Good How Cognitively Stimulating Are Toys Research Paper Example

How Cognitively Stimulating Are Toys?

Introduction
Toys are things that children use to play with. There is a variety of toys ranging from dolls, cars, airplanes, trains, guns, utensils, houses, animals, building blocks and puzzles. They are manufactured in the model of the things we adults use in our day to day activities. Since children cannot participate in these activities, toys are created so that they can keep them busy. They are found in toyshops, supermarkets, shops and even on the streets. Some are affordable while others are very expensive depending on the quality. This paper discusses whether toys are necessary for the cognitive growth of children at length.
There are several categories of toys based on the age of the kids. From birth to three months, the toys are quite simple. They include shakers, spiky balls with colors and cute little teddy bears. These toys are unisex and are relatively affordable. Parents normally hold out the toys for the kids to see and so that they can capture their attention. For the shakers, they shake them making the infants interested. The spiky balls or those with colors normally capture the infant’s attention, such that they want to hold them. The teddy bears mostly made from rubber are also something the kids want to explore. Manufacturers of these toys claim that these toys keep infants busy. This is true since they open up the kids’ minds and make them want to explore the toys in depth. When an infant cries and you show up with these toys, they automatically get interested in them and forget they were crying. Exposure to these toys helps them mentally and visually. These toys are durable and can be washed especially since infants are fond of directing anything they hold into their mouths.
Toys for six to twelve months are a bit complicated compared to those of birth to three months. They include potties, cars, and dolls. Cars are specifically meant for boys and dolls for girls while the potties are for both sexes. The dolls and teddy bears usually have some animated sound since it is at this stage that children are trying to learn how they talk. The potties are used to train the kids how to use toilets and are manufactured in a way that they are so appealing to the kids that they also want to play with them. They are also very affordable, and the parents have to guide the kids in playing with them. For example, they have to guide them in using the potty. Manufacturers claim that these toys are not harmful and in so many ways appeal to their interests. These toys help to stimulate the child’s mind to learn that they need to use the toilet, help them have a sense of the world and develop the use of their senses like talking, feeling and listening. They are usually impervious and can be easily cleaned. These toys are designed in a totally not so complicated way, making them help the child grow psychologically.
Eighteen to twenty-four months is the larger age bracket of kids. The toys manufactured for these kids are, therefore, the most complicated of the three. They include jigsaw puzzles, building blocks and cartoons. Jigsaw puzzles and building blocks can be used by either of the sexes while specific cartoons are manufactured for girls and others for boys. Dora is for the kids while Ben 10 is for the boys. These toys can be expensive at times depending on their quality. Parents are advised to help the children in the jigsaw puzzles and building blocks. Manufacturers say that these toys help the kids relate with the world. They help open up their brains and empower their tactile senses in a way nothing else can. They are also durable when stored well and used properly. The jigsaw puzzles, however, cannot be washed. These toys help bring out the kid’s abilities and talents especially the games. It could be fast decision-making that really helps develop the child.
There are some companies that insist that toys are very important to children as they help grow their capacity to think also known as cognitive stimulation. The toys make the kids adventurous and want to explore the world around them based on what they see. They tend to ask questions related to these toys and the world which greatly stimulates their minds. Their minds open up, and they become very curious of their surroundings and how some things very operate. Thus, it is very normal to see children playing with their toys and behaving as if they are using the real stuff we adults use.

Critique

Children have the perception that they are grownups and that the toys they use are their property for them to use as they please. As mentioned elsewhere in this paper, toys are models of most of the real things that people interact with in their day to day activities. It is therefore allowed to have this notion as kids. However, this perception is not okay in the children’s development because it is a false belief. As they grow up, they realize that this is not the case and, therefore, have to adjust their mindsets once more and understand that those are toys and there are actually real machines that adults work hard for so that they can actually acquire them. Adjusting the mind is not a very easy process and takes time. If one is not keen, they still end up having these toys in their adulthood that they do not want to part with which is very detrimental to the psychological growth of the individual. In conclusion, toys are both important and harmful to the development of a child. Therefore, it is important that a parent is around when the children are using the toys.