The reason you should consider buying your kids toys from time to time ranges from the educational values to grooming their cognitive abilities.
Toys also help kids socialise better with their peers and siblings, and of course, keeps them busy when you have a long list of to-do to check off.
Take a sneak peek into our age-by-age guide for the best kind of toys to buy for your kids, for a more holistic effect:
Toys For Kids Of 0-12 Months Old
For the first three months, babies aren’t able to do much more than observe their surroundings.
Plus, because their vision is still blurry, the items they are most likely to see are bright, boldly patterned items.
The best toys for kids of this age bracket are those designed to promote interaction in a variety of ways—the ones that make a squeaking or crinkling noise, have a nubby texture, and are soft and cuddly.
Bear in mind that children, especially those of this age tend to mouth toys; therefore, ensure you get textured ones can help relieve teething pain.
The best toys for this category include:
- Rattles
- Unbreakable mirrors
- Activity boards
- Soft, washable, colorful stuffed animals or dolls with a smiling face
- Small stuffed fabric balls
- Musical and chime toys
The Best Toys For Kids Of 1-4 Years Old
Children are explorers. Around the second year of life, fueled by curiosity and wonder, toddlers reveal the physical skills that make it easy for them to play and learn.
An active toddler needs toys for physical play — walking, climbing, pushing, and riding — and ones that encourage experimentation.
Kids of this age are fascinated by cause and effect, which means that they will enjoy any toy that responds to his actions and makes use of newly acquired motor skills.
The best toys for kids of this age bracket will include:
- Push- or pull-toys that make noise or have pieces that pop up or move
- Stuffed animals
- Child version of simple, sturdy musical instruments like tambourines, drums, or maracas
- Basic shape sorters
- Puzzles with five or six pieces
- Rubber ducks or toy boats for bath time
- Large play vehicles, such as a school bus or an aero plane, plus plastic people that ride in them
- Balls (1-3/4 inches and larger)
- Push-pull toys
- Ride-on toys (feet-propelled)
- Wagons
- Backyard gym equipment (infant swing, small slide, small climbing apparatus)
- Nesting and stacking toys
- Simple shape sorters
- Pop-up toys
- Sandbox/sand toys
- Wading pool/water toys
- Stuffed animals
- Play household items (telephone, lawn-mower, workbench, shopping cart)
- Non-toxic art supplies (large crayons and coloring books, clay, finger paints)
The best toys for kids of 5-8 years old
There’s a rapid increase in learning ability at this age, and it’s a good time to introduce interactive educational toys that teach math and verbal skills, such as phonics boards or mini computers.
A child between the ages of 4-8 is now more purposeful; plus, they have the fine motor skills needed to complete a puzzle or build with blocks without help.
Also, kids are now able to imagine that they’re someone else and may fantasize about being airplane pilots, health workers, or entertainers.
You want to buy toys that align and complement their current developmental stage.
The best toys to get for kids of this age bracket include:
- Art supplies and craft kits
- Blocks of different shapes
- Electronic phonics toys
- Construction sets with large pieces, such as Legos
- Puzzles of greater complexity
- Action figures
- Barbies
- Dress-up clothes
- Transportation toys, such as parking garages, airports, and train stations
- Board games that don’t require reading, such as Hungry Hungry Hippos, Yahtzee Jr., or Candyland
- Soccer balls and basketballs
- Bicycles with training wheels
- Remote-control cars
- Basic science kits
- Magnets, magnifying glasses, and telescopes
- Craft kits
- Barbies
- Computer and video games
- Sports equipment
The Best Toys For Kids Of 9+
Kids this age enjoy outdoor sports as well as scooters, bicycles, and in-line skates.
They acquire adult-like interests, abilities, and hobbies; they basically start thinking for themselves from about this age, even as they respect and obey their parents and teachers over them.
Related: COVID-19: How To Prepare Your Kids For Back-to-school
Girls will still love doing crafts and writing in diaries, and boys find the computer and video games irresistible.
The best toys for kids in this age bracket may range from:
- Bicycle and helmet
- Ice or roller skates/rollerblades and protective gear
- Sporting equipment (baseball glove, hockey stick, tennis racket) and protective gear
- Simple swimming equipment
- Pogo sticks
- Jump ropes
- Construction toys
- Jigsaw puzzles, including three-dimensional puzzles
- Fashion/career dolls
- Puppets, marionettes and theaters
- Doll-houses and furnishings
- Action figures
- Paper dolls
- Science sets
- Model kits
- Craft kits
- Magic sets
- Art supplies
- Tabletop sports
- Video games
- Electronic games
- Board games
- Tape player and tapes
- Electric trains
- Musical instruments
- Books: children’s classics, fairy tales, biographies, mystery, adventure, science fiction, etc.
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