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Play is an essential part
of growing up. While a child plays freely, he satisfies his
curiosity and finds out how to use objects; he learns to plan and
classify; he begins to evaluate, predict, question, discover, draw
conclusions, and solve problems; and he also learns how to inter act
with his peers and imitate the people around him. A child whose play
is not controlled and channeled by adults (“The colors in that
painting should really be blue and green.” “If you pile any more
blocks up, your building will fall.”) Gains confidence through play
and rarely has a fear of failure.
Some parents minimize the importance of play, looking instead for
“educational” or prepackaged activities for their child. But he
doesn’t need these in order to learn. Parents best nurture his drive
to learn by following up on his interests, giving him many
opportunities to play, and providing appropriate toys and materials.
The following are simple suggestions for age-appropriate toys and
activities. The list is by no means complete, and toy stores are
filled with new and traditional items. The ages listed here are
quite flexible. One child will enjoy a toy at eighteen months, while
another child won’t play with that toy until he is two or three
years old. Some return again and again to toys they used when they
were younger. And a child with an older sibling will get an early
introduction to toys intended for older children. As your child
grows, he’ll let you know which toys interest him and which
activities he wishes to pursue.
Birth to six months
An infant likes to look at objects around him. By three to four
months, he may be accidentally batting toys with his hands or feet,
and by four to six months he may intentionally try to touch and
grasp objects. During the earliest months you can hang mobiles from
the crib or ceiling, put a safe mirror against the side of the crib,
or secure a colorful pinwheel to the hood of the baby stroller. Once
he grasps objects, you can provide soft toys that can safely go in
his mouth and that won’t harm him if he bumps against them: a rattle
or squeaking toy, teething beads, toys with faces.
Six to twelve months
Once your baby can sit up, attach a busy box to the side of his
crib. He’ll enjoy one with buttons, dials, pop-ups, and other things
he can control. You also can give him kitchen items to play with
such as pots and pans, plastic bowls and spoons, and a spill-proof
container filled with water that he can shake and watch. He’ll like
cuddly dolls, squeeze toys, soft cars and trucks, large balls,
hollow blocks made from heavy cardboard, and cloth or cardboard
books. You can make books for him by slipping pictures into a photo
album.
Twelve to eighteen months
Your child will enjoy trucks or cars he can sit on, push-and-pull
toys, doll carriages, plastic lawn mowers, wheelbarrows, a two-step
kitchen stool he can stand on to see high places, pounding boards,
toy telephones, music boxes, rocking toys, outside and indoor
climbing equipment with ladders and slides, and adults’ shoes he can
walk around in. He’ll also like simple toys he can take apart and
plastic bottles with tops to take off and put on.
Eighteen to twenty-four months
Your child will enjoy stringing large wooden beads, screwing and
unscrewing bottle caps, using a punching bag, pushing a toy shopping
cart, using plastic tools, playing with balls of different sizes and
shapes, arranging magnets on the refrigerator, and playing with
stuffed animals. He may be happy for long periods playing with sand
or water if he has shovels, pails, measuring cups, sieves, funnels,
and plastic bottles to use. Although he will not be able to pedal
yet, he may enjoy a Big Wheel or a small bike without pedals.
Two to three years
A child this age may enjoy rubber, plastic, or wooden animals, dolls
and dolls’ accessories; a play stove, refrigerator, and sink with
dishes, pots, and pans; dress-up clothes; a play house; a doctor’s
kit; large blocks; cars, trucks, a play firehouse and fire engine,
and a toy garage and gas station. Most two- and three-year-olds can
use pens, paint, crayons, chalk (fun to use on the sidewalk), big
paint brushes to use with water outside, and when closely
supervised, child-size scissors. Your child will probably have fun
jumping on a mattress that’s flat on the floor, kicking a deflated
ball that can’t roll away from him, and riding a tricycle. He’ll
also like using puzzles, playing musical instruments, and listening
to CDs or tapes of folk, classical, or children’s music.
Four to five years
A child this age will like using arts and crafts materials such as
pens, pencils, markers, scissors, tape, glue, string, play dough,
clay, water colors, tempera (which can be mixed with soap flakes to
help prevent stains), and finger paints. Wagons, Big Wheels, and
bikes with or without training wheels are fun, as are balls, bats,
Frisbees, bubble blowers, kites, bowling pins, balance boards, old
tires to swing or jump on, and bean bags to toss. Some of the most
popular games for this age group are Candy Land, Hungry Hungry
Hippos, Sorry, various matching games, Fish, and Old Maid. You can
try offering your child practical things to play with, such as
flashlights, magnifying glasses, whistles, simple tools, old
household objects he can safely take apart, or a bank and coins;
rakes and snow shovels; a funnel, pump, and egg beater to use while
playing with water and bubbles; and a large plastic needle for
sewing burlap. Your child may enjoy building with Tinker Toys, Legos,
and all kinds of blocks, and may want
to make forts and houses out of blankets or large cardboard boxes.
You can help your child make a puppet theater from a table turned on
its side; he can run the show with play tickets, play money, and a
toy cash register. A child this age is influenced by his friends and
by TV and may want whatever toy other children have.
When you provide toys for a child of any age, avoid giving too many
that limit creative play. So many toys can only be put together and
used in one way, and if your child spends all his time with such
toys, he’ll have little chance to make his own creations. Instead,
look for toys that can be used in a variety of ways, and ones that
allow him to use his imagination. For example, instead of buying
kits of shrinkable plastic with predrawn pictures, buy the same
plastic, without the drawings, at a craft store. Then your child can
make his own designs.
As you buy toys, you may find that your child becomes intensely
interested in a new plaything for several weeks and then loses
interest. This is common, although it may be disturbing if you’ve
spent time and energy shopping for the right toy, one your child
said he “wanted so badly.” He loses interest for several reasons: he
may have quickly exhausted the entire toy’s play possibilities, he
may have mastered the toy, figuring out how it works, or he may be
frustrated because it isn’t made well or is difficult to use.
To get more use from your child’s discarded but almost new toys put
them away in a closet for several months. When you take them out,
they’ll seem unfamiliar to your child, and he may become interested
in them again. He may even think of new ways to play with them,
since his interests and his play are always changing. |
