Becoming a parent can be an overwhelming experience. Your child can add so much joy and meaning to your life. At the same time, it can be challenging to provide the right opportunities and environment for the development of your child. As a new parent, you want to give the best of everything to your child, including toys. Research shows that learning through play is an important part of a child’s development, so it is necessary for parents to know that rather than pamper their child with lots of toys, they should provide toys that are age-appropriate.
As an early childhood educator who believes in the Montessori method, I recommend toys that are developmentally appropriate, stimulating, and open-ended so that children can explore and use their creativity. Montessori-inspired toys are not flashy and often don’t include toys that move, talk or light up as the child passively watches on. They are designed to let the child explore, manipulate and learn on their own while having fun playing. When you choose a toy for your child, it should be engaging and calming and should help them develop coordination, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Here, I’m giving you some ideas for Montessori and non-Montessori toys based on age range.
1 to 3 years:
At this age, children will be refining their grasp and hand-eye coordination and moving their bodies a lot. They also begin to experiment with size, shape, space and enjoy playing “pretend” as they begin to learn about socialization. This is the time to introduce dress-up clothing, dolls, kitchen sets, toy cars, trucks, and school buses. Pretend games allow them to exercise their imagination, while large crayons, finger paints, and Playdough help develop creativity. Children also make huge gains in both fine and gross motor skills throughout this period, so puzzles, large Legos, blocks, and other construction toys are perfect age-appropriate toys. Noise is always an enticement, so young children love drums and hammer-and-peg toys at this age range.
Push and pull toys
As your baby starts to walk, push and pull toys are great to encourage more walking and to improve balance and coordination.
Link for push and pull toy: From Nechibaby.co / From Baby Tree via Daraz
Musical instruments
At this age, you can give your child rhythm instruments like xylophone, chime, tambourine, and maracas, which they can hold to develop their grip. These instruments can help your child be calm and expressive, and improve math skills and overall brain development.
Link for Musical Instruments: Piano from Poco Kids / Ukelele from Kids Joy Store / Drums from Tiny Pods
Puzzles with knobs, toys with dials/knobs/switches, and large building blocks
These toys allow children to use and develop their large and small muscles. They will help improve hand-eye coordination, concentration, and finger grip needed for writing.
Link for Puzzles with knobs: From WOW KID’S ZONE / From Thulo.com
Link for toys with dials/knobs/switches: From Gyapu / From OK Play
Link for large building blocks: From Under One Roof / From Funstation
Hammering toys
Hammering balls or tees can help your child develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, and refine pincer grip. It is also a calming activity.
Link for hammering toys: From Gyapu.com / From Baby Tree / From Tiny Town
Pretend play
Kitchen sets, transportation toys, dolls, and dollhouses, and vegetables and fruit blocks can be used for pretend play. These toys help your child to be creative and expressive and develop language and social skills. You can also support their pretend play by having interesting items that are easily available like hats, coats, scarves, cardboard boxes, clothing and other props to encourage your child’s imagination and creativity.
Link for pretend playsets: From Under One Roof / From Baby Shop Nepal
Link for Transportation toys: From Gyapu.com / From Baby Shop Nepal
Link for vegetable and fruit blocks: From Aplusbusinesslink / From Tiny Pods Nepal
Playdough
Playdough is a great toy for creative play, and helps strengthen hand-eye coordination as well as strengthening the muscles in your child’s hands. It also promotes healthy emotional development, as squeezing, rolling, flattening, and shaping the dough can be a very calming activity.
Link for playdough: From Baby Shop Nepal
While there are many toys and play materials that are fun as well as functional, the best way to play with your child is by using real-life materials. As your child gets older, give them a dustpan and a brush, or child-sized gardening tools and watering can and engage them in daily activities. This is the best way for them to play as well as to learn practical life skills and develop concentration and coordination. It also encourages them to be independent, to look after the environment, and to become responsible.
You can also give your child materials such as crayons, markers, paint brushes, finger paint, paper, construction paper, and scissors, for drawing, painting, and crafts. Such activities develop fine motor skills, writing, reading and language skills. It will boost self-esteem, imagination and creative expression.
Picking the right toy will definitely help in the overall development of your child, but joining in on the fun and spending time with them is equally important. Playing with your child will help them achieve important physical milestones, develop their brains, improve their emotional and social skills, and encourage language development.
Another important activity for the development of language and vocabulary is reading to your child. Please stay tuned for another article on the importance of reading to your child and age-appropriate books. Until then, enjoy special playtime with your child!
Writer details:
Monica Pradhan is a Montessori-trained, early childhood educator. She is the Head of the Department of the Preschool at Nisarga Batika School. With more than two decades of educational experience as an educator, trainer and administrator, she is passionate about working with young children and making a positive difference in their formative years. She believes that every child has an innate desire to learn, and can reach their highest potential if given a stimulating environment and appropriate learning activities.
Note: Monica Pradhan does not promote these particular toys from these stores and the items have been put based on relevancy.
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