When it comes to the type of toy to buy for your child, there are numerous designs to choose from in the market. As a parent, you want to buy a toy that has educational value for your child and gives you value for your money. The type of material used to make a toy is an important factor to consider when choosing a toy for your child. Companies come up with new designs of both plastic and wooden toys every year. However, wooden toys have more to offer compared to plastic ones. Here are 7 advantages of using wooden construction toys for your children:
1. Wooden toys are long-lasting
When parents invest in toys, they want them to last long and be passed on to the younger children. However, children are rough with toys – they will sit on them and bash them on walls and floors, causing them to loosen up and in some instances, break down. This means that as a parent, you end up spending a lot of money replacing broken toys. Wooden toys are made from more durable material and can last longer.
Although many toys come with a recommended age range, plastic toys break before the child grows to the next stage. On the other hand, wooden toys grow with the child. Your child can grow from a toddler to a preschooler using a single toy and even move from using it for basic activities to solving complex problems. Wooden toys are easy to clean and have soft edges so your child is not at risk of getting injured.
2. Wooden toys are educational
Toys are used by children at different stages of growth. They serve a wide range of purposes – from developing motor skills to brain development and stimulating creativity. In the modern world, wooden toys are developed based on research findings and child development and learning methodologies. As such, these toys are crafted to help children learn about sizes, shapes, colors and texture. As they interact with wooden toys, children can also develop other life skills including organizational, decision making and problem-solving skills.
3. Wooden toys foster development of senses
The experience of sensing and touching the surface of wooden toys, coupled with their volume, weight and shape fosters the development of neurological connections within the brain of a child. It also enhances their memory as they explore the world with their senses. This helps children to become proficient at identifying key attributes and elements that are present in the real world.
Some of these attributes include cold or hot, wet or dry, rigid or soft and rough or sticky. This is particularly helpful for young children who are exploring and discovering their world through sight, touch and smell. Extensions of their play, wooden toys become great tools for gratifying the curious minds of children and satisfying their senses.
4. Wooden toys encourage creativity
Wooden toys come in different forms – others come as blocks, sticks, arcs, and shapes. Apart from playing with them, these shapes and forms allow children to devise creative learning activities. Since most toys come without a predefined purpose, they allow children to be imaginative and stimulate their creativity beyond what they learn in class.
Children are very imaginative – they can take something as simple as a peg and convert it into a horse that hops across mountains. They can stack their toys up to create imaginative castles or houses, set up imaginative towns and create intricate adventures or stories using their toys. Wooden toys provide children the space they need to develop wild imaginations while boosting their confidence.
5. Wooden toys develop real-life skills
As children grow, the toys they play with can steer them towards real-life activities that help me to acquire valuable skills. Wooden toys can play a key role in providing your child with real-life skills because they come in different shapes. For instance, kids that play with tools that have numerical shapes get to nurture their numeracy skills. On the other hand, playing with toys that have taken on the shapes of nurses, doctors and medical equipment encourages children to engage in doctor-patient games. This experience can lay the ground for future career choices for the child.
6. Wooden toys are eco-friendly and safe
Wooden toys are much friendlier to the environment compared to plastic toys. Since wood is an organic and renewable substance, wooden toys are biodegradable and recyclable. Children like putting toys in their mouths and may end up consuming toxic substances. With wooden toys, parents don’t have to worry since by nature, wooden toys are not toxic products.
Wooden toys don’t have to be painted to look presentable. This ensures that children stay safe and free of contamination that could come from toxic paints. Because they come from nature, the use of wooden toys ensures that children get connected to the natural world.
Also, wooden toys do not cause noise pollution. Noisy toys are not only a distraction to your child, they can also deny you the peace you need in your home. Apart from being eco-friendly, wooden toys are quiet. This means that as your child plays with them in the home, they will not cause noise pollution. With wooden toys, you can also monitor your children’s activities and be able to follow up on their learning progress.
7. Wooden toys encourage logic
Even though wooden toys come with instructions on what or how they should be used, children are able to develop the logical part of their brain as they interact with the toys. This not only helps develop their reasoning skills, but it also challenges them to solve problems. For example, children can use wooden toys to solve simple addition and subtraction problems. They can also organize wooden shapes by color, shape, and size. Older children can use more advanced wooden toys to create and solve puzzles that require them to apply logic to solve. In addition, they can use the toys to create models to solve complex mathematical or science problems.
