The number of toys a child has has a significant impact on his development. That is why caring parents are obliged to pay due attention to this circumstance. Nowadays, it’s enough to have money and you can simply fill your child’s room with a wide variety of toys to capacity. But with such care, the family does a “disservice” to the baby.
How to make sure that toys are really needed by a child and contribute to his development?
Why is the more the worse?
Child psychologists advise reducing their number to a minimum. The fewer toys a child has, the better for his future.
Development of creativity in a child
The presence of a wide variety of toys does not allow the creative component of a child’s personality to develop. Why invent and invent something if everything you want is already at hand.
In Germany, an experiment was conducted in preschool institutions - children were deprived of all their usual toys for three months. After feeling sad for a short time, they turned on their imagination and began to play with the objects around them with no less enthusiasm. At the same time, the number of personal contacts between children increased sharply.
According to the story of one of my friends, who spent his childhood in the North, he had no purchased toys at all. Instead, he had matchboxes from which he made all sorts of designs. Now this guy is a successful architect.
The child himself invented and drew the world
Development of attention in a child
To develop a child’s concentration, the number of objects surrounding him at arm’s length should not be more than five. If there are more of them, the baby is not able to concentrate on toys. This can inhibit the development of memory and logic, and also negatively affect its future development.
Another disadvantage of having a large number of toys is the rapid loss of their value for the child.
A new doll or car quickly becomes boring, and the baby begins to ask for the next purchase. Toy manufacturers skillfully take advantage of this. The task of parents is to take control of the number of such acquisitions.
Development of social skills
As studies show, the fewer toys a child has, the more personal contacts he has with others. Developing social communication skills helps you build a successful career in the future.
Teach your child to appreciate what he has
When there is too much of something, its value is lost. If a child does not value his toys and is not upset when they break or get lost, then in the future this cannot but affect the formation of his future character.
The consumer attitude towards surrounding objects can, over time, turn into the same disdain for people.
Developing a Love of Reading
Psychologists describe cases where families had no purchased toys at all, and television viewing for children was limited or not available at all. Children in such families read a lot, drew, made crafts, or found many other exciting activities for themselves. Interest in reading books increases a child's vocabulary, improves his literacy, broadens his horizons and develops his imagination. Art classes teach you to correctly express your emotions and feelings.
Ability to negotiate
At first glance, it seems that a large number of toys cannot contribute to conflicts between children. But that's not true. Each new acquisition alienates the baby from other children and contributes to the creation of his own separate “world.”
When there are few toys, children have to learn to avoid arguments and quarrels with peers, and come up with joint games. This helps develop the child's communication skills.
Strengthening your baby's physical health
Lack of control over the number of toys leads to poor nutrition and disruption of the daily routine. This negatively affects the child's health. In addition, the lack of a large number of toys encourages more frequent walks in the fresh air and active games with other children. The benefits of this lifestyle can hardly be overestimated.
The child learns to find joy not only in new toys
Children should not grow up thinking that real joy can be bought with money in toy stores. We must strive to ensure that the child learns to enjoy communicating with people. If this happens, then when he becomes an adult, such eternal values as friendship, love for loved ones, family will not be an empty phrase for him.
The child learns to be clean and tidy in the house
The more toys there are in a child's room, the more clutter there is. By reducing their number, parents also teach the baby to be neat and clean.
The most dangerous toys for children
The gorgeous variety of toys that we can see when we go to a children's store makes our eyes widen. But unfortunately, behind the beautiful packaging there can be a real danger hidden.
Magnetic constructors
Magnetic construction sets that develop fine motor skills, memory, and imagination come in several types. But the Neocube, which consists of a large number of small balls, and the construction set, which, in addition to balls, also contains thin sticks, pose a particular danger to the baby. Since the baby learns about the world not only visually, but also tactilely, and also tries to taste everything, the risk of swallowing these parts increases, which, once in the digestive tract, begin to attract each other, damaging the mucous membranes. Such processes are fraught with death.
Photo gallery: examples of magnetic construction sets
This designer is contraindicated for children under 10 years of age.
