniques, steps, and patterns to master the game.
- Teaches kids to follow rules and directions.
Since close-ended toys only have specific ways on how to play them, it teaches kids the importance of following rules and directions. Close-ended toys cannot be completed properly unless these specific rules or directions are followed. This fosters self-correction as well since kids become observant.
Since there is already a sense of mastery, they will learn, on their own, how to spot a loophole or indicate when something is not right.
- Hone specific skills.
Each toy aims to teach or hone a specific skill. By playing or mastering one game or toy at a time, our kids can really focus on one specific skill that they think they can be good at.
Type of close-ended toys
Most close-ended toys are battery-operated and sometimes, they come with lights, however they can also be:
- Puzzles
- Visual thinking game cards
- Mazes
- Shape sorters
Best Toys for Kids – Open-ended toys
On the other hand, open-ended toys are also called “free play”. These toys can be used in several ways. A block, for example, is an open-ended toy, and with the help of our child’s limitless imagination, they can use it as a car, a house, a building, and more! It gives our children plenty of ideas; these types of toys foster creativity, social skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills, fine motor skills, cognitive ability, self regulation, and more.
Benefits of open-ended toys:
- Fosters creativity and imagination.
As mentioned above, there are endless ways to play these toys. Kids can go with whatever they want that specific toy to be and they can make up stories, game, and ideas to go along with them. Possibilities are limitless.
- Provides a calm environment where kids are not afraid to make mistakes.
Since there are no specific rules or right sequences to be followed when playing these toys, our kids can relax their mind. Even as adults, fear is one of our great barriers to learning and exploring. Open-ended toys will give our kids full freedom to take risks and experiment. It also encourages our kids to be brave and to step out of their comfort zones.
- Create stories.
Role-playing (doctor, carpenter, driver, cashier, and more) is a great way for our kids to work through events and situations. The process of telling a story unleashes and hones our kids’ creativity and imagination. This will even give them a glimpse of what their future might look like! Remember when you’re young and you wanted to be a doctor or a nurse? It all starts here.
- Helps our kids develop social and emotional intelligence.
When our kids play with open-ended toys with others, they will learn to read social cues and adapt to different types of surroundings. They will learn how to socialize and respond appropriately to different scenarios as well. There will be no pressure since there are no rules which allows them to learn freely and explore lots of different aspects of things.
Other practical benefit of giving our child an open-ended toy is that they don’t get bored easily with them. They can hold a child’s attention for longer periods of time. You can cook dinner, wash the dishes, and do a bit of work, without your kid tugging your shirt of clinging onto your leg. Plus, they save us money, too, since we don’t have to buy plenty of toys since open-ended ones are for all ages!
Type of open-ended toys
So, what are the best open-ended toys for our kids to grow with, here are some examples:
A. Blocks and Stem:
- Wood Blocks
- Magnetic Tiles
- LEGOs
- Letter Blocks
- Cars
- Truck
- Trains
B. Arts and Craft:
- Kid-friendly Paints
- Stamps
- Markers
C. Sensory and Fine Motor Play:
- Playdoh Kit
- Kinetic Sand
- Sandbox
- Sand Toys
D. Role Playing Games:
- Kitchen Set
- Food Props
- Doctor Kit
- Vet Kit
- Construction Set
- Dolls
- Doll House
Close-ended toys and open-ended toys are often compared against another when they shouldn’t. Both types of toys are helpful and crucial to our kids’ development and growth.
Make sure you have these best toys to entertain your kids, and spend the time as well to play with them. Their playtime should have a healthy balance between the two because each type of toy serves a purpose and can teach them a lesson.
Leave a comment