The best toys I’ve ever purchased have been the ones which encourage positive growth in children, both mentally and physically, and to get it right you have to be choosy. Random or impulsive toy buying is never a good idea. Remember, also, that it’s worth buying toys which have the potential to be used over and over again and which are not a “one-time-craze” (I remember the most successful toys in our house were passed from me to my brothers and my sisters, getting several decades of use!).

Choosing A Toy

OK, so what should you be thinking about when buying a toy? First and foremost, try not to go overboard with educational children’s toys. We all want to encourage our child’s learning and development, but the aim is also that they have fun! Let’s not forget that bit. I know I’ve occasionally overdone it with the “clever” children’s toys, and all it has served to do was frustrate the child or overwhelm them. So here’s a checklist to help you get it right:

1. It’s always wise to look through your child’s toy box and check out what’s missing so that you can fill in the gaps.
2. Choose educational toys that will attract and keep your child’s interest.
3. If they show an interest in a particular hobby or subject, encourage it and develop their interest that way.
4. Stay away from complicated toys and games which are above your child’s intellectual level as they will only detract from the whole purpose of the toy.
5. Where possible, let the child get involved (to some degree) in choosing the toy. If your child chooses the toy, they will play with it more and get much more from it.

A final point here. Kids love making things themselves, so you don’t always need to buy expensive educational toys. Sometimes the simplest things can help a child learn and with your help the children can make educational toys or games with very little cost. In later articles I will write more on toys that you and your child can make together (be patient with me, I can’t write everything at once!).

Classic Toys

Think about this: there’s a very good reason why some classic children’s toys have stood the test of time and seen other more faddy children’s toys fall by the wayside. The most enduring traditional toys usually have a wide appeal – some appeal to parents just as much as their offspring (like dolls, scalextric or train sets) – as well as letting children take the initiative in how they play with them, giving them plenty of scope to do their own thing. Classic toys usually become classics because they give children a chance to explore, experiment, learn, and have fun at the same time.

The Golden Oldies

The old classic children’s toys are great for stimulating child development and creative tendencies. Young children can start with the basic sets that don’t come with any complicated extras and work their way up. Other great basic educational toys include art and craft sets, construction kits and science kits. These educational toys tap into the part of a child’s mind that connects with an activity and sees completing it as a challenge! Golden Oldies include:

• Lego
• Playdoh
• Jigsaw puzzles
• Word puzzles
• The Rubik’s Cube
• Boggle
• Scrabble
• Pictionary
• Connect Four
• Operation
• Monopoly
• Yahtzee

When you look at the common denominators between these toys we see that they share a set of common traits. For example, they may need more than one player which helps children with socialising and sharing skills. They also encourage logical thinking. Or they are toys that require the child to engage their imagination when they play. Understanding what makes a toy worthwhile will help you when you are next assessing what to buy.

Outdoor Toys

Toys which encourage safe outdoor play are almost always good buys. Stick to basic toys instead of going in for toys with lots of added features, which most of the time do not have much added value. Examples of good outdoor toys include:

• Balls (and racquets or bats)
• Bikes
• Swings
• Slides
• Climbers
• Trampolines
• Playhouses
• Roller Skates
• Scooters
• Skateboards

Let’s Ask The Kids

We asked some children about their favourite toys, and what makes them so special… it makes for interesting reading!

Jamie, Aged 7

Jamie says, “One of my favourites is Littlest Pet Shop “. These are collectable figures made from plastic that can be used to play various games. “I like sorting them into boxes and using stickers and paints to decorate the box”, says Jamie. “I also love trading them with my friends so that I can get all the ones I’ve not seen before. When I am playing with them I normally put them into lines of the same colour or animal then they can play together without getting hurt – I love the way they look.”

“I also love my teddy and dolls because they are really cool. They are one of my favourite toys to play with because you can make a cubby (home) for them using stuff you’ve got at home – boxes, blankets, Lego and stuff like that – sometimes you can make the cubby in the garden and they love that. You can also pretend that you are having a party and make mud cakes!”

“I love my Scooter too because it is pink and that makes it go faster. I can also make it go wherever I want and do tricks on it and it, but sometimes you can fall off or bash your ankles and that hurts, but I don’t cry.”

Tony, Aged 10

Tony has a great imagination and says he “loves old toys, like the old action men, but they are collectors’ items and are really expensive, but you can buy them on eBay and then they are cheaper.” He also says he is “a big fan of lego because you build anything you want and if it’s too hard to make something you can use the instructions and build spaceships and helicopters and buggies and sometimes they have detachable parts which is so cool!”

“I have come up with an idea for my ideal toy, which has loads of detachable parts and it has a story like transformers so you can buy the book and read about the characters. But I can’t make it just now as I’m only 10 and they don’t let 10 year olds work in Australia, but when I’m 16 I can go on Dragons Den and they will help me to make it.”

“I also love my Xbox because you can play loads of games on it and you can play online and talk to people in different countries, but sometime you can’t understand them because they speak in a different language or too quickly. That doesn’t matter though, because you both know how to play the game.”

Lisa, Aged 12

Lisa likes to a challenge! She says, “I love board games especially the ones which are based on quizzes. I want to have fun and use my brain at the same time. I am influenced by TV toy adverts, but when I walk into a store I notice the most colourful toys first.”

“I also like games like Operation because they have lots of bits to them. I would like a board game toy that has different parts to it. For example, it might have props that you have to do things with. It would be something to do with being active, as well as a brain teaser.”

(To me, Lisa’s “board game toy” sounds something like Cranium, which I’ve always enjoyed playing.)

So what have we learnt here? That learning is part and parcel of childhood. Lots of toys are described as educational toys, and in all honesty, most toys don’t have to be labelled as ‘educational’ for kids to learn something new from them. If you want to help develop a specific aspect of your children’s learning, there are plenty of specific toys you can buy – or make – that will fulfil that need. As a parent, we need to bring toys and games to our kids which are fun, but that also teaches or develops them in some way. If we do this well, our children will have so much fun that they won’t even know they’re being taught!