Let's pretend today that we are children. What do we remember first of all from our childhood? Well, of course, your favorite toy. A toy is not only a subject of a game, but also an object of development of all types of activities of a child. It does not have to be bright and sonorous, a toy can be plain and yet very beloved. For example, one child is very dear to a toy inherited from his mother (dad, grandmother or grandfather, etc.), while another child is interested in more modern types of toys, all kinds of singing, dancing dolls, chasing, flying cars and planes, shooting soldiers, etc.
Child development is impossible without toys. They help to reveal his life potential, emotions, feelings. In the game, toys help to adapt to the surrounding reality, to know the world and oneself.
Sometimes you can observe such a picture. The child has a whole room littered with toys, but he does not show interest in them. And why? Because toys must be matched to the interest and age of the child.
Young children very often like to copy the habits of an adult. Therefore, they give greater preference in the game to household appliances, utensils, etc. After all, if you observe a child for a long time, you will notice that it is more interesting for him to play, for example, with a can, throwing beans there, or with a colander, inserting sticks into holes, than with the same sorter or different types of houses.
Therefore, the choice of toys should be approached more thoroughly. If, for example, a one-year-old baby does not move away from the drum every day and does not know how to play pyramids, ring throws, cars, and dolls, then one should think about his psycho-emotional behavior. And, accordingly, he will be very behind his peers in development.
Each age of the child has its own nuances. Let's try to consider in more detail what kind of toys children need at every age and in life situations.
From birth to a month, a child spends most of his time in a dream, and adapts to the world around him. Starting from 1-3 months. it is necessary to develop visual, auditory perceptions. During this period, the child with interest examines the faces of adults, drawings on wallpaper, walls. For a more interesting development, you can stick various types of geometric shapes, thematic cards on the walls. Useful daily exercises for the eyes. Leading a toy in front of your eyes, watch the baby focus his eyes on it.
For the development of motor skills of hands it is necessary to put a rattle in the baby’s palm. The child will feel the object and compress it reflexively.
From 3-6 months, the child needs to expand its living space. Relocate it either to the carpet or to the playpen. During this period, you can use various types of game rugs, squeaking and ringing toys, various kinds of plastic and rubber figures. Of great interest to the child are musical toys, books. After all, it’s so interesting to press a button-key, and from there a sound is heard. These toys contribute to the development of visual, auditory, tactile perception and direct motor activity.
From 6–9 months of age, motor activity increases, respectively, and the curiosity of the infant increases. He is already interested in all kinds of clockwork cars, baby dolls, books with bright pictures, small-sized soft toys, musical instruments and posters. In no case should parents restrain his motor activity, but, on the contrary, he must develop his interest in objects.
At 9–12 months , the child’s interest and curiosity increase more and more. At this age, you can include a puppet show (these are the simple tales of "Teremok", "Turnip", "Chicken-Ryaba", "Kolobok") and nursery rhymes ("ladlets", "magpie-thief", etc.). .). It is necessary that the child has various cubes, rings, pyramids. These types of toys develop intelligence, allow the kid to accumulate a certain experience. The child in this period loves to break everything, to disassemble. So he can understand the changes in space, size, shape of toys. The main rule for parents of a baby at this age is not to buy toys with small details and non-dismountable.
For 2-year-old children, any toys that can be built from (cubes, constructors) will be interesting. Bright balls, big cars, dolls. If a year ago a child could not independently play on certain subjects, then already in this period the plot appears in almost every game. Girls begin to imitate mothers, grandmothers rocking a doll, preparing food, stroking, etc., boys, in turn, imitate dads, grandfathers, repairing a car, building, repairing, etc.
To three years children take on some role. Game activity is expanding. Children begin to pose as doctors, cooks, sellers, hairdressers, police officers, etc. Expanding the horizons of the child, respectively, it is necessary to expand the objects of his games. For the child, additional attributes become necessary: furniture for the kitchen, garages for cars, tools for builders, dishes for dolls, etc. The desire of a child to imitate his actions by adults speaks of a new one in the stage of development of emotions and social adaptation of children.
From the foregoing, it can be concluded that children aged 1-3 years prefer animal toys, household toys, dolls and cars that develop movements.