If your child is in the 3- to 4-year-old range, he or she is really embracing the world of “let’s pretend.” Also, your child’s physical and verbal skills have really developed and your child is nothing short of “full-steam-ahead” from first light to lights out.
Children learn through play, and each stage of their development lays critical groundwork for the next. In this third installment in our series “Finding the Perfect Toy,” we’ll offer tips to help you choose a great toy for a little one aged 3-4 years. We’ll help you find ways to put that imagination to use and harness some energy … all while teaching them a little something, too.
When searching for new a new toy for a preschooler, you should be looking for toys that appeal to the child’s:
- Physical development
- Artistic and fine motor development
- Social and language development
- Cognitive and fine motor development
Here are a few great toys that your child is sure to love that follow the above criteria.
For physical development, we love the Mini-Kickboard Scooter. Your child is mobile and this will only increase. The Mini-Kickboard comes in blue and pink and has a high standard of safety, a result of its closeness to the ground. This toy helps develop motor skills as well as independent play as your child learns how to steer and push-off the ground to accelerate. A plus: The company has a parts replacement service for worn out parts so the scooter can be reliably passed on to younger siblings.
To develop your child’s artistic and fine motor development skills, consider arts and crafts toys that have them drawing, coloring as well as cutting, pasting tracing and molding. Collages for Little Ones is the perfect toy to bring out your child’s inner artist. Adorable images by talented illustrators can be embellished with the included decorations. The kit includes materials, glue and booklet to create four collages that will surely be of keepsake quality.
You’ve probably noticed during play dates that your child and his or her friends love to play pretend. Encourage them to use their imaginations and develop social and language skills by buying toys that support pretend play. The Scoop & Stack Ice Cream Cone Playset is a great choice. Children can set up an ice cream shop and scoop the ice cream from the container using the special magnetic scoop.
In addition to developing the skills listed above, cognitive and fine motor skills will also be important when your child begins school. Help your child develop these skills through the use of preschool educational toys such as puzzles, alphabet activities, construction toys and pattern blocks. The Darda Upside Down Overpass is a great toy that allows your child to assemble a race track and then send self-propelled race cars down the track around the curves and through the loop-de-loops.
Who knew learning could be such fun?
It’s important to expose children to math skills early because they are so important to a child’s success. In our everyday lives, understanding math enables us to do so many things from managing time and money to solving problems and making sound decisions.