Some experts believe that the magnetic field has a negative effect on the child’s body.
The Mag Building constructor is one of the safest among all magnetic constructors
Magnetic construction sets containing small parts are dangerous for children.
My three-year-old daughter is delighted with the plastic magnetic construction set Mag Building. I consider this kind of toys to be absolutely safe for children when used for a short time. In addition, they develop motor skills, thinking, creativity and creativity.
"Flying Fairy"
A beautiful flying pupa, if used carelessly, can cause head injuries, in particular to the eyes. This is primarily due to the fact that the main operating element of the toy is a spinning propeller - petals made of fairly dense plastic. The toy runs on batteries. The total time it can be in flight is 8 minutes. When the fairy lowers its height during a parry, it is enough to present your palm to it and the doll will rise up again. Therefore, while operating it, the child may stumble and fall.
Toys with a propeller are dangerous for both young and older children.
NERF blasters
Recently, NERF blasters have become especially popular. The manufacturer claims that this weapon is completely safe for children, since when used correctly, foam bullets do not pose a threat. But the cartridge can get into the eye. As a result, pain and redness in the affected area, as well as blurred vision, are observed. Moreover, internal hemorrhage may develop. All of these injuries require long-term treatment.
If a blaster bullet hits the eye, internal bleeding may develop.
Hydrogel balls
The use of hydrogel balls (orbeez) for the purpose of developing a baby’s fine motor skills can cause intestinal obstruction if they are accidentally swallowed. These balls, when exposed to moisture, tend to expand 80 times and reach the size of a golf ball. Interestingly, they cannot be detected in the stomach during an X-ray examination, which means that the likelihood of making a correct diagnosis is reduced.
Hydrogel balls attract the baby with their bright colors, so out of curiosity he can swallow them
When my baby was about two years old, I came up with an activity for her to do using hydrogel balls. To do this, I filled a bowl with water and poured in some marbles. When they increased in size, I gave my daughter a teaspoon and asked her to transfer the balls from a full bowl to an empty one. She was “dragged” by this entertainment for at least an hour. But at this time I was constantly next to her.
Lizun
Slime (slime) is a jelly-like toy that consists of guar gum, borax, dyes and often flavors. The first two components, in moderate doses, are not capable of harming the baby, while dyes and flavors can cause allergic reactions, often the amount of these chemical compounds in the toy is significantly exceeded. If the composition of the slime is unknown, it is better to refuse the purchase.
The content of dangerous chemical compounds in slimes cannot but affect the health of the child.
Therefore, if by chance someone swallowed the slime, it is necessary to induce vomiting (if several minutes have passed after swallowing), but if 0.5 - 1 hour has passed, then you need to take enterosorbents (Polysorb, activated carbon) in age-specific dosages and call an ambulance. The child must be under the supervision of a doctor for at least 24 hours.
Maria Fedorovna, practicing physician
https://puzkarapuz.ru/consultation/detail/rebenok_sel_kusok_lizuna_5
Set for a young chemist
The young chemist's kit is designed for conducting simple chemical experiments at home under the strict supervision of adults. During experiments, children deal with various types of chemicals, the vapors of which can have a detrimental effect on the growing organism. Moreover, if safety precautions are not followed, other disastrous consequences are possible: chemical and thermal burns.
Experiment kits contain sufficient amounts of acids and other chemicals that are strictly prohibited for use by children without adult supervision.
PVC toys
PVC toys are not recommended for use by children under three years of age. This is primarily due to the fact that they are quite toxic, as they contain chlorine, processed petroleum products, including phthalates, which make the toy so elastic and soft. In addition, the baby can bite off a piece of such a bright toy and swallow it.
PVC toys contain cheap toxic chemicals
Phosphorus toys
Phosphorus toys and decorative items have gained wide popularity. But not everyone thinks that phosphorus paint contains toxic compounds that have a detrimental effect on the baby. It is necessary to buy luminous toys that use luminescent coating or safe reflectors only from trusted manufacturers.
