While we forget the importance of fun in our lives when we grow up, mostly because of getting stuck in a rut trying to find the right balance between work life and personal life, it’s through our children that we’re reminded again what it means to have fun and why it’s so necessary to make it part of every day.
Playtime is essential for kids because it’s also when a lot of learning happens, and you have to agree it’s easier to acquire information when you’re having fun. Even though nowadays it’s not difficult to entertain kids with all the options of devices available, be it smartphones or tablets, screen time can be bad for kids, especially kids younger than five which is a reason more to opt for creative imagination toys instead.
The extensive range of toys you can find, differing in materials, styles, outdoor, indoor, perfect for pretend play or educational, suitable for children of all ages, means you have plenty to choose from in terms of price and safety too. Considering not many of us pay indoor pollution the attention it deserves, it’s important to choose toys that are made of organic materials with low VOCs to ensure the safety of your kids.
Now, moving on to the reasons as to why creative imagination toys make the better option, let’s start from the fact kids begin to understand the world that surrounds them by pretend play, imitating their parents, the roles in the family, the words they hear which goes to show there’s impact on the development of social skills, playing with more kids or the parents, and expansion of vocabulary.
Furthermore, in the case of educational shape sorters, stacking toys, jigsaw puzzles, blocks and construction as well as dollhouses they help them learn about the different shapes, their colours and how to arrange them thus developing the problem solving skills essential for school years, particularly math problems and later in life.
There’s also the development of gross motor skills thanks to toys like balls, kites, rocking horses and bikes, great for balancing too. Let’s not forget emotional skills either!
Playtime has its essential role when it comes to the development of empathy and it’s something to be worked on in the early stages of childhood because that’s when kids learn how to make friends and the benefits stemming from kindness and sharing. With craft activities they work on their creativity and creative kids turn out to be creative adults. Now that’s a thought to dwell on!