Recently, our child has been playing with his favorite puzzle for a long time, so we thought of getting him a new set. When choosing the patterns, only one picture in the new set that features a train could catch his interest; he wouldn’t even look at the others. Sometimes we wonder why so many toys that claim to develop potential cannot sustain the child's interest. In fact, these toys are designed to meet certain psychological needs of children. For example, in terms of color, they use warm colors such as red, yellow, blue, and green, and in terms of sound, they select music that children might like. Almost every toy comes with safety warnings, the appropriate age for children, and notes on which abilities it aims to develop. However, even these seemingly precise toys can only attract the child's attention for a short while.
On the other hand, those simple, primitive things can often hold the child's interest for a long time. The child often snatches the tissue from an adult’s hand, patiently tearing it into several small strips, loves to use their hands to poke at the screw hole on their small bed, or even play with a grain of rice for half a day. Why do toy designers always fail to grasp the psychology of children? I think one important reason is that these toys are too "deliberate" and detached from the environment. The so-called explanations about developing children's potential are just to satisfy the psychological needs of parents.
1. When buying toys, choose the ones the child likes.
1) It must be something the child himself/herself likes. Each child may like different things, and only what he/she truly likes is the best. When deciding to buy a toy, let the child make the decision themselves, and in principle, only one toy should be bought at a time, allowing the child to choose and weigh options. This way, it becomes very easy to know what the child really likes.
2) Toys that the child can participate in. Toys are props for various games, so toys that put the child as the main character in the game are truly loved by children. This varies depending on the age group. Perhaps remote-controlled electric toys are not the child's favorite, but instead, a three to five yuan car toy can keep them entertained for hours.
3) Toys with multiple ways to play are also the child's favorite. Building blocks are almost essential toys for every child because they can be arranged in countless ways. But have you tried these two methods?
2. Playing in new ways
1) Reassemble: Place building blocks on both sides of the electric train track or build them into a bridge shape, making the ordinary flat track suddenly have the effect of going through a tunnel.
2) Use the square lid of the toy box as a slope, rolling a ball down to hit the building blocks placed below the slope. Try the differences after hitting with a ping-pong ball, tennis ball, or a small rubber ball. You can also try different fence styles to see the blocking effects. Different starting heights and weights will result in different effects, and arranging the building blocks becomes more complex. You might even invent the most effective fence design.
3) Destruction can also bring joy. Instead of constantly stopping the child from doing this or that, you might as well join him/her in learning the science of destruction.
4) Toys need context, which is very important. The glass balls and squares we played with when we were young were extremely ordinary and cheap toys, but they are closely linked to our childhood memories. Why? Because there are stories beyond the toys.
What toys do children like? New toys. Even the most fun toys can become outdated over time. Therefore, according to the child's age, different toys should be replaced. At the age of two, Yangyang liked kicking balls and riding bicycles. Now at three years old, he likes puzzles, electric trains, and solving mazes on paper.