Toys are undoubtedly an integral part of any childhood. Almost all of us will remember our favourite toy growing up whether it was a doll, a plastic car or a spongy bear.

Many are unaware of how instrumental toys can be in fostering the development of children, and how toys can continue to shape the abilities and skills children need for life. Experts strongly agree that children learn by playing and toys are the instruments that allow them to discover the world they live in.

Toys inspire imagination

Toys can help children to make sense of the world around them. Children always seek interaction with toys to inspire action and broaden the scope of their imagination – something they call play. It is always adorable to see children using their toys to perform things they have seen in real life or perhaps on the television. This keeps them engaged and in the meantime, you can just access gaming at sailor bingo for entertainment, whizz around catching up on a few jobs around the house, or catch up on some life admin.

Children always love to play with toy utensils to build their own kitchen. The number of times they have set up their own coffee shop or restaurant or even taken things into the garden and set up a beach cafe – my children love this sort of thing. They cherish this kind of play and these toys are perfect to encourage their creativity in the long run. 

So, use toys in your next bonding session with your children to do role-play. You can motivate your children to mimic adult roles, such as chefs, doctors, nurses, police officers and many more. Aside from inspiring creative imagination, you can take playtime as a great opportunity to get closer to your children and know their dreams for the future. By doing so, you can show your parental support to boost their confidence.

Motor skills

Toys can also get children engaged in physical activity by tuning their fine and gross motor skills. For instance, children use their sense of touch and sight while walkers, tricycles or toy cars enhance their gross motor skills and strengthen their arms and legs. Toys also assist them to discover balance and coordination.

From birth, toys can encourage babies to use their feet and hands to sense forms, colours, and sounds. If their favourite toy is out of reach, the baby will use its muscles to grab it as the toys always keep them moving.

You can try children’s toys, like Begleri skill toys, that enhance motor skills. Just make sure that the toys you choose for your kids are made of good quality materials, of excellent design, and have safety features. 

Allow your children to improve the motor skills that they can use to become more productive and creative in adult life. Aside from man-made toys, let them explore nature and use the available materials they see as tools to improve their motor skills, such as wood sticks and pebbles. Allow your children to move around in an outdoor space, such as a garden, park or at the beach.

Encourage good social skills

A child’s virtuosity of the social world is mainly based on their ability to play with other children. By providing a child with plenty of space to engage in imaginative play with others, it is possible to lay the foundation for future social success in school and later parts of life. Children learn about following rules and cooperating with others by playing with toys, puzzles, etc.

Sharing, taking turns and working as a team to solve a problem are all necessary social skills that can be enhanced by playing with toys. It might be a board game or an outdoor game of dodge tag. At times, it might also be building a rail track or a game of dominoes or taking part in a scavenger hunt. All these activities incite children to talk, share, understand and solve problems as a whole or individual and learning from each other.

Cognitive development

Toys elevate children’s cognitive ability by stimulating their concentration and memory skills and giving them the ability to solve problems creatively. This is the key to their future autonomy as it enables children to approach maths and language skills in a way that’s fun for them.

Some toys that can help improve children’s cognitive development include scrabble, puzzles, and other educational toys. Select an age-appropriate educational toy to avoid safety hazards from small toy materials that can cause a choking or similar incident.

Children who are experience-rich in the world of imaginative and social play generally develop into healthier and happier adults.

How else do you think toys impact on child development? What are your children’s favourite toys?