How to choose the right toys for toddlers

There are so many things to prepare for when it comes to taking care of your little one. Especially if you’re a new parent, there is a possibility that you get lost among all the things that you need to buy and prepare for your baby. There’s feeding, baby care, making sure they’re comfortable at all times. But there’s also toy shopping.

Although some people may consider toys as simply a source of fun, they’re so much more. Toddler toys are incredibly important as they play a vital part in the development of your child. Toys for infants and toddlers can help them acquire new skills, explore the world, and understand basic concepts about how things work in life. As such, they’re a priority in your shopping list for your toddler. 

In this article, we’ll share some tips on finding the right toys for toddlers. We’ll look at some popular toddler developmental toys and explore some of the best developmental toys for toddlers. We’ll also help you discover a few age-appropriate activities for toddlers that you can share together using their amazing toys. 

Tips for selecting the right toys for toddlers 

When you go toy shopping you may be tempted to buy the first thing that you find cute and playful. However, that would be a mistake. Here are some of our suggestions for what makes a good toddler toy and tips for how to find the best toys for child development.

Multipurpose toddler toys

One of the toddlers’ favourite activities is taking apart toys and other products they get their hands on and putting them back together. They love to explore what things are made of and you’ll notice that they’ll pull on the toy, try to fit different pieces together, and build it up back again or create a new combination altogether. To make this process easier and flexible, select toys that allow your little one to play in different ways with them and create different games. 

Wooden blocks are a perfect example or perhaps plastic ones that are made for interlocking. Such toddler toys are a great way to give rise to your child’s creativity and imagination. They are also helpful in developing problem-solving skills and logical thinking – all assets that are essential in life. 

Age-appropriate toddler toys for different phases of development

Oftentimes, kids get bored with their toys. There’s a good explanation why. Once they’ve experienced everything they can with the toy and they’ve “solved the puzzle”, the mission has been accomplished and the little one won’t show much interest in that toy again. You can avoid this by choosing children toys that are designed to be fun and intriguing at different stages of development. 

These are often multi-purposed toys that don’t have one single purpose. For example, these could be small animals, small race cars or a race tracks set. There are so many things a child could think of in terms of playing. They could set up a farm, use the animals to create a story, put them in different settings, create dialogues between them. As for the race car, they could create a DIY car ramp at home to play with or race with friends. Other great examples are dollhouses, trains, trucks, and others. 

Find toddler toys that can teach how to solve problems 

Problem-solving is a vital skill that plays an important role in our lives. It’s the skill that can help us get through school successfully, develop in the desired professional area, be good at hobbies or sports, even make friends. It’s a skill that we develop at an early age, without even realizing it. And it happens through play.

Certain toys are created to inspire kids to identify a problem and create a solution all by themselves, without any help from parents or other adults. They are perfect for working on their logical abilities and can help toddlers turn into consistent and curious problem-solvers. Furthermore, they are a great way of showing little ones how things work and the concept of cause and effect. Not to mention the other benefits like hand-eye coordination, the development of fine-motor skills, and more. 

If you’re looking to achieve all of these with your child, it’s best to search for puzzles, shape-sorters, blocks, clay-based toys, painting sets, play-dough, and other similar toys.

Unlock your little one’s imagination

Creativity is often an underestimated skill. It’s what drives the world forward and what helps us create new products, ideas, concepts, and services that make humanity better. Creative thinking also starts early on, during childhood. To be exact, when a child turns 3, this is when creativity really takes a turn. This is when kids start entering different roles and pretending to be someone else or imagining something that isn’t really realistic. This is where fantasies start developing as a result of story-reading. 

Apart from reading stories to your toddlers, there are also certain toys that can help them with creative development. Those include dress-up clothing, stuffed animals, dolls, trains, trucks, or cars, toy food or kitchen sets, action figures, pirate ships, and so much more. What you’re looking for is anything that can trigger your little one to be creative and create a story or get into a different role. This is also a great way to practice story-telling together and learn how to create a story.

Don’t forget about realistic toys 

When we’re kids, all we want to do is grow up. Adult life looks so tempting and intriguing, we can’t wait to be given responsibility and show our parents that we are old enough to be independent. One of the best ways to help your child learn how real things work, like the appliances that we use on a daily basis, is to provide them with toys that look like the real stuff that we frequently use. For example, a kids’ toy phone, plastic dishes and food sets, toy keys, musical instruments, toy cleaning materials, and more. 

Playing with such toddler toys will help your little one learn what responsibility feels like and will help them truly understand how these products work. For example, using toy keys is a perfect example of how you can teach your child to be organized and not forget their belongings. You can create a game where they have to keep their keys with them at all times. You’re probably wishing you practised this more as a child if you’re the type of person who often loses their keys. 

Toddler toys that will inspire your kids to learn how to read 

Toddlers may not be ready to read on their own but they are certainly willing to learn if you approach them the right way. Remember, before school starts, reading and learning is not a  responsibility and this is the perfect time for you to truly inspire them to have a desire to learn rather than do it out of obligation. 

You can use children’s books, magnetic alphabet letters, crayons, painting sets, coloured pencils, and other materials and tactics to start developing early writing skills. You can also use take-out menus, product catalogues, magazines, and any other visually appealing things that your little one are likely to show interest in. Spending time playing with these items will help them become familiar with different letters, text, and will likely encourage them to try and copy the letters, leading to writing skills in the future. 

Choose toddler toys for active children

Apart from working on developing certain skills like reading, writing, problem-solving, and others, toys can also encourage kids to be active and get involved in physical activity. They can help them become familiar with their bodies and confident in their abilities – especially when they have a supportive audience who is there to acknowledge their achievements. 

Some of the toys that could help with this are different balls, tricycles, scooters, a kids’ bowling set, a children’s basketball hoop, pull-toys and push-toys, gardening tools for kids, and more. The idea is to help your little one get inspired about moving from place to place and performing a certain activity. 

Choose the right toddler toys for boys and girls 

Most toys for children are suitable for both boys and girls, After all, even race cars could be extremely interesting for girls too! Every toy has a unique lesson or skill to teach and it’s best to allow your little one to explore the full options available, regardless of their gender. We hope that our tips for finding the right toys for toddlers will make the buying process much easier and will guarantee you’ve made the right choices. 

Remember to have fun together with your little one and supervise them at all times while playing with toddler toys.