What makes a good toy?

What do you think makes a good toy?  Over the years, the toy industry has advanced and choosing a toy for your child may leave you with many questions about which toys are suitable and when to introduce various types of toys to your child.  When choosing a toy for your child, there are lots of things to consider other than just whether or not your child will like a specific toy.  When choosing a toy for your child it is important to consider things such as:

-Is the toy safe?  Does the toy meet the safety standards in the field?
-Is the toy age appropriate?
-Will the toy stimulate your child's mind?
-Will the toy help your child to meet various milestones?
-Will the toy teach your child new ways to play and enhance skills they have already learned?
-And finally, is the toy one that your child will enjoy?; In other words, will they want to engage with the toy time and time again?

Today, toys are not just for fun.  Although, toys are fun, there is so much more that they can be!  Toys today often utilize research to ensure that the toys that you choose for your child will help them expand their horizons, learn, and meet new milestones.

As many of you probably already know, Fisher-Price's tag line is Play, Laugh, Grow.  When breaking their tag line down and looking closer at the GROW aspect, it is not surprising that Fisher-Price has a special child research department lead by director Dr. Kathleen Alfano Dr. Kathleen Alfano, who is an expert in early childhood development (holding a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degree in elementary education).

Fisher-Price's research centre is recognized as one of the best in the country.  The centre ensures that the toys that your child plays with are backed by the latest research on how children play and what helps them meet milestones throughout all the stages.

In a recent discussion between some of the Play Panel Moms and Dr. Alfano, Dr. Alfano outlined the four stages of development that children experience: Physical, Cognitive, Communicative, and Social/Emotional.  Dr. Alfano explained that each area of development is important, which is why when Fisher-Price looks at developing a new toy, they take each developmental area into account.  Dr. Alfano discussed that physical development occurs through childhood, however it is most vital that you provide your child with toys and activities that will encourage physical development around the age of one-and-a-half to two years.  All of the other areas of development can be encouraged by the toys that you offer your child, but you also play a vital role; this is particularly important in the area of communicative and social/emotional development.  Cognitive development also can be encouraged through interactions with your child.  For example, doing things such as singing the ABCs and teaching your child how to do different tasks by providing them with directions (for example, sit/eat/bed), can aid in their cognitive development.

Right now, while my daughter is not quite old enough to interactively play with toys, we do try to encourage her healthy growth and development by altering her environment to help her learn.  For example, when Lyla is awake and alert and not quite ready for a nap, we can place her in her Fisher-Price My Little Lamb Cradle n' Swing (read my review here).  One feature that the swing has that is great for development is the mobile; the mobile that the swing features is great for helping her learn to track objects and focus.

Here is Lyla enjoying the relaxing movements and sounds of the Fisher-Price My Little Lamb Cradle n' Swing while getting her daily sun time (she had a bit of jaundice a few days after she was born).  Besides allowing her to reap the benefits of Vitamin D, it just so happened to put her asleep.

In the next year, we will slowly be introducing toys that are age appropriate and that will help Lyla meet her milestones.  We already have several items in her toy box that will help her to learn how to problem solve such as a Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack and a sorting shape box from Walt Disney World that we received as a gift.  We also have items that will allow her to learn about rhythm, sound, and movement, such as music CDs, which will encourage her to move and dance, and toys that have sound effects.

So next time you walk through the toy department, try and consider what aspects the toy you are choosing has and how it will benefit your child.  If you don't have children yet, these suggestions can be taken into account next time you are shopping for a gift for that special little one in your life.  Before having children, I always enjoyed searching for new and interesting developmental toys and as my own child grows, this is something that I will continue to look forward to.


Disclosure: I’m part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

  

The Power of Play

Although, my husband and I are anticipating the arrival of our little one,  I have had many opportunities to see how the Power of Play helps development.  My educational background is centered around development through the lifespan (including childhood) and the dynamics of family but I have been working with children for as long as I can remember.  My studies have taught me that diverse play is important for helping children learn about the world around them and meet important developmental milestones.

One thing I recently learned is that Fisher-Price takes the science behind play into account whenever creating new products, whatever the age or stage.  Dr. Weber is the Senior Manager for the Fisher-Price Research Department and holds a Bachelor's, Master's and a Doctorate degree in Early Childhood Development and Elementary Education.  Plus, she has two children of her own.  I never realized before joining the Fisher-Price Play Panel that Fisher-Price has an actual research department responsible for ensuring that the items they create help children to reach important milestones.  My education, experience with research (a previous research assistant), and applying research to real life situations (through my current work) gives me greater appreciation for this work that Fisher-Price does.  I am happy to see a company using research to back up the products that they create!

Fisher-Price has launched a new campaign for 2011 - The Milestone Moments Campaign.  Fisher-Price realizes there are milestones that children need to reach at each stage of development; Fisher-Price has committed themselves to creating products that help children meet these milestones.  They are dedicated to showing parents how to help their children meet these milestones through the creation of seven product categories: Soothe, Sense, Move, Discover, Socialize, Learn, Create, and Imagine.

You can help your child thrive in their development by looking at these seven areas.  For example,

Learn: Offer your children a variety of toys and play along with them to show how aspects of each toy work.  Do some of the toys your children have include lights, colours, shapes, or sounds?  Help them explore those features!  I have worked in a couple of different day cares in the past and we always made it routine to offer a variety of new and old toys on a rotating basis to help encourage the childrens' development!

Create: Offer your child toys that allow them to use their imagination and participate in make-belief play!  There are a wide range of toys on the market that allow your child to use their mind to change the world around them.  For example, offer your child blocks to play with.  At first, they will likely start by stacking one block on top of the other, but before you know it, they will be building more complex structures like walls, houses, and more!  It will be a joy watching your child hit those developmental milestones through creative and imaginative play!

There are so many milestones that your child goes through, from conception throughout life.  Currently, I'm enjoying the experience of our baby reaching milestones within my womb.  I am trying to treasure each of these moments since I know that time goes by far too fast - and it already has been!  But, when the time comes for our baby to enter the outside world, I'm looking forward to sharing all the many milestones that he or she accomplish throughout their life!

Disclosure: I’m part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.