7 Must-Have Toys for Your Toddler

When was the last time you bought yourself a Kinder Surprise Egg? I still find myself as excited for a surprise toy inside as I was decades ago.

Toys are exciting, colorful, cheerful, expensive (you're a parent, you know how it is), and they're everywhere. Scientists suppose that toys have been around since 2600 BCE. The first documented case mentions wooden yo-yos from the year 500 BCE.

Can you imagine? We've been playing with toys thousands of years ago, and we're still not bored.

So what's so important and exciting about toys?

Some of our childhood toys are irreplaceable; they carry great emotional value and happy memories. But did you know how much your baby dolls, barbie houses, and other toys helped you develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and improved your memory?

In this article, we're going to mention a few toys that can aid in the accelerated development of your toddler and form happy dynamic memories.

Here’s why you should buy these 7 toys for your toddler

Baby dolls and plush animal toys

You might've already seen how your toddler rocks, dresses, and soothes their "crying" baby doll. Childhood development experts believe that this can help children soothe themselves as well.

A recent study, conducted by neuroscientists from Cardiff University, shows that doll play helps children develop empathy and social processing skills.

Here are some of the best baby dolls that experts recommend.

Play-doh, modeling clay, kinetic sand, and more.

If you've tried playing with kinetic sand, you might have noticed how absorbed and focused you become.

The same thing happens to children when playing with play-doh, kinetic sand, and modeling clay.

Toddlers engage in sensory play, which helps them get in touch with their five senses. Sensory play helps develop fine motor skills, as well as emotional health. Playing in kinetic sand or modeling clay can be a form of mindfulness, which can help your children connect with their bodies, stay in present mode and focus on something particular.

Musical toys and instruments

Research shows that children who play musical instruments have highly developed fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Music has always been a part of our babies' lives. We have thousands of nursery rhymes and melodies; cartoons have catchy soundtracks, and children themselves hum melodies all the time.

Make sure to invest in musical instruments for toddlers or musical toys and games.

Mobile games and apps

Countless studies have shown that playing video and mobile games can help improve memory, study skills and may even protect from dementia.

We talk a lot about mobile games and how they affect children's brains. It's essential to mention that electronics and mixed-reality toys help bring virtual elements into the real world.

Getting acquainted with electronics can also help your children work better with devices in adulthood.

Here you can find some of our suggestions for fun and educational games for toddlers.

Puzzles

Puzzles are everywhere - home, preschool, playground, etc. They help parents create a fun and educational environment for children.

Jigsaw puzzles encourage children to observe pictures carefully and learn where things belong (learn about spatial relationships).

Look for jigsaw puzzles in your local toy shop, order some online, or find an app that has hundreds of exciting puzzles.

Art and crafts

Set up an arts and crafts table at your home and bond with your children through drawing, crafting, and pouring creativity.

Crafting out their imagination will motivate your children to express themselves and their emotions better in adulthood.

Role-play toys (pretend-play toys)

We're talking about play kitchens, medical playsets, costumes, etc.

Pretend-play aids the social and emotional development of toddlers. And you can bond with your children by playing a role in their fantasy games. Put on a costume, lie down for a quick surgery, bake a cake together, or just trust your storyteller.

Here are some of the most recommended pretend-play toys you can invest in for your children.

If you want to learn more about the importance of play and toys, read the book by Stuart M.Brown Jr and Christopher Vaughan - "Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul."

The authors talk about the necessity of play and why it should never end with growing up.

Make sure to engage with your children when they're playing, and learn how to go back to pretend-play yourself.

Why are toys so fascinating for toddlers?

Children need to explore and interact with the world - toys help them do it on their own terms.

I'm sure it's hilarious to look at babies who have this "urge" to touch everything around them. They are learning, and they need to interact with the environment they're growing up in.

Toys help us play out our imagination and give life to the characters in our minds. Immobile objects, such as dolls, and toy kitchen appliances, give us a chance to play out our fantasies and become storytellers.

Yes, movies and cartoons do that all the time, but people still tend to create fanfictions and give their favorite characters the life they’ve imagined for them.

That's why toys are so fascinating, even for adults. They give us a chance to create our own stories, engage our own characters and give life to our imagination.

The authors talk about the necessity of play and why it should never end with growing up.

Make sure to engage with your children when they're playing, and learn how to go back to pretend-play yourself.