A child's mental growth at the early age

A child's brain development is one of the essential aspects of life that is kept in mind while growing up. Brain development takes place at a very high pace in the first three years of life. It is significant for a parent or a guardian to choose a suitable toy or game to increase the child's motor skills, cognitive skills, and emotional intelligence. 

Why is it important to choose toys as per age group?

A single toy cannot provide a child with all the development skills that a child needs at a growing age. Some skills include emotional intelligence (EI), IQ, motor skills, cognitive skills. Hence, segregating toys per age group and deciding relevant skills and games for the child is essential.

How to choose toys as per age group?

Six months old babies: Babies this age like to look at people, follow their eyes, and make understanding through sight. At this time, sight and hearing are the two abilities that are developing at this time. Hence, toys they can reach for, hold, suck on, shake. Playable toys with audio they can listen to, visually attractive toys to develop imagination and sight skills are good options.

7-12 months old babies: Babies this age like to move a bit, roll over, sit, crawl, bounce, scoot, and creep. They start to understand familiar words that are used frequently in front of them as their name. They can identify body parts. Toys parents use for play pretend, build, and use some brain skills that are helpful for their child at this age. Like baby dolls, puppets, wooden cubes, balls.

One-year-old babies: Most one-year-olds can walk; some can even climb stairs, make little conversations, understand common words. Toys like phone dolls, puzzles, toys with audio that pay attention to working on the acute senses like sight, hearing, and touch are the best.

2-4-year-old toddlers: Focussing more on identifying their own emotions and that of others and relieving stress through own thinking ability is to be developed and for that, toys that help in solving problems, pretending and building, creating things, basic roleplay with soft toys can be done.

4-6-year-old kindergarteners: Kids this age start to walk, talk and develop a longer attention span. They have many questions in their mind and start experimenting with objects around them. This age is ideal for imagination building and mind sharpening. Playing with blocks, solving puzzles, playing CD & DVD players with different music that can help build an essential intelligence skill can be given a go.

6+ old kids: Kids this age have now built a little bit of emotional intelligence, and they can understand certain emotions, and they make sense out of the world around them, understanding the nuances of a variety of emotions. Emotions like anger, happiness, sadness, sympathy, and well-mannered behavior can be inculcated in a child by simple play pretend toys. Many digital toys are introduced for the same.

10-18-year-old teenagers: Children this age like gaming more than toys. Gaming is a compelling and immersive medium that attracts children of all ages. Many educational digital video games have been introduced in recent times that help a lot in sharpening the mind.

18-35-year-old young professionals: Video games and computer games are heavily marketed towards teens and young adults, but recent studies have also shown that many screen time results in health problems, so limiting the time for gaming is also important to keep oneself healthy and in shape.

35+ Masters/Coaches: There is no age for playing a game if one thinks that 35+ is too old for gaming. Although adults this age are so busy with their work schedule that it is difficult for most of them to take time out to play games. However, a lot of them spend time playing PC and mobile games.

60+ Super seniors: Senior citizens generally do not spend much time on mobile phones or PC. Most of the time, they are too unfamiliar with digital games, let alone play with them.

Many board games are an excellent interaction source while playing a game like a carrom board, chess. Also, these kinds of games are pretty old and famous and hence easy to find online too!

What are the benefits of choosing different toys as per age group?

Toys are an essential part of a child's life. From one aspect of looking at the right kind of toys, like the soft toys for very early age so that kids do not choke on it, because kids this age have the habit of putting everything in their mouth, to the other aspect of looking at it in a way which inculcates features that would help in a child's brain development and mental growth, a parent needs to choose the right kind of toys that will help in developing a child's intelligence and sharpening mind with the right skills at the right time.

So, choosing the toys of the right time to induce the right skill for the child's development will benefit him in the long run and hence, is very important.

Author: Arya Pandey on behalf of Firsttoyz™