Cheap phosphorus spraying negatively affects a child’s health
Inflatable rings for children
Inflatable rings, which are allowed almost from the first days after birth, make bathing the baby much easier, as the load on the mother’s spine is reduced. But this is a stupid misconception that in such a circle the baby is completely safe. Recently, cases have become more frequent when a baby slips out of the circle and goes to the bottom, or turns over in it and ends up immersed face-first in the water. And another risk is dislocation of the cervical vertebrae due to chaotic movements of the head. Budget options for these circles can be made from low-quality materials that release toxic substances.
While the baby is bathing in a circle, the mother should not let her guard down
Darts
Throwing darts with metal or plastic tips if safety precautions are not followed can turn from a simple game into a tragedy and cause loss of vision.
If safety precautions are not followed, playing darts can result in loss of vision.
Only the “right” toys
The role of toys in a child’s life cannot be overestimated. It is needed not only for games, but also for shaping the baby’s personality. With the help of games, a child perceives the world around him, forms an opinion about himself and loved ones. Therefore, it is very important when choosing the next gift for your baby to pay attention to the following factors:
- appropriate for the child’s age;
- non-irritating colors;
- pleasant appearance;
- quality of materials used;
- developmental benefits.
If purchasing toys does not happen often, then parents pay more attention to their quality and usefulness.
Dolls, cars and construction sets are an integral part of childhood, and we are, of course, not talking about completely abandoning them. To deprive a child of his “best friend” would be cruel. It is important to remember that an overabundance of toys can have a detrimental effect on a child’s creative, communication and social skills.
How can you reduce the amount to the optimal amount without upsetting your baby? To avoid a stressful situation, child psychologists advise removing unnecessary toys without your beloved child noticing. Do not touch those that the child is currently busy with, hide the rest. If after some time you take out a forgotten pet from its “hiding place”, the child may become no less desirable than a new purchase. This method also allows you to separate out unnecessary toys that are not popular with the baby. If there are enough of them, you can give them to someone, take them to an orphanage or to charitable organizations.
Psychologist's opinion
Anastasia Vyalykh : “The behavior of parents is of great importance in a child’s perception of scary toys. Firstly, mom and dad should be wary if the child prefers scary toys. This fact may indicate some internal conflicts, accumulated aggression, resentment, anger at some situation or person. Secondly, parents should observe the very nature of play with scary toys. Some children simply like the appearance of a scary character, but they play with him in a completely normal way, without endowing the toy with any negative qualities: putting him to bed, dressing him, arranging some adventures for him. This game does not pose any danger. You should be wary when the game is clearly aggressive in nature: the child constantly gets into fights with scary toys, acts out conflicts, and focuses on the negative qualities of the character.
Separately, I would like to say about children’s perception of modern scary toys, for example, superheroes. The child, due to his age, does not yet understand what kind of character such characters have and exactly how to play with them. If we are talking about characters such as Baba Yaga, Kashchei the Immortal, Barmaley, then everything is absolutely clear with them - frightening heroes are endowed with negative character traits, like a person: cunning, envy, grumpiness, greed, stubbornness, inability to make friends or make compromises . Modern heroes have special abilities that do not exist in the real world: the ability to fly, breathe under water, increase and decrease parts of their body, and so on. A child cannot see all this in the world around him, so it is difficult for him to understand how his belonging to the camp of good or evil is expressed. In addition, many modern characters are so mixed up with each other that even an adult is sometimes unable to understand who is who. Heroes who are strange and frightening in appearance may actually turn out to be kind in the story and vice versa. That is why parents must be involved in the gameplay and explain the characteristics of the character’s behavior, without focusing on his aggression. You can, for example, play stories about an initially evil character who becomes good during the game, or about an outwardly unsightly hero with whom no one wanted to be friends, but with the help of good deeds he discovered his true positive character and won the respect and calling of others. Only in this way can one influence the formation of correct moral principles in a child and teach him to understand the difference between good and evil.”
Victoria Kotlyarova
What type of perception does your child have?
Is your child a visual, auditory, kinaesthetic or digital student?
It's time to find out with the help of a test prepared by educational psychologist Ekaterina Shirokova! After all, understanding a child’s type of perception helps increase the quality and speed of his learning and development. Take the test
