AD| I loved toys as a child. An obvious statement – don’t all kids love toys like these? But now I’m a parent and have my own child, I get to appreciate toys for different reasons.
As a child, toys were just about fun. As a parent, toys are educational, they make my child happy and entertain him so I can have a coffee without being climbed on (sometimes).
I’ve been passionate about Leo having a variety of toys. I know Instagram aesthetics means toys are often wooden with muted colours. But not in our house. Anything goes. We have wooden toys, colourful toys, toys that make sounds, instruments, flashing toys and even some offensively bright plastic toys. I always feel a little sad when I see children on Instagram with dull toys. I hope that they are allowed the bright ones too but they’re just hidden away for the photo.
Anyway, toys are brilliant for children of all ages and I’m going to tell you why.
- The benefits of toys for children
- Top 10 Educational Toys for kids
- Zoo Animals – Chunky Wooden Puzzle
- My First Microscope – For Little Hands
- Dinosaurs Sticker Playworld – 200 Stickers
- Big Box of Animal Stencils
- Human Body Science Lab – Head to Toe
- Stars & Planets Science Kit – Little Labs
- 2-in-1 World Tour Puzzle and Game
- About The Seashore – Rock Pools & Beaches
- World Flags Tablecloth – Doodle Your Own!
- Massive Erupting Volcano Kit
The benefits of toys for children
Problem-solving
Whether it’s a simple wooden dinosaur puzzle or something more complicated like a logic game for older children, toys often encourage children to work on their problem-solving skills. They encourage them to try different strategies to correctly solve a puzzle.
Leo loves problem-solving toys at the moment. He had a big love for shape-stacker toys and now he’s a pro at them and he loves wooden jigsaws. He can do shapes, numbers and animals so quickly now. We’re working on letters which is a bit more complicated but he loves to work them out. I love watching the determination on his face when he is figuring out his toys!
This hide-and-seek treehouse is something that he would love to play with next. He loves opening doors at the moment.
Sharing
Toys can really help with social skills such as sharing. Although these skills don’t start to develop between three and four, we can start encouraging and modelling that behaviour now. This bowling set is a great way to encourage sharing and taking turns with younger children!
Role-playing
Toys can help spark the imagination and help children use different vocabulary. Dress up as a crocodile or play shopkeepers! I’m sure we’ve all done role play ourselves as children. I used to love playing teacher when I was younger and spent hours making a register and pretending to mark papers.
This is another one that helps those social skills as well, as children navigate appropriate behaviour and manners with their peers during role play.
Discovering
There are many toys that allow children to discover new things. Some involve quizzes and learning facts while others help them learn visually like a world map jigsaw. You can even get little science kits for children to do experiments at home.
There were so many ways to incorporate discovery into learning! We were at the pub the other week and there were some children with flashcards of countries and flags. They were confidently able to quiz each other on things like ‘Is the country in Europe?’.
Creativity
Our children are imaginative little things full of creativity and it’s so important to allow them to explore their creative side with arts and crafts. You can even step away from the traditional painting, colouring and drawing – guide them in building their own structures with blocks, train tracks and many other toys that give them freedom.
Top 10 Educational Toys for kids
Here’s a list of my favourite educational toys which I will be getting Leo when he reaches the appropriate age for them!
Zoo Animals – Chunky Wooden Puzzle
Leo has a lot of jigsaws and he has gotten so good at them. His favourite types are shapes where he has to put the correct shape in the hole.
As well as this being a jigsaw, the animals can be played with independently as individual figures.
Aged 18m+
My First Microscope – For Little Hands
This easy-to-use a microscope is an ideal first for budding scientists. It allows them to look closely at everyday objects and see them in 8x magnification.
It would be so cool to go exploring outside, collecting flowers, leaves, and rocks and then come home to look at it in detail!
Aged 3+
Dinosaurs Sticker Playworld – 200 Stickers
Children love dinosaurs. And why wouldn’t they? They’re magnificent creatures! This activity book has 4 backgrounds to complete with different stickers, as well as some blank stickers you can colour in yourself.
