As fidget and sensory toys have become more popular it is easy to assume that incorporating technology would be the newest craze. It certainly is the way in which most things have ‘moved with the times’. However, it is actually the more ‘simply’ toys that appear to be making an impact in the toy market, becoming the ‘must have’ item once again.
It is once again being encouraged for you to try and think, when purchasing a toy, is this battery powered or baby powered? Stacy Keane, head of learning at Monti Kids, a Montessori toy subscription service said, “when a child engages with a battery-powered toy, they will press a button as they wait to be entertained. Baby-powered toys offer opportunities for growth, problem solving, challenge, achieving goals”.
Montessori toys have been around for over 100 years and have been shown to not only be beneficial in childhood learning but also to foster wellbeing throughout life, being particularly beneficial in a child’s formative years. These toys can help parents to jumpstart their child’s learning at home by providing open-ended learning, relating to practical life experiences and child-directed play opportunities. Before the age of six, your child’s brain is relatively incapable of distinguishing fantasy from reality. In order for them to develop real imagination and a secure relationship to their world, they need to first learn about what the world really is like. This is where Montessori toys and learning comes in!
These toys have proven to provide children with the ability to go on to enjoy more general wellbeing throughout their lives, a theory that was proven in the journal Frontiers in Psychology in November 2021. In this study researchers worked with 1,905 US adults between the ages of 18-81, comparing the half who attended schools that worked with Montessori toys / learning and half that didn’t. With them finding that, “across the board, even holding for demographic variables, adults who had Montessori schooling reported more general wellbeing, engagement, social trust and self-confidence.”
So, whilst you may not be able to control how your child learns at school, you do have the ability to mould the way you learn with them at home. It is therefore recommended that you introduce Montessori toys into your home and play. But where would you begin to look when shopping for such toys?
When it comes to Montessori toys you should look out for simple toys that promote open-ended play, such as:
As Montessori expert Stacy Keane said, “the more children are able to use their hands to engage with child-operated toys, the [more able] they will be to solve problems and experience their environment and the more they will discover.” Not only this, but the layout of where your child’s toys are can make all the difference. By placing toys in areas, they can reach, it is giving them the ability to be encouraged to select what they want to do and be able to play independently without you having to hand them items.
For more information on what we would recommend more specifically for your child please contact us here.
Resources:
https://www.mother.ly/parenting/montessori-toys-and-benefits/
https://www.mother.ly/parenting/child/child-learn-play/montessori-at-home-7-ways-to-prepare-your-child-for-preschool/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaklich/2021/04/29/the-best-montessori-toys-child-developmental-for-babies-toddlers-kids-2021/?sh=604d40e237d7#open-web-0
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-017-0012-7
https://montikids.com/montessori/what-makes-toy-montessori/
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