Recreating real and imaginary objects, the toy serves the purposes of mental, moral, aesthetic, and physical education. Moreover, toys help the child learn about the world around him and accustom him to purposeful, meaningful activities, promoting the development of thinking, memory, speech, and emotions. The toy should please the child, be absolutely safe, and meet many regulations and standards. Therefore, it is important to consider all the recommendations for choosing a toy for a certain age of the child.
The toy must be made of safe materials – do not buy toys made of natural fur and tree bark. In addition, leather toys are not recommended for children under three years old. When choosing soft toys, it is worth remembering that they should have a dense and well-stitched pile since they can be shed (Healey & Mendelsohn, 2019). Also, bacteria accumulate in soft toys and can become a source of infections, so this is not the best option for the youngest children and those prone to allergic reactions. The toy should be free of sharp protruding parts, burrs, and sharp corners. The color should be as natural as possible: it does not violate the child’s ideas about the real world (Larson & Jordan, 2019). Moreover, toys of “poisonous colors” can frighten children and contain “toxic” dyes.
The toy should not have a persistent unpleasant smell; if it has, it is made of “toxic” materials. It will be important to study the instructions carefully: it can be applied both to the toy itself and to the packaging and label or be in the form of an insert. The instructions must specify the age limit, a warning about the possibility of accidents if precautions are not followed (Yu & Schwebel, 2018). Moreover, when buying musical wind toys, it is important to pay attention to the places for contact with the lips of children — they must be made of easily disinfected materials that do not absorb moisture.
In conclusion, when buying toys, it is important to pay attention to the smallest details. Often parents neglect the rules and think that the danger will bypass them. However, we must not forget the number of cases when children were admitted to the hospital because the toys did not correspond to the age of the children. Therefore, details such as smell, color, shape, and following the instructions are extremely important when buying toys.
References
Healey, A., & Mendelsohn, A. (2019). Selecting appropriate toys for young children in the digital era. Pediatrics, 143(1). Web.
Larson, D. B., & Jordan, S. R. (2019). Playing it safe: toy safety and conformity assessment in Europe and the United States. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 85(4), 763–779. Web.
Yu, X., & Schwebel, D. (2018). The Public health challenges of consumer non-compliance to toy product recalls and proposed solutions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(3), 540. Web.