How to Choose the Right Toy to Support Your Toddler's Development

Are you wondering about what toys to get your kid?

I have written before on how I see buying toys as unessential to entertaining your kid. The best toy for any child is his parents and the best playground is the real world. Though it seems like they are playing, they are actually learning from us what is good or bad and how they interact properly with their environment. Animals rear their young in the same way (too many hours spent watching National Geographic). Lion cubs pounce and play with each other, but they are already learning essential skills that they need for their survival.

Bottomline is there is no substitute to the attention you give your child to any fancy toy you can afford to buy.

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Don't worry, I am guilty of letting my kid sit a little too long in front of the screen as well. Full-time working mothers are after all just human. In my case, I've already spent the entire day trying to make lessons as engaging and entertaining to my students, and then I come home for another tiny audience that needs entertaining and engagement. WE JUST NEED A BREAK!

Keeping things basic, TAKE THAT BREAK! You don't have to beat yourself up for letting your kid stare at the screen while you get your alone time. In fact, let your husbands manage the kid while you find your inner peace. On really tiring days, I really just curl up with my son in bed while we're watching Pocoyo episodes on TV.

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So, encouraging maximum fun and interaction, what "toy" do we really need?

1. Open-ended toys

Open-ended toys do not have set play rules.

Blocks or Play-Doh (and homemade variety of these toys) are examples of open-ended toys. They don't necessarily come with a manual how to play and that's the beauty of it. Whether your kid uses his blocks to build a house or simply to watch them fly through the air, they are playing.

What's funny is that my own kid has not built towers from his blocks EVER. It frustrated me a little because whenever I try to find out if he's hitting his growth milestones (WHICH FOR SOME REASON USES BLOCK TOWER BUILDING AS BASIS!!!!), I don't know if he's able to build a four- or five-block tower because he finds more joy watching block towers I build fall down rather than building his own.

2. Toys that imitate real life

Children like to imitate what we do so give them their own set of tools for play.

And mind you, I am not only talking about play cellular phones and laptops. Children really watch everything that we do. Sometimes, they only need to see us do things once before they try to figure out how to do those things themselves. So if you expose your child to you doing various chores around the house, his toys would include him using the exact same tools or probably a similar looking object that he will use as a pretend toy (like a broom or a vacuum or a rake)

So when you are trying to figure out how to entertain your kid, whatever you're actually doing is pretty entertaining to him. Haven't you spent enough times screaming at your own kid to get out of your way while you are in the middle of a chore? If it's not a dangerous task, let him or her help out! That's because whatever activity you're involved in is pretty cool in his eyes and he must ABSOLUTELY try it out himself.

3. Stuffed toys

We have a teddy bear we call "TD Bur" at home who receives a lot of hugs and kisses from our toddler.

I like stuffed toys because the way children play with these toys are extensions of real life social skills. For instance, if we have a cat stuffed toy, that's where we usually correct him that we don't throw a cat around or grab its tail; we model skills like how to pat the cat gently and how to hug and kiss the cat. There really are times when it's funny to see them act a certain way with their toys (such as throwing a stuffed sheep on the ground and riding it), but although it seems cute at play, you also have to be watchful with these behaviors because they tend to carry out the same behavior with the real thing. This means that if you haven't been correcting them with the rough way they play with their stuffed animals, they will do the same thing to a real animal. And sometimes, that means they might end up hurting your pet or getting themselves hurt by the pet in the process.

4. Toys that let them be creative

Let your child get in touch with his or her artistic side!

I remember one of my friends saying in half jest that whoever will give her child crayons for Christmas will get unfriended. It is an inevitable fact of life that when you have a toddler, something will get permanently destroyed in your house and that you have to live in perpetual mess. Anyone who dreams of avoiding this is setting themselves up for disappointment.

A piece of advice: keep your mommy life basic and stop setting these unrealistic standards!

Something WILL get destroyed and your house WILL be a mess but these things are temporary.

Meanwhile, crayons, chalk, paint (hopefully, washable ones), and other materials that encourage creativity will provide a lot of fun and learning opportunities for your little one. For toddlers, the messier it gets, the more fun they're having. Don't mess with that moment by following them around like a neat freak!

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I hope this simple list helps when you are choosing toys for your kid. As you can see, though some of the items can be bought in stores, you may also have these items lying around in your house. It really is in the basic things where our kids find joy. :)