| Are you looking for inspirational children's gifts? Or a unique present to buy your little niece or nephew? You know the drill, it's Tuesday morning, you're working 40 hours a week and it's your nephew's 3rd birthday on Saturday. You've no time to wander browsing the shops and the thought of a large children's department store is just a little too much to bear. The answer? Shop online for a traditional wooden toys.
The range of wooden toys currently available on the market is varied and colourful. From cute Dudy shaker woode rattles to sturdy Pedaless wooden bikes for toddlers they make a thoughtful alternative to mass manufactured branded plastic toys. The price range for wooden toys runs from £10's to £100's meaning there will always be something suitable for your budget.
Primarily, do your research to make sure that the toy you are purchasing online is of high quality and suitable for the age group of the child you are buying for.
Buying for baby
In general the term baby covers the ages 0 – 18 months and there is an awful lot of difference between these ages. A newborn baby will not be able to hold a toy and play whereas an 18month old will probably try and dismantle the toy you have lovingly given, so it is important to buy for the correct stage of development.
0 – 3 months; look for a wooden toy that is bright and colourful and will entertain the baby, something like a wind up music box is ideal.
3 – 6 months; this is the stage when baby will learn to hold objects and then sit up, so go for wooden toys they can shake and rattle or bang whilst stationary.
6 – 9 months; babies are now learning to crawl and never want to sit still so push along toys and balls are fabulous for this age. For boys, it sounds like a cliché, but you can't go wrong with a set of wheels.
9 – 18 months; from now on the development increases at a rate of knots. From crawling to walking in a few short months to learning to speak and understanding of different shapes and colours, the choice of wooden toys becomes overwhelming. Firm favourites are push along or ride on toys such as the Wheelybug or the Spinny Walker. If your particular 18 month old is a one baby demolition derby then try a wooden xylophone or wooden toy drum.
Treating a Toddler
The term toddler (for those of you who do not poses the parent book of phrases!) covers the ages 1 – 3 years (some say 4 years) so overlaps a bit with baby. Basically it's from when they start walking to when they start to answer back!
A toddler's main objective at this stage is to investigate all those things they have been seeing as a baby but have been out of reach; now they are bigger and mobile and want to touch. Distracting them with a pull along toy that spins and rattles, or on the odd occasion they do sit down, a toy for sorting and understanding shapes will provide mum or dad enough time to prepare their dinner.
Preschool Persuasion
From 3 – 5 years a child has mastered walking and in the case of many have also mastered the English language well enough to be independent and confident. Now much of their time is spent in their own heads – invest in wooden toys that feeds their imagination, as it is outstanding at this age and will help them with inventing games.
3 – 4 years, gender does start to make a difference, at this age they are more aware of differences in gender and may become quite stereotypical in their choice of toys. Girls may want to dress up and play parties so vanity cases and wooden cakes will help them to live out their role playing. For boys, fighting dragons or rescuing friends from danger they will need wooden toy castles or police cars and fire engines.
4 -5 years, learning and motor skills will be high on a preschoolers priorities so ‘Pedaless bikes' to get them active and puzzles depicting the world around them are good preparation for the start of their school years.
Spend wisely!
A big tip for buying wooden toys for children is that each stage of development and interest is very specific so buying the most expensive rattle you can find for a 3 month old baby is generally not good economy unless you have a hunch that the parents will become parents many times over!
You'll have plenty of time and opportunity lavish pounds on your favourite goddaughter as they get older, so before you buy consider how long the child will play with your toy. They do tend to revisit toys from their baby years such as wooden blocks, maracas and push along or ride on toys, finding new and inventive ways to play, so these can be ideal presents for the little ones and still be enjoyable years later. Seeing a 4 year old play inventively with a wooden toy bought when they were 18 months old can be very satisfying.
In my experience wooden toys are excellent for this because of their very nature, they tend to be not too babyish i.e. not covered with teddy bears or baby patterns and they are hard wearing and durable so will last the years in good condition.
My last words on why you should buy wooden toys.
Apart form all the excellent reasons above there are a couple benefits of wooden toys I'd like to make.
Re-useable and genderless
Wooden toys very rarely come in pink or blue making gender unimportant. Parents know that boys like anything with wheels and girls love role play and there are wooden toys specific to gender, but the majority are genderless making them ideal for passing on to a sibling or friend. They may also help the child see there is more to life than dressing up or playing with cars!!
Batteries not included.
A child hates nothing more than a toy that doesn't work and the reason most of my children's plastic toys don't work (apart from them taking them to bits and loosing the individual parts) is that I can never keep up with the purchasing of the batteries need to run 70% of the toys they have. To date I have not come across a wooden toy that needed batteries.
If you are hunting around on the internet make sure you research the safety aspect of the toys and ensure they are appropriate for the age group. Online retailers of wooden toys come in many shapes, sizes and specialities but look for prompt delivery; online credit card purchase and money back guarantees to ensure you are not disappointed. A gift wrapping service can also be a very useful for those short of time.
By Karen Singleton
Strawberry Children's Toys
wooden toys online.
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Karen Singleton is a mum of two who is passionate about quality, affordable toys which encourage learning and development through play. She runs her own online independent shop specialising in wooden toys for babies and children under 5. All toys featured on Strawberry Children's Toys are played with, tested and enjoyed by real children.
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