Making the Most of Toys

Developmentally Appropriate Toys

For a toy to be developmentally appropriate it should be open-ended, allow children to use it in different ways, and promote learning in several developmental areas.  When a toy matches a child’s developmental level, it won’t be too boring or too hard.  

• First clue – a child’s age.

• Parents should also consider that each individual child will have different temperaments, interests, and tastes in toys and activities.

• Safety – especially small parts that pose a choking hazard. For more information, visit Parenting Tip “Toy Safety.”

  For Babies-

  Babies use all their senses to explore.  Toys help them improve their ability to understand the input from more than one sense at the same time (for example, sight and touch).  However, they often play with one toy for only a few minutes before losing interest.  Toys that make noise or light up when babies press or shake them help babies stay engaged longer by taking advantage of babies fascination with cause and effect

For Toddlers-

Thanks to their growing abilities to move around and to engage in pretend play, toddlers become more interested in toys that:

• Help them learn and practice the daily activities of adults.

• Teach them about physical relationships and how things work.

• Stimulate creativity and exploration.

• Provide practice for large and small muscle skills.

• Realistically represent things they see and experience.