Parenting: Toys that grow with your child
As children grow and develop, so does their play. Play is one of the most important skills for young children to develop and early play skills facilitate the development of social, motor, and speech skills. At the early stages of play development, infants are just beginning to explore objects and use toys functionally, like rolling cars and using cause and effect toys (pop-up toys). As children grow, their ability to play with toys gets more complex and creative. Soon children start using multiple toys together, like stacking blocks, completing puzzles or shape sorters, and beginning to build toys to be something, like a road or a rocket ship. Shortly after that, the fun begins, when children begin to engage in pretend play. At the early stages, this might look simple, patting a baby or pretending to drink from a cup. However, soon this play will become more advanced, as children pretend their toys have life (like animals making sounds, dolls talking or walking), act out familiar scenarios (like playing doctor), and even act out unfamiliar or fantasy scenarios (like princesses and super heroes). To think all this development tends to happen between ages 1 and 5 is amazing, but it can also be a little overwhelming! How can our bank accounts and toy storage space possibly keep up? Below we’ve drawn up a list of toy suggestions that we like that can grow with your child from those early stages of play development to those more advanced stages.
Safari Truck
This toy is great because it appeals to a wide range of ages and abilities. At early stages, children drive it around or they can use it as a shape sorter. Later they can begin to play pretend with the animals, acting out going to the zoo or going on a safari.
Cuttable foods simple version
Cuttable foods advanced version
A tried and true favorite. It’s no wonder this toy has been popular for decades. Younger children are fascinated with pulling apart the Velcro pieces, whereas older children can begin to hone their culinary skills as they pretend to cook dinner or even play restaurant.
I love puppets, especially these big mouth puppets that can pretend to eat those cuttable foods shown above! They are a great, silly toy to play collaboratively with your child. Young children are generally mesmerized by the puppet alone. This can also be a particularly great toy for children who are just beginning to play pretend, as it requires a bit less of a leap to pretend when you are manipulating the puppet’s mouth. Keep these toys out beyond that stage to encourage your young playwrights to put on a puppet show with this versatile toy.
Blocks of all types are great. Early players may stack and crash, whereas older players will wow you with their creativity, building towers, roads, or entire cities. The added benefit of the magnets in these blocks make them a little more user-friendly; children are able to build more complex structures with less risk of frustrating crashes!