Aged 3+
Big Box of Animal Stencils
Spark your child’s imagination and help them bring their drawings to life with 150 animal stencils. This lets them create even better artwork while expanding their knowledge of different animals.
Aged 4+
Human Body Science Lab – Head to Toe
Conduct 10 experiments such as examining fingerprints, listening to your heartbeat and more with this little human body science lab that comes with a 36-page activity book.
Aged 5+
Stars & Planets Science Kit – Little Labs
Space is amazing! It’s always fascinating to learn about the planets and stars and now your children can learn even more with this space science kit.
This features hands-on experiments and a 20-page coloured guidebook.
Aged 5+
2-in-1 World Tour Puzzle and Game
Complete this 100-piece jigsaw and then use it to race around the world with your friends, learning all about different counties and the animals that come from each continent, different cultures and landmarks.
The puzzle is great for solo play and the game is brilliant for playing with others
Aged 5+
About The Seashore – Rock Pools & Beaches
We’ve just come back from Whitby and Leo was obsessed with rocks and the sea. He spent ages picking up rocks and throwing them into the water and we took him to explore some rock pools.
This About The Seashore kit would be great fun for him when he’s a bit older. It’s got a net, a little magnifying tub and cards that help children to identify creatures you may find in rock pools.
Aged 6+
World Flags Tablecloth – Doodle Your Own!
Learn about different flags by drawing them on this table cloth that features 193 flags. It comes with 10 washout pens, so once it’s done your can wash and try again!
Aged 7+
Massive Erupting Volcano Kit
This is a craft project and science experiment all in one! Buy a 1ft volcano and then make it erupt. Your child will learn all about volcanos during their little science project.
Aged 8+
Check out the rest of Wicket Uncle’s toys here for unique gifts of all ages.
I’ve always thought the same when it comes to kids toys and the instagram aesthetic. We have a bit of everything in our house too! It’s quite cool knowing that every toy was designed to do a job / provide educational development for kids.
Claire.X
http://www.clairemac.co.uk
Absolutely love this website! it really does have something for everyone!
Such a great post Corinne and really helpful for parents who have children getting to the age where they need to switch up their toys. Some wooden toys are really beautiful but I think it’s great that you have such a vast selection for Leo to explore!
These are some great categories of toys that help children learn. Problem solving ones are really great and there are so many on the market! Thank you for sharing. Those pictures are so cute!
Lauren x
These are good educational toys. You just gave some ideas on what to give to my nephews and nieces. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome! As much as I feel as though my baby has lots of toys, I know he needs more. Not just for the sake of, but because some he’s outgrown in problem solving and discovery and to continue to promote curiosity and exploration. thanks for sharing!
These are some really amazing suggestions! I think sometimes it’s easy to forget that toys are designed with educational purposes in mind as well as just enjoyment. I love the sound of the microscope and the flag tablecloth, that sounds like so much fun! Thank you so much for sharing x
I love this roundup of fun toys for a wide range of ages and interests! The wooden puzzles sound like perfect gifts too, as nothing is more engaging than fun with a interesting puzzle. 🙂
I love it when children play with toys like this and not so much with the ones with screens! These are lovely toys in these photos! x
A variety of toys that are colourful sounds like a good idea! I used to love playing shopkeeper or postwomen when I was younger 🙂 x
What a great list. I’m all for educational and imaginative play for children. I’ll keep these in mind for my niece. Thank you!
We have a variety of toys too! Anything without a screen is a yes from me. My kids tend to gravitate toward creative toys like Legos and art sets. My youngest loves anything with wheels. I love the list of toy suggestions at the bottom, too!
I grew up playing with a variety of educational and fun toys. I loved playing with Barbies, dress up, and those educational musical toys as a kid. Great post!
Loved this post and found it super informative as someone who is going to have to think about all this very soon!
Amy x
callmeamy.co.uk
Wow! The volcano sounds so fun!!! Your suggestions sound so wonderful! And I adore the photos. Xx
This gave me some fab ideas, I’m all for any toys in our house but I do hate the plastic crap like plastic toy food etc, Ru had loads of it when he was younger and it never even got played with!