Most parents know all too well that toys play an important role in child development. However, it can be difficult to choose the right toy for your kids due to the numerous types of play materials that are available in the market. One of the main factors to consider is the safety of the child while playing with the toy and whether it is suitable for their age group.
So, should your kid play with toys meant for older children? Before we can answer this question, knowing the type of toys suitable for each age group is important as children develop in stages and their ability to perform certain tasks must be considered keeping in mind that the suggestions offered may differ for each child.
1. Toys for Newborn to 6 Months Old Infants
Babies are naturally curious about their surroundings, follow people with their eyes and like looking at faces and bright colors. They also like feeling their hands and feet, lifting their heads, turning towards sound and putting things in their mouths.
Toys that suit this age group include:
- Those they can hold, squeeze, shake, suck, toys that make noise: e.g. rattles, soft balls, dolls, plastic rings, pacifiers.
- Those they can listen to like board books, music box with lullabies nursery rhymes and songs.
- Those they can look at like pictures of people, objects hung where they can see them and plastic mirrors.
2. Toys for 7 to 12 Months Old Infants
At this age babies have the ability to roll over, sit, crawl, pull themselves up, stand, understand their names, utter some words, find, and move objects.
Toys that suit this age group include things that:
- They can drop and pick like balls, large beads, bowls.
- Can be used to build like cubes, children building blocks.
- Resemble real life things like toy cars, dolls, toy ducks that float in water.
- Flex their muscles especially toys that kids can pull and push. A few good examples would include large balls and soft things to crawl over.
3. Toys for 1 Year Old Children
At one year, children can walk, pronounce a few words, climb stairs, and play next to other children of the same age. They like tales and stories and need adults to watch over them.
Toys that suit this age group include:
- Board books with photographs of real objects.
- Things with recordings of stories, rhymes, songs and pictures.
- Toys that resemble real life things like animals, cars, phones, bags, dolls, baby strollers and cotes, houses.
- Toys they can push and pull to text their muscles like large balls, toys with knobs and switches.
4. Toys for 2 Year Old Children
Two year old toddlers are now learning how to talk, can sense danger, and do a lot of physical activity like jumping, climbing, rolling, hanging from objects, have good control of hands and fingers, and like to play with small objects.
Toys that suit this age group include:
- Toys with things to solving like blocks that fit together, objects to sort like numbered cubes.
- Things for drawing like crayons, markers, paintbrushes, paper, chalk and chalkboard, and sound instruments for children.
- Things that resemble real life objects like transportation toys, child size furniture, dress up dolls, toys you can play with on sand and water.
- Things with pictures like children books and audio equipment like CD, DVD players with music and stories fit for them.
- Things that will make them use their muscles like balls they can kick and throw, toys they can ride, tunnels and climbing toys with soft underneath materials.
5. Toys for 3 to 6 Year Old Children
Three and six year old are kindergarten and pre-school going age, talk and ask a lot of questions. They experiment with things, like to play and share toys with other children and can concentrate on what they’re doing.
Toys suitable for this age group:
- Toys for solving problems like building bricks, more complex objects to sort collect and count.
- Toys for building complex structures like construction sets, transportation toys, dress up dolls, child furniture, puppets, sand, and water toys.
- Things for drawing, painting, cutting, like paper, paintbrushes, modeling dough and tools, paste, scissors, cloth, books, chalk and chalkboards, musical instruments like keyboards, tambourines, xylophones, maraca.
- Things that make them use their muscles like large and small balls for throwing, kicking and catching, tricycles, trailers and wagons for pulling and pushing, plastic bats and balls, targets with things to throw at etc.
So Should Your Kid Play With Toys Meant For Older Children?
If you have gone through the list of toys for the different age group, you would have noticed that some of the toys get a bit more complicated and parts become smaller.
So the question on whether your kid should play with toys meant for older children will really depend on how your kid play with that particular toy. For example, a chalk and a chalkboard, will your kid be using it to draw or be ending up with the chalk in the mouth?
As long as your kid can handle the toys, by all means, let them play with it else they are better off playing with toys that are meant for their age group.