Other Tips for Selecting Inexpensive Toys

Parents should pay attention to the recommended age range of the toy shown at its package. When you think that your toddler is more advanced than other toddlers, it does not mean your toddler can handle a toy intended for an older child. Parents have to realize and should be aware that the age range is not just a reflection of skill level required. Toys are categorized by age due to safety concerns, such as choking hazards.

Parents can find inexpensive toys yet educational in yard sales or consignment stores. However, don’t forget to always inspect the toy that you want to purchase carefully and be sure there are no sharp edges, small pieces, or parts that could break off. Wash the toys thoroughly before giving them to your child.

Check to be sure used toys have not been recalled.

Cheap, poorly designed toys are not worth the cost. Toys like these usually break easily, be made from sub-standard materials, or have sharp edges. Try to search for and buy inexpensive, well-made toys. Surely they are the better bargain.

Simple, hand-made toys can develop creativity and imagination. They are more inspiring for toddlers. Preschoolers also can learn just as well from “cheap” toys as from expensive toys. With creative thinking and attention to safety, parents can find great educational toys without shatter the bank, meaning to say, you still can save more money for other toddler’s needs.

Source: http://www.toddler-gift.blogspot.com/

Cheap Toddler Toys that Promote Learning

Nowadays, toddler toys are getting more expensive day by day. Parents, therefore, may be frustrated with this phenomenon. Meanwhile, they may be confused about the age appropriateness of an item as well. In fact, toddler toys that promote learning activities are not always expensive. Among the expensive ones, we can still find many cheap toys yet promoting toddlers to learn in a toy stores. Utilize these guidelines to locate “cheap” toys that meet your toddlers’ developmental necessities.

12 - 18 Months

Spatial skills are primary at this age. Stacking toys are great to aid children sort and organize. Something as simple as stackable plastic cups or measuring cups will support toddlers to enhance hand-eye coordination and explore basic spatial skills of "in" and "out." Supplying blocks to sort into containers can confine toddler’s interest as well. Other appropriate suggestions will be pounding toys, books, and balls.



2 – 3 Years

At this age, parents should give more concern upon motor skills. Consider purchasing toys that stimulate activity and enhance motor skills. A stash of various sized balls is perfect to harness toddler’s energy and to develop motor skills. As children throw and kick balls, they build gross motor muscles and practice hand-eye coordination. Other toys suitable for this age will be a pegboard and peg puzzles. These toys can assist toddlers to develop the small muscles in the fingers. If you prefer something quieter, then simple puzzles, basic coloring and painting activities, and building blocks will be the most favorite.

3 - 5 Years

Toddlers at this age are mastering their world of make believe. They like to imitate or to mirror the habits of the adults in their lives. Create a “make believe box” that contains dress-up items. Things in the box could include discarded hats, dad’s old sports coats, former Halloween costumes, and other cast-aside clothing. Toys that encourage pretend play and role-playing do well to encourage language skills, emotional strength, and discipline. Art supplies, books, and kid-friendly plastic baseballs and bats are great also for this age.

Hopefully, this guideline is able to help you to define cheap and appropriate toys for your toddlers.

Source: http://www.toddler-gift.blogspot.com/

Toddler and His First Building Blocks Experience

One great gift for your toddler is a set of building blocks. After you give a set of toddler building blocks to your toddler, it will be the first experience for him in building something using his own imagination and creativity. By playing the toddler building blocks, he can make his own choice of what he will build, how tall the building is, how the building looks like and how to build it. He is free to built anything.
In general, most of toddlers will make some towers of blocks since they put one block on and on till the building ruin. Amazingly, they just feel okay and laugh at it and then build the same building blocks and so on and so forth. They try to understand how one block can connect with another. They feel happier when we join them laughing together. Some of toddlers also love to tell what they have built, how they built, for whom they built, etc based on their imagination. Once you asked about their buildings, they would be excited to tell you repeatedly. They feel proud of what they have built. For some other toddlers, your guide in building maybe needed. So, don’t hesitate to help them when they find difficulties in connecting the blocks or building. Furthermore, building blocks are fantastic toys for encouraging hand and eye coordination, as well as a sense of balance. To add more fun, you can let your toddlers to roll the ball into a tower of blocks they built so it will knock them down, then your toddler can restack them.
By playing building blocks as great educational toddler and kid toys, your toddlers will have opportunity to develop their creativity, imagination and coordination of hands and eyes especially during their formative years. As parents, we will never know what they will be in the future, but we have awareness to provide the best educational toys to support their growth. Who knows your toddler will be the well-known architect around the world in the future.

A Guide in Introducing Toddler Toys

A baby birth is an occasion that is most eagerly awaited by couples. When the time comes, new parents are always eager to show their pride, happiness and gratitude. A special celebration party is held to give every body the opportunity to see the new baby born. There is so a great deal outpouring of feel affection and well wishes from guests.

As time goes by, the baptism day arrives followed by the first birthday party. In occasions such as these, the new parents and their infant are overwhelmed with so many gifts and presents such as clothes, a crib, strollers, blankets, many kinds of infant accessories including baby jewelleries.

Surely, there will be a lot of questions due to these gifts, especially for new parents. Which toy will be the best for the infant? Which toy can be given first? Which toy may be harmful? How should they set up the room for their baby? What time is the best occasion to bring in an exact type of toy? Parents should know, at this phase, that their toddler learns to explore everything like colors, shapes, tastes and many more. A toddler can test his physical strength and try to obtain and control or operate anything within his reach.

Realizing this fact, new parents should not only choose safe and entertaining toys but also the educational ones for their toddler. Parents cannot spend the whole time for playing with their toddler so the best method to make the most of learning is to bring in toddler educational toys.

Parents can guide the toddler to walk and run to what catches his fancy. This can be the furniture, the stairs, pets, tricycle or some flowers in the garden. As he tries to scrawl and plays with pens and crayons, give him writing pads will stimulate him to write. Push and pull toys are the favored companions of toddlers as they move from place to place.

As the verbal communication skills expand, parents can enhance their toddler’s vocabulary by pointing the names and the functions of things around him. Parents can take their toddler to a place such as kitchen, bedroom, garage, any kinds in the house and help their toddler to sort things out according to shapes and colors. This activity will educate him to know the relationship of one thing to a set or to another toy.

Socially, the toddler also imitates an older playmate or sibling or even an adult. Being aware of the words spoken around the toddler definitely is an excellent training for the toddler to learn good values. A positive approach also promotes him to try things further and achieve the tasks he is set to do.

Bringing in the appropriate toy intended for a toddler gives him a sense of achievement. It is therefore unwise for the parents to get all the toys at the same time and let the toddler find out the fun by himself.

Chances are he will get discouraged when faced with complex toys way beyond his skills. Make the toddlers learning experience enjoyable and meaningful.

Source: http://www.toddler-gift.blogspot.com/