Top 5 Toys for Toddlers

As children grow their basic skills to interact with others relies on how well they have learned. In my experience as a parent it is not the most expensive, or the newest creative toys that reach the attention of my little one. In fact, it is nearly the opposite. In the few years of my sons life, each Christmas when presents have been opened, he finds the wrapping paper and the boxes more fun than the characters or the attractions of the play object. It was last year that I, myself, was wishing I was still a kid. When at the giant toy store I saw the most awesome thing: a real triceretops robot dinosaur for a kid aged 3-5 could ride on top of! Costing over two thousand dollars, this would have been the biggest and nest toy I had ever seen.

So my advice for not spending the entire budget on the kids is this: have some basic things, and keep it simple.

First Must Have Toy: A ball

For example, my son's favorite toy is his ball. He just likes to throw it around with and run after it. This wold be the first recommended item for kids of all ages. Starting out from a few dollars at the local grocery store, up to around 20-50 dollars in a professional sporting goods store. Any type of ball is a great activity that a kid will love to play with his parents, or other kids.

Second Must Have Toy: A car or doll.. ( for boy or girl)

Boys and girls definitely still attach their role models in life to their first gender identifying toys. So, for boys cars a great thing to push around and make grunting engine sounds at. Now Fisher Price, Parenting Co., and many other manufactures produce cars for infants up to toddler aged boys. These are made of soft plastic molds large enough for the child to grip it with his whole hand. If you did not know the wonderful matchbox cars, famous for decades, and even collectible, are designed for children 3 and older. I would not recommend this item for child of younger age.

Girls see themselves in the tidy smaller human like figures of dolls. As a girl I loved to play with my Barbie dolls. My grandparents every year bought me the collectors porcelain dolls for me to keep on a shelve and marvel at. While playing make-believe fascinates girls for hours, this too is an older kid item. Before your little ones are 3-5, I would suggest getting a soft baby doll for them to hold and learn to care for. Some of these types of dolls are safe enough for girls to play with at age one.

Third Must Have Toy: Blocks

These are timeless objects of endless use for a child. Made in a variety of textures from wood, cardboard,plastic foam, and others square shapes for a toddler to hold and stack can help them feel accomplished. This builds good skills at the the hand-eye coordination, and is ofter well received by many children. My favorite are the wooden alphabet blocks with numbers and decorative colors on each side. While some sets can be found at thrifty dollar like stores, even Wal-mart, others can be found at FAO Schwartz with a very high quality and lifespan endurance. This is also a gender indifferent play item.

Fourth Must Have Toy: Crayons and Coloring Books

Language recognition and speech are cooperate tasks to grow inside of a child's mind. Teaching them at a young age to hold a crayon and make strikes on the coloring age helps them to prepare for school early. My son is so amazed at his drawing and coloring that he often has the habit to scribble on our walls. If this happens in your home, don't worry! Most household cleaners and soaps along with a wet paper towel or sponge will wipe away the mess. But, be warned before hand to watch the child at his or her new interests in using colors.

Fifth Must Have Toy:

This is the last and most important development tool in my opinion. It is not all a toy, but an educational aid the parent must be involved in and provide for the child. If you have local TV, or don't, you can always go to your local library or video rental place to find these shows. Our favorite is Sesame Street. My son can watch this show day and night, if I let him. The great resource of recent television broadcast and distribution now is how many episodes and target subject matter is available. For when I was a kid this show was on once a day, during the week, and had a magazine my parents bought me at the store. Now Elmo is one of the biggest stars, an Internet website can allow kids to play games, and the movies are endless. If this is not your favorite show, then find one similar to it which teaches kids reading, counting and play time. this is well worth the investment of time if not money to have in your home.

So, this has been my five top rated toy picks for any child to grow and learn with. While each parent has to decide his or her own budget to spend on; these items above are not a luxury but a must have. I hope that your play time may be a fun time, and that I have directed parents everywhere on finding good toys. Please share this information with friends and family, and visit me on AC as often as possible for more tips.