It comes as no surprise that educational toys are extremely popular with parents, grandparents and caregivers alike. Using the ever-rising demand for educational toys to their advantage, toy manufacturers are meeting the challenge by constantly introducing impressive new technology. As a result, educational toys have morphed into toddler sized PC’s and hand-held video games that motivate by means of bells, whistles and flashing lights.
And while they undoubtedly have educational value, these electronic toys do little to increase social skills; nor do they encourage imagination, creativity or physical play.
Consequently, these types of toys should be mixed with those that provide both physical and imaginative play that requires a high level of interaction – specifically those tried and true toys that have stood the test of time, despite their lack of modern technology.
The good news is that, even in today’s economic climate, providing these toys needn’t be expensive.
Traditional board games like Hi-Ho-Cherry-O and Candy Land can be purchased new or gently used. Board games are available for every age and skill level and can help strengthen letter and color recognition for the younger child, or increase strategy and sequencing skills in older children.
The benefits of traditional wooden toys are not just a nostalgic look back to the days of our own childhood; there are many more advanced reasons that benefit your children directly. This article explores and helps to explain the benefits of bringing your children up playing with traditional toys instead of the more favoured, modern toys.
Traditional favourites such as wooden toys help children to expand their minds and imagination, and inspire creative play in children. So often modern toys are exact models of cars, planes and other exciting vehicles, but these exact models by definition leave little to the imagination. Branded toy memorabilia often servers no purpose in play than to allow the children to emulate their favourite TV characters and inspire play that is a mix of copying, repetition and again leaves little to the creative mind.
A toy box that has a mix of traditional toys is more likely to inspire creative play, the innovations and skills that help a child to develop and learn to enjoy playing, to enjoy the education and experience of using such toys. Many educational wooden toys help children to build critical lateral thinking and problem solving skills and improve fine motor skills.
Research also shows that the children appreciate the environment they are in more as a result; instead of using loader, noisier and noise making toys to create an environment of action, of war, emergency and other such play scenarios, the children were found to create the atmosphere and sound effects in their head, and keep the calm and relaxation in the room still. In other words, traditional wooden toys help to keep the child relaxed and quiet, while enjoying themselves and playing in the true child spirit that we all love to see.
Benefits are not just limited to the enjoyment of the toys, the health and safety benefits cannot be ignored. Wooden toys are much safer than plastic toys, with fewer smaller parts, and the parts are more durable, less likely to break or be chewed.
Children will always favour putting their favourite things in their mouth, and traditional toys made from natural materials are less toxic than the chemical rich painted plastics and metals that many modern toys are made of. They have no electric parts, and are made tougher, they need no batteries, they do not leak, they do not require electricity, and so are kinder to our planet as well.
Well made traditional toys use natural woods and traditional methods to shape and colour the toys, with non toxic paints, and shaped wood that does not splinter easily, or break. High quality woods are hard to damage, but still softer contact than hard metals and tough plastics, making for the ultimate material for toys; low impact bumps and accident, but the durability to last for generations.
