Like all parents, I want the best for my child. When I visit marketplace or browse the toys section on Internet, it is choke-a-block full with plethora of toys and oh the categories: fine motor skills toys, educational toys, pretend play toys, soft toys etc. The list is endless. In short, there is no dearth of anything in the market if you want to buy anything. But is buying so many toys necessary? Can only these toys make a childh happy and their motor skills excellent? The answer is no.
I try to be mindful in my acts and minimalism is something I desire to attain. I am definitely not successful but I am trying my bit to not stuff my life and my daughter’s with unnecessary purchases. I am proud to declare that we do not own a single battery-operated toy. My Daughter is about to turn one and I realise this is the best time to detail about all the toys we have and loved it. Her all toys can assemble in a 15” by 15” by 10” container. Yes, that’s the size of her toy box.
In the next post, I would like to share her stack of books that she owns. Because when we talk about minimalism, it doesn’t cover books perse. Though, she doesn’t own a lot of books but I don’t think we would be following our minimalism in reading.
Without further ado, here is the list of all the toys that my daughter has with details on what we loved and what not.
Rattles The best playmate for any child till 6 months and beyond. We used to put one in her hand and for long minutes she used to entertain her looking at it and putting it in her mouth.
Teethers They are also in the same category as rattles in their usage. A child started symptoms of teething even 2-3 months before the tooth makes its appearance. I bought a few from Funskool .
Stack a Ring one of the toys which is recommended by everyone and it actually catches child’s attraction. It would be foolish to expect the child start stacking rings at such young age. They are more interested in destroying the stacked rings than building one. Just now, my girl has started showing interest in stacking one over the another and it is still a long road. I loved them.
Infant Chain They are great for developing hand-eye coordination. My girl has mastered the art of unlocking the chain and it is a great toy to play with. I had bought the Fischer Price Infant chain from http://www.amazon.in .
Fischer Price infant to toddler Rocker We were gifted this rocker and it was a boon in those early motherhood days when we used to put her down in this rocker and gently rock it. Once she started turning sideways, it became a risky to put her in the rocker for long duration but it has served us long and now will be used as a toddler chair for her.
Xylophone from Hamleys I loved that this is not battery operated and my child has to actually play with the keys to play music. This is the only musical toy she had. She will hot few keys and hearthesoundit makes and then looks at me for applause. It is so funny to describe but this girl wants followers to appreciate her music.
Wooden Train We bought a wooden train toy with an engine and three compartments from a hill station. I thought it was cute and good to have a wooden toy rather than a battery one. She still has not shown any keen interest towards it.
Pull-along toy I bought one pull along tortoise toy to interest her in walking. But now that she is walking,the toy doesn’t interest her much.
Ball Because who doesn’t love to play with ball.
Soft toys from Hamleys We bought a spotted giraffe soft toy for my baby girl once she turned 9 months old. She was gifted an Archie’s teddy bear also. She is more of an exploring kind with her new-found mobility but when she is sitting on her own, she plays with them.
Cardboard boxes My child is more interested in the boxes in which the toys arrive rather than the toys. I believe same is true with other babies of such age. I have few cardboard boxes lying around in the playroom for the same. In a cardboard box, I pasted few wooden items and a paper flap with satin finish to make a kind of sensory board. One of the game that my baby loved playing with is opening the lid. I made a flap open cut in one of the boxes and would hide her toy inside the box. I would then shake that box in front of her to let her know that something is inside it and then leave it there. She would rush to check the box for an opening, find and open the flap and pull out the said toy. Makes a good playtime fun.
Empty vessels I have realised that my girl is happy playing with spoons and plates. So there is no need to buy stacking containers for kids, when they can do stacking with the Tupperware lunch boxes. These days, my girl is attracted to bottles and their caps. She is busy opening and closing the cap to their bottles.