Nurturing Young Minds And Bodies

Toys are the constant companions of children from a very young age. Toys have a great impact on the development of a child’s cognitive, social and physical skills. Toys not only provide entertainment to the child, but also encourage a healthy overall development. Playing with toys help them make decisions, find solutions to problems, and exert control over their surroundings.

Child development toys are the tools that foster the development of the childhood thoughts, fantasies and creativity. Playing creates a strong foundation for learning, and satiates the child’s urge for exploration and discovery. In fact, studies have confirmed that the greater the interaction with learning games and objects at a young age, the more will be the number of active nerve cells in the brain.

Puzzles, memory games, matching and sequencing games, and number games help promote cognitive and numeration skills in children. They will be able to exercise their reasoning abilities and hone the skills that are extremely important at a later age. Moreover, it has also been proved that puzzles and memory games prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in old age.

Dramatic play toys like cars, dolls, and kitchen wares, encourage the growth of imaginative powers in a child and allow him/ her to experiment with different materials. Play doughs, paints, and blocks provide unlimited opportunities, giving the child the freedom to create his/ her imaginary world.

When your child is a little older, development toys should include large balls, climbers, planks, slides, and bicycles. Just like puzzles, blocks, and small toys helped the growth of small muscles in the body, these help in the development of larger muscles. Children need tremendous physical activity to keep them engaged. Running around, jumping, cycling, swimming, are all physical activities, and help utilize the child’s energy. It is extremely important to let small children indulge in such activities as they play a vital role in both the physical and mental development of the child.

Children’s needs vary with their age, and as your child grows older, he/ she will grow out of the childhood toys too. At a slightly more mature age, board games like chess, scrabble and domino become interesting as they help the child exercise the analytical and strategic skills.

While purchasing development toys for your child, it is important to keep in mind your child’s age and physical and mental capabilities. For example, while a beads game may develop hand-eye coordination in children, if a particular child has some inherent problem with this coordination, it will only aggravate the frustration and disappointment in him/ her. So the development toys should not only be safe and in keeping with the child’s developmental age, but should also not be a deterrent in the building of self confidence.

Little Zen Minds offers a unique selection of children’s educational and child development toys, books, games, arts and crafts, and science kits and more that focus on mental, physical and creative development of children.