The history of wooden toys goes back to ancient Egypt. And today, when all-natural became incredibly popular, many parents increasingly buy them for their babies. Wooden toys for children are extremely simple - this provides a huge field for the development of children's creativity and wild imagination.
Benefit
When looking for a toy, your baby needs to remember that playing with it should educate him, bring benefits and form useful skills and qualities. This can be large and fine motor skills, logic, speech apparatus, physical health promotion, writing skills, imagination, imaginative thinking and creativity.
Wooden toys for children that develop motor skills are considered one of the main ones in children's games. In the future, these skills will affect the child's performance. In this article we will look at the types of toys made of wood and find out which ones are ideal for your treasure.
Wooden toys that develop motor skills
Among them are the following:
- Insert frames are great for developing logical thinking as well as fine motor skills. As usual, this is a plywood or wooden tablet, in which there are several grooves of different sizes or shapes. Special “inserts” are inserted into them further - corresponding to the grooves of the figure. At the same time, the task of the baby is to find a place on the tablet that is suitable for every detail.
- The puzzle toy "Pyramid" is suitable for the smallest children. Stringing on a pin rings, cubes or other figures, the baby learns to understand the size, sequence, learns various colors.
- Wooden mazes (butterfly, circle, oval, any other shape) are spirals with small wooden figures strung on them . Moving them along a certain trajectory, the baby trains the coordination of his movements, and also learns to focus attention. In addition, it has the ability to comprehend the beginning of the account.
- A pounding machine is a wonderful toy that helps to “let off steam” on time, in other words, the child's irrepressible energy. Knocking with a wooden hammer, hammering nails from a tree is an exciting and useful activity: muscle strength, coordination of movements and dexterity are perfectly developed.
- Jigsaw puzzle is the next excellent manual that helps to develop thinking and motor skills; It combines the essence of the quality of the insert frames and puzzles. Moreover, all the details in the mosaics of different shapes and sizes, and these details are much larger. In this case, individual grooves for parts are not cut out on the tablet (in other words, the task is complicated).
- The puzzle toy "lacing" can be of various types. Incredibly popular are “holey” figures (imitations of shoes, buttons, fruits and vegetables made of wood), into which it is necessary to thread a string sequentially. The next version of this game is beads. Large beads (they can be different in shape - for example, all kinds of geometric shapes) the baby strung one by one on a string, while perfectly training fine motor skills.
- Finger Theater - multi-colored wooden figures created in the shape of thimbles. They correspond to the plots of various famous fairy tales. With the help of them, the child will introduce you with pleasure in the faces of "Little Red Riding Hood", "Kolobok" or some character from another famous fairy tale. Such theatrical performances well develop the baby’s imagination, help to expand vocabulary and train speech, in addition, they train coordination of movements and motor skills. Such thimbles are mainly accompanied by small stacking houses that develop the plot.
- Musical wooden toys are a separate issue. They can be described as "guaranteed delight." These, in fact, are not toys anymore, but real musical instruments, mostly folk: stukalka, rattles, whistles, beater, tambourines, pipes and bells, xylophones, maracas, castanets, etc. They can be an excellent tool for studying initial musical literacy .
- Traditional Russian nesting doll is not just a souvenir. This is a great developmental aid, since a game with painted dolls helps to develop coordination of movements and motor skills in a baby (matryoshka has a complicated pattern, the baby learns to make sure that it matches on both halves), can be used in learning how to count, and also introduces them to concepts like "sequence" and "less-more."
The meaning of wooden mazes
The assortment of different toys for babies is now so large that the storehouse's eyes widen. Current upbringing trends dictate a specific approach to the selection of goods for children. Previously, they only had to play with a doll, a truck, ride a bicycle. Today, parents want to ensure the development of sensory skills, motor skills and intelligence during their entertainment.
In this regard, you can select a toy wooden maze. This is an element of early child development. The most optimal age for its use is 8 months - 2 years. The labyrinth is made of wood, after which it is decorated with various bright colors. This group of goods usually has special requirements for toxicity and environmental friendliness, which ensures their safe use.
Destination
Such a wooden labyrinth for children (large or small, size matters only for the game) is intended for the development of fine motor skills and coordination of movement. Doctors, teachers, psychologists have proved that kids who deal with parents from an early age in this direction begin to talk earlier, while growing more savvy. There are 2 types of labyrinths in stores: volumetric and flat. Of course, you can buy in bulk all the toys, but try to choose the models that your baby will really like. The essence of the game is the child’s attempts to move various objects and elements with his fingers.
Volumetric Models
Volumetric models are equipped with a base of wood, to which smooth wires are attached with colored balls strung on them. In order to complicate the task, the wires are created in the shape of a meandering snake. The task of the child is to move the ball on it. Kids who are interested in the wooden labyrinth with balls can concentrate on them for a long time. For children who have already learned to stomp, a small gurney with a labyrinth on it, which can be pulled along a string, can become very fun.
