“How toys are important for the development of my child”

Toys, children and play are like morning, sunshine and freshness. It’s just natural for a child to play with toys. If play is the work of a child then toys are the tools.

I have a 24 month child, named Annhad. From the time I conceived my child, I was very clear about the toys that I would want my baby to play with. As a responsible parent I know that toys help build and develop a child’s essential skills. They prove to develop and enhance self confidence, creativity, emotional and social bonding as well as resilience. For my child development, toys are important in following ways:

(a)   Toys make Learning process self-sustained based: When Annhad was 4 months old and we were anxiously waiting for him to crawl, I picked up a colorful ball from the nearest toystore and placed in front of him. He got attracted towards it and started to move towards it after few days. Babies respond instinctively to their surroundings and toys become important as they stimulate a baby’s brain, thereby arousing interest and inquisitiveness.

(b)   Relationship with the world are based on love, kindness and sharing: Annhad, who is now 24 months old, is fully aware of his surroundings and the people he interacts with. My help’s children come to play with him in the evening. I have seen him sharing his toys with them. He gets so excited to see them play with his toys.  By learning to share his toys and playing with my help’s children, I think my child is fostering strong and loving relationships.

(c)   Toys promotes joy which is very essential for my child’s self esteem and health: My child’s ability to learn to throw/ catch a ball and getting appreciation from his mother/grandmother surely adds to his positive self. Our smiles, when he shows us his achievement with blocks, our “thank you” and appreciations when he shares his toys with others, will surely grow my child into a good citizen with positive frame of mind.

(d)   Toys maximize Annhad’s learning potential: Toys that my child plays with help him understand his environment to the fullest. He tries to figure out on his own how things are working. I have seen him exploring a car completely just to understand how its wheels were moving. He uses his own imagination to build blocks and solve any problem that he encompasses.

(e)   Toys create a basic trust in the world: The toys that my child plays with gives him a hands on experience of how things are moving around in this world. By rolling a ball or by building stacks of blocks he is becoming more aware of his surroundings. My positive feedbacks on his achievements and rich experiences that Annhad gets with his toys gives him the confidence to go on in the new world. The toys help build interest in the activities around.

Thus, I am sure of this fact that Toys are those vital tools that would help enhance mental, physical, emotional and social development of my child. They are the basic instruments for the development of my child’s imagination and creativity.