One of the most important activities for a child is to play: Through it he discovers the world around him, stimulates his creativity and helps strengthen his personality. One of the things we should keep in mind as parents is that there are toys that bring specific benefits and that knowing them can help them move forward in a slightly easier and more fun way in their development.
Each one of the achievements that he achieves throughout his growth are part of the different stages through which he must go: to manage to insert a cube in a box, to manipulate a car, or to build a small house is part of 'small challenges', important so that the child is increasingly curious about the world around him.
“Children must overcome each stage in due time. That helps them create their own identity to evolve in their behavior, trust their possibilities and acquire a certain autonomy, ”explains Teresa Rosillo, an expert psychologist in childhood and toys for Imaginarium.
His first smile, turning around, holding his head, sitting, crawling, walking are achievements that children must achieve in their early stages. Each baby has its rhythm and the times can vary from one to another, but Stimulating them has great benefits in that advance.
From birth to 6 months
At this stage, vision, hearing and touch are stimulated and cognitive information is obtained thanks to the sensations perceived through the senses, especially of smell. It is important to encourage body contact, eye contact, and sense of depth. Teresa Rosillo explains that it is also key “talk to the baby and reinforce their achievements so that they acquire the security and self-esteem they need to overcome new challenges”
At this stage it is convenient to give toys that help them be aware of their surroundings (for example, that they can manipulate with their hands), that they can bite or that they bring emotional benefits such as security blankets (shown in the photo).
From 6 months to 12 months
In this period of time he experiences a great evolution: he begins to chew many foods, remains seated and takes his first steps. Start exploring with your hands and becoming interested in children your age. "It is important to start with the sound games since to acquire a good language you have to know the rhythm, the harmony and the melody ”being the stage in which the baby begins to emit more significant sounds and attend when he hears his name.
Some good ideas about the type of toys we should choose are musical instruments (designed for their age, obviously), since it gives them linguistic benefits, or that stimulate their movement and body coordination, As the air-rolly of the photo.
From 12 months to 24 months
Is definitely the stage of restlessness. He is able to walk alone, climb stairs or push a stroller. Show preference for one hand. Point out the most striking images and noises. “It is convenient not to be very directive in games. It is good to give greater autonomy, to start playing alone and to walk freely. It is important to take them to the park to meet other children and imitate behaviors and develop other skills, ”according to the psychologist.
At this time we can choose toys to teach you the concept "cause and effect", such as the cubes that can be embedded (for example, those in the photo above), toys that stimulate your imagination or those with a "multi-activity" concept such as the table in the image.
From 2 years old
His verbal skills are improving and he is more aware of himself. Language is very useful in this regard; Now you can express your wishes. He begins to participate in the games of others and acquires greater control over his body.
At this time construction toys (lego type) are highly recommended, because they bring motor and cognitive benefits, cars without motor and all those that involve manual skills to reach goals.
Do you usually think about this kind of thing when choosing a toy for your children?
Images | Imaginarium