It should be noted that there are wooden labyrinths for children (with a magnetic pen, large and with advanced gaming functions) are quite expensive. These designs are also wooden. Manufacturers make it possible to play wire elements, as well as twist various geometric figures with all kinds of pictures, close and open doors or windows, of course, impromptu, open suspension locks, twist clock hands, etc.
Interesting tablet
In general, the wooden designer labyrinth is a continuation of the liners. It is worth noting that here on a small plank some kind of drawing of a certain subject is applied, there are several slots where the element should be moved, while bringing it to the right place in the maze. It's simple, but give such a toy to a 2-3 year old child! Not everyone will do this right away. First, the baby will simply move the figure along the winding loops, consider the pictures provided to him, and only with time will he understand that there is a sequence and pattern in these actions.
The wooden labyrinth for children in the form of a tablet can be different. Some of them consist of the 1st element that moves along smooth tracks in several directions. The other is more complex. He develops the logic of the baby. It is better for the youngest to acquire simple labyrinths, with the help of which the baby can be introduced to various geometric shapes, as well as tell him about animals. More adult children will be interested in toys created based on cartoons or fairy tales.
How to play?
The kid initially just considers a wooden maze for children. After six months, the child is already interested in the outcome of his actions: what happens if he twists it, touches it, or turns it over. The child is trying to understand what can be done with her, why she is needed. Moving in a spiral through the labyrinth of a bead, he discovers that his actions could change her position, and he directs it with his own hands forward or backward, along a specific path.
During the game, the kid gets acquainted with such concepts as “down” and “up”, “on” and “off” the slide, tries to hold the bead “under” and “through” the slide.
A wooden maze for children will help the child begin to navigate in space. It includes multi-colored wires fixed and curved on a wooden base. The toy can attract the attention of a child with bright colors and its unusual shape. Various figures of different colors, sizes and shapes move through the maze. Wooden details are well polished, and also painted in bright colors. They are nice to "drive" from side to side. Moving them, the baby builds a logical chain, a certain sequence of actions. Since there are a large number of beads, and there is only one spiral, various obstacles come across the path, and the bead must be brought to the end.
Serpentine
Serpentine is a toy with several sloping surfaces, it is on them that the figures roll down. It happens in the form of a tree or a house, just paths that are located at an angle, so you can easily roll cars or balls on them. While the child is following the movement of the figure, his visual perception develops. This toy allows you to develop the ability to concentrate and mindfulness. Suitable for children 2-5 years old.
The tablet
A wooden labyrinth for children in the form of a tablet is created from environmentally friendly material, after which a colorful and bright picture is applied to it. There are special slots in the board, along which various figures move easily. For example, it can be fairy-tale heroes who want to get back into their own fairy tale, animals from the jungle who seek to return home, etc. The labyrinth tablet is an educational toy. She demonstrates to her young researchers where and who lives and how she looks, helps to develop associative thinking, memory, and also develops speech. It can be used in various role-playing games of the baby.
Such a toy will be interesting to the baby from 6 months to 7 years.
The game "Robots"
To do this, you need a maze with smooth paths. Let the baby try, controlling the robot (you), giving the commands “back”, “forward”, “left”, “right”, “down”, “up”, “stop”, bring the figure to the necessary place. At the same time, he will learn all directions, learn to give commands correctly, and also better navigate in the area. To make the game more effective, you need to change places with the crumbs.
For kids 4-5 years old, this task can be complicated, while giving commands by adding a “not” particle: go not to the right, not down and not up. So you need to go left! If the baby will correctly carry out the commands, and also he will be able to command you in this way, you can be proud of your little genius!
The game "Everything is confused"
It’s worth saying right away that this is the easiest thing to play with a wooden maze. The kid should put in place all the small figures, on the basis of combining them with the images in meaning and trying to get around all the interfering elements. This game perfectly trains fingers, develops logical thinking, allows the child to think strategically.
Features
You need to know the features of many educational toys:
- They should be taken out when the baby is in a good mood. They should leave him only positive emotions.
- After the game, they should be removed. Otherwise, they can bother the child.
- The toy should be removed immediately after the baby's interest in it disappears.
- Once you have shown what you can do with the toy, give it to the baby for self-study.
- The child needs to repeat the action many times so that the result is fixed.
- Always praise him for his diligence and success.
- Keeping attention for a few minutes is a huge achievement for kids!
Remember that a developmental toy is not only fascinating entertainment, but also a simulator that effectively develops a child’s abilities. The time he spends with her will only benefit him! While parents will be allowed to do business or relax.
Wooden maze: reviews
Reading reviews of this wonderful toy, you can find out that it allows the baby to develop in the most wonderful way, significantly ahead of their peers. There are, of course, negative opinions regarding unscrupulous manufacturers and sellers who sell toys with defective or insufficient parts.