Hello! Hello! We at Gracepak Ventures-Toys Planet hope that you are doing great. The weather here is quite chilly and you know what…….it’s the perfect weather for making beautiful babies. And right after these beautiful babies are born, WE will definitely make THEIR Lives Beautiful here at Gracepak. Today, we will be helping you navigate the world of toys investment. A common question that my colleagues and I do handle daily is…………. “Do you have toys for a 6 months old baby” or better still………”Which toys do you have for an 18 months old baby”. I like such questions…….WHY…… because this communicates to us that this parent/caregiver is age-appropriate conscious and secondly the parent is not about to stock may colorful toys but at the back of her mind, he/she is determined to make the best out of her kids toys investment. So here goes a detailed guidance on what to consider when investing in toys for 0-36 months children from US to You with LOVE ☺ ☺
0-6 Months
Booooom…….your little bundle of joy is finally here, all the family members, colleagues and frenemies are all aware that you have a new addition into your beautiful family. Then the million dollar question follows……..which toys for this little ONE. Usitense, we got you……In the first six months of your baby’s life there is usually rapid growth and discovering this new habitat for the baby comes at the fore. With this in mind, highly recommended toys for the child’s age will include toys that are able to build your child’s five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling as well as developing their ability to grasp and hold items between their fingers and thumb (commonly known as fine motor skills). Here are the most suitable toys at this age: musical mobiles-either for hanging on stroller/over the cot, rattles and shakers, baby gym for quality tummy time, baby play mats, squeaky bath toys and textured cloth books among others.
6-12 Months
At some point during this age, the baby will be on the move, this includes crawling, standing and for some even walking. To encourage the move and the benefits that comes with this movement, a parent/caregiver can invest in high quality crawling mats, push toys for example baby walker or even tag along toys like trains/vehicles.
Soft/stuffed toys like animals or dolls are a big deal at this stage. Most caregivers will realize that the child tends to draw some come from these stuffed toys. This makes them a great choice for this age cohort. Most come in their favorite cartoon characters which is a great plus, who does not want to hang around their cool buddy at will?
Toys that can be grasped easily. Reaching and grasping will help your baby to improve his hand-eye coordination. He will soon learn to pass a toy brick from hand to hand and bang two bricks together.
Toys and games that inspire the child to play in turn are a great investment at this age. Great examples here include baby telephones, or squeaky toys that you can press and repeat the sound and allow your child to do so. Also nesting cups/stacking games will be a great selection, you start off by stacking and destroying the stack and allow the child to mimic you. This will definitely guarantee you loads of fund for hours on end.
12-24 Months
At the core of the 12-24 months toddlers, they do learn fine and gross motor skills, emotion, communication, self-esteem, logic and creativity intelligence among others. Great toys for this age include: wooden puzzles, musical toys, beach toys, interlocking chunky blocks, nesting toys, shape sorters, arts and crafts including painting and molding, toy cars/trains, dolls/stuffed animals, play house/doll houses and soft balls.
24-36 Months
At this age, your child’s speaking ability is pretty much developed and are able to converse with parent/peers and short sentences. Their gross motor development is at it all time-high. Key suggestions on which toys to invest in include
Jigsaw puzzles: To build your child’s logic intelligence, brightly coloured puzzles with chunky (four to six) interlocking pieces are very ideal. Completing the puzzles is no mean feat and therefore this will help the child in boosting their self-esteem definitely.
Arts and crafts: Painting and drawing help the child in expressing themselves, therefore contributes to their social development. Be sure to provide them with protective wear as some of the paints and crayons can be a bit messy.
Musical instruments: This is the age where music inspires dancing, clapping, spinning, hopping and even shouting. Why not add to the fun by giving him a harmonica, a flute, a piano or a xylophone to make great musical sounds?
Domestic play toys: Toys for domestic play are most tempting when they’re realistic. This means that child versions of normal household items – cleaning set, tool set, kitchen set up, pots and pans, pretend play food or tea set – these are definitely every child favorite. You will simply be amazed, at how our children mimic our day to day routines without us noticing ☺ ☺
Dressing-up play: As your child’s imagination develops, pretend play starts to become more fun! Designate a drawer or a box for dressing up clothes and fill it with an assortment of costumes, hats, props and whatever else might inspire some imaginative play. This is also a great way of getting him to practice dressing and undressing as he puts things on and takes them off.
Building toys: Building toys help to improve your child’s hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills, as he/she figures out which pieces fit together and which ones do not. With these the child gets to learn key life skills including patience. These include tool sets, Lego blocks among others
Molding toys: Modeling helps in building and improving the child’s hand-eye coordination.
Ride-on toys: Children at this age can be a ball of energy-to expend this energy how about engaging them in outdoor play with wheeled toys like skating shoes, skating boards, ankle flash ring ropes and other four-wheeled toys? Ensure the children have protective gear and are under adult supervision when engaging in this.
Remember-Investment in your kids’ toys can never be a random purchase here and there, it needs careful analysis of your children’s growth and learning needs and investing accordingly. At Gracepak Ventures-Toys Planet, we gladly offer free investment advisory to individuals and institutions to make your investment worthwhile. ☺ ☺
