The joke about a difficult childhood and wooden toys in recent years has completely lost its relevance. Many parents deliberately seek out and buy their beloved children the best, safe and incredibly diverse toys from this natural material. Wooden mosaic is the leader in sales in the departments of eco-toys. What are its advantages, what is a mosaic and how to choose it?
Universal game complex
Mosaic is a toy familiar to every person from childhood. Proven by many generations, a way to keep a child relevant at all times. There is nothing surprising in this, because creating a vivid image with your own hands is always interesting. Mosaic sets are very diverse. They differ in the materials from which they are made, the basis, size, way of playing.
In addition, folding a wooden mosaic, a child from an early age begins the learning process. Knowledge and skills are assimilated the most diverse. First of all, fine motor skills of hands are honed, which in itself becomes an impetus for the first conversational skills and harmonious psychological development.
Figures of different shapes, colors, textures help the baby to realize the variety around him. The fantasies that a wooden mosaic gives to a child to realize are a reflection of the child’s inner world, the way he sees and presents it.
It is very important to give him the opportunity to express himself as a creative person from an early age, and such educational toys are perhaps the most successful tool.
Age restrictions
For a productive game, it is very important whether the mosaic of wood is matched by age. The photo clearly demonstrates that it is different. The most important requirement that is presented to the sets is the compliance with the age-specific characteristics of thinking in a child.
The kid will then enjoy the game, which gives a wooden mosaic. He will be able to understand what is required of him to do, and to realize his skills on his own or with a little help from adults.
Manufacturers provide an opportunity to choose a kit for different children. So, for year-old kids create a mosaic of large sizes, rounded shapes and with a small amount of detail. Such children will not cope with a very difficult task, so the mosaic should not contain a large number of small elements. A wide palette of colors is also useless. Their large number and saturation will quickly tire the baby.
Children from three years of age can be complicated. At this age, the child has sufficient skills and knowledge to independently compose images from the mosaic, sort it, describe the course of his game and come up with new options. Good coordination of movements, the ability to manage yourself will help to cope with small elements, and the process itself will contribute to the development of perseverance.
Why a tree?
Shop windows literally burst with a huge assortment of children's products. Often their origin causes justifiable doubts. The quality of plastic, the dyes that were used in production, the lack of certificates confirming compliance with the standards - all these factors force us to look for alternative types of toys for the child.
Wood is an ecological material with excellent characteristics. In this list you can include hypoallergenicity, durability, strength, resistance to mechanical stress.
Modern wooden toys are made from the best varieties of wood (aspen, birch). They possess the necessary qualities that help them avoid deformations from temperature and moisture changes. In addition, the assortment of wooden toys (this list includes wooden mosaics for children) is striking in its diversity, creativity and thoughtfulness.
Requirements for a mosaic of wood, or what you should pay attention to
Wooden mosaic is primarily a product made for children. Therefore, it must be done according to the rules and in compliance with all requirements. Its great advantage is that its basis is precisely wood, and there should be no doubt about the safety of this material. Another thing is how the elements are painted.
There are many varnish-and-paint compounds that are toxic and can cause an allergic reaction or serious poisoning in a child. You must ask the seller what dye was used to give the product bright and saturated colors. Water-based paint is often used. It is absolutely safe and quite resistant, so the toy will last more than one year, will not fade and will not burn out.
You also need to examine the mosaic for sharp edges and corners. In a high-quality product, they were smoothed and rounded for security purposes. This is especially true for mosaics for the smallest players.
Difficult choice
Getting into the children's world of toys, an adult is very often lost. And no wonder, because there is reason for the eyes to run away! Hundreds, thousands of articles for every taste and budget.
Mosaic is also completely different. It can be a wooden mosaic on magnets, on carnations, on the base and without it. Elements are painted, without processing means, and even those that the child needs to paint on his own. Mosaic is in the form of a game where you need to collect a specific image, or a multivariate combination of details, where the end result is limited only by imagination.
The most popular and demand among parents is imported wooden mosaic. These are German Grimms, Haba, Hape and American mosaic (wooden) Melissa & Doug. Products from these brands deserve the attention of parents and children. They are created taking into account modern methods of raising a child and are based on the early development of the baby.
What is magnetic mosaic?
Mosaic play suggests that the elements will be attached to the base. Most often, this is a plastic tablet with holes. But for a wooden mosaic, this is not the most suitable option. Manufacturers provide two main types of basis for their products - an insert frame and a magnetic board. It is for the second type of mosaic that the details are created, on one side of which a thin magnetic plate is attached.
This wonderful toy helps to maximize the imagination of the child. The absence of special holes, which to some extent dictate the playing conditions for the child, gives maximum scope for creativity, does not limit it. Thanks to this, a wooden magnetic mosaic helps to form a child’s spatial perception, artistic taste and logic.
Melissa & Doug - the best for your child
Melissa & Doug, for its history, which has been going on for more than a quarter of a century, has passed an incredible path of development. It was founded by a couple of young people who set up the production of handmade toys in the garage of their parental home. Years of painstaking work, love for their work and real care for the kids, for whom the toys are intended, helped the company win fans around the world.
Creating their products, Melissa and Doug, together with their team, which includes not only designers, engineers, but also psychologists who prompted how to make the toy attractive and interesting for each specific age group, have developed thousands of different models.
Wooden mosaic occupies a special place in the range. There are several varieties, all of them are primarily aimed at the development of the baby, the assimilation of a wide variety of knowledge and concepts. Such a mosaic will interest the child for a long time, because it does not limit creativity.
How to play?
There is no toy that can replace a child's parents! Undoubtedly, there are types of games that the kid is passionate about and can do on his own for some time. Nevertheless, the process is most favorable and harmonious if the games are collective. These may be parents or other children. If the mother wants to spend time with the baby with pleasure and benefit, then a wooden mosaic comes to the rescue. Photos of happy moments taken for a long memory, pleasant memories, positive emotions are guaranteed to all participants in the game!
Mosaic can be folded according to the recommendations set out in the instructions, but it will be no less interesting to create new motifs and variations of the figures. And the mosaic, offered in needlework kits, will also become a memorable souvenir.