Marianne Szymanski is the founder of theToy Tips Research Institute, author of Toy Tips: A Parent's Essential Guide to Smart Toy Choices and the publisher of Toy Tips and Parenting Hints Magazine.
As you look through the multitude of holiday "best toy lists," BECOME your child's personal toy expert. Research shows that toys are developmental tools that a child uses to grow intellectually and emotionally. Each play experience enhances a child's learning process. In this economy, now is the time to maximize play value and choose toys that provide use again and again.
For safety sake, choices must be age appropriate. If you have a toddler, a 1000 piece construction set is not the best pick. (Keep all toys with small pieces away from children under age 4).
There are thousands of toys to choose from, so as you start putting ideas for your shopping list together, choose toys based on a child's individual AGE, NEEDS and personal INTERESTS.
While one personality type may like puzzles and another may like sport or social toys, this does not mean they both may want the "it" toy of the season. Match their age group, then find out first what their current skills are and match that.
Kids will play most with toys that they enjoy and they can accomplish. Buying something too difficult most likely creates a frustrating play experience. Buying something that is too easy, likely creates boredom. Buying something just because does not always end up being used. The best thing a shopper can do is to use these lists as a starting point and follow 3 easy steps before making a decision on what to buy.
1. Analyze- What does the child have already? (Stacks of board games, tubs of building blocks, shelves of books) Take a quick INVENTORY of your child's collection and see if there is a type of toy
missing from the playroom. A new kind of toy will trigger interest and intrigue once opened.
2. Simplify- Parents "think" kids need a lot of toys, then regret having so many around the house! It is best to have a variety of TOY TYPES, so a child uses a range of developmental skills.
3. Magnify- It is imperative that toys are chosen with care that "MAGNIFY' a child's current skills and challenges those they need to work on.
Toys are an investment in a child's development. The return is who our child will become tomorrow.
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Happy Toy Shopping,
Marianne Szymanski
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