Many new toys are developed every year for both entertainment and educational purposes. With so much choice, it’s no wonder parents find it hard to choose the best. Toys for babies, toddlers and preschoolers can be intricately designed and fashionable, but they also need to be durable, safe and hard-wearing. There is a huge amount of plastic toys on the market. They often come in many variations and are readily available in many stores, which is probably one of the main reasons why wooden toys can be overlooked.
Why should you choose traditional wooden toys? Here are some of the many reasons.
Advantages of wooden toys
Wooden toys are safe for the environment. Wooden toys are usually made from sustainable wood. Wood is a recyclable, biodegradable and renewable substance. They can be coloured with non-toxic pigments.
Unlike mass-produced plastic toys, wooden toys are often made using sustainable raw materials and handcrafted by talented artisans. Because wooden toys use natural raw materials, they also offer children a personal connection to the natural world.
Wooden toys offer excellent educational value. Because wooden toys don’t come with electronic parts or voices that give instructions on how to play with them, children are often left to their own feelings. In this way they gradually develop their reasoning skills, problem solving skills, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. Classic wooden toys such as miniature building sets, building blocks and puzzles can also be used to teach your children to start counting and understanding numbers.
Wooden toys have a classic look and feel. Children find it interesting to play with toys of different texture, shape, size and weight. Plastic toys cannot always offer the same sensory experience as wooden toys.
You can even feel it yourself. Well-crafted wooden toys have a certain feel to them. Their plastic counterparts often look too plain and glossy.
Because wooden toys have little weight and tactile feel, children can play with them and be aware of what they are actually doing. This is actually very important for children with delayed fine motor development or sensory disorders. The tangible component of wooden toys allows children to exert more effort and think more while playing.
Take for example a wooden toy car. It may not move as smoothly as a metal or plastic toy car, forcing children to apply a little physical energy to make it move.
Wooden toys can excite the imagination. Plastic toys are the result of advances in technology. Every year there is always a new toy that includes something new. Modern toys often have LCD screens, whistles, colored buttons, activated sounds, bells, etc. These features can overstimulate children.
When it comes to learning, keeping it simple is a good way to go. Wooden toys have no unnecessary sounds or attachments, providing a blank slate on which children can play using their vivid imaginations.
Wooden toys encourage social interaction. Playing with computer games or laptops can be engaging and educational, but it is usually a solitary activity that does not encourage interaction with others. Wooden toys, on the other hand, can help cultivate a sense of communication, interaction, cooperation and synergy among children.
Wooden toys are free from the distraction that many plastic toys have, encouraging children to interact with them by making different noises, sound effects or voices. They can do this alone or play together with others. Since wooden toys can spark a child’s creative imagination and sense of role play, it will help develop your child’s social and spatial awareness.
Wooden toys are durable and long lasting. The fact is that children behave very roughly with their toys. They all end up being beaten, dumped or abandoned when they lose interest. Plastic toys can often break, while those with audio-visual or digital aspects can become damaged or outdated. Wooden toys, on the other hand, can take quite a beating but can still be passed on to the next generation.
Most wooden toys are made of solid wood, so it’s pretty hard to damage them completely, aside from dents and scratches. If they get dirty, you can easily clean them and prepare them for the next game. So if you are considering investing in toys that you can pass down from one child to another. You can never go wrong with wooden toys.
Wooden toys are safe. The fact is that most plastic toys can easily break or chip, leaving small parts that children can swallow or sharp edges that can cut their skin. Young children often put a lot of things in their mouths, and this is extremely dangerous.
Because solid wooden toys are durable and long-lasting, they cannot break easily. In addition, wooden toys can connect with nature through tactile sensation, improving a child’s physical, emotional and mental well-being.
With the wide range of wooden toys available on the market today, children and parents can further explore the world of play and enjoy the benefits together!
If you’re looking for a range of uniquely designed toys that would appeal to children and parents alike, take a look at our Foxyni toys.