How To Choose the Right Toys for Healthy Child Development

The main line of development of the pre-school age is formed mainly in the leading activity of the period – plot-role play. (You can see the directional game and dramatization as variations of the creative plot game). It is in this activity that very important pre-school-age creations such as imagination, arbitrariness, self-confidence form. Moreover, at pre-school age, the active involvement of children in society begins and the creation of socially important characteristics such as tolerance and ability for prosocial forms of behavior. Each of these capabilities requires specific forms of play and therefore certain game materials.

Imagination

Imagination develops most effectively in the role and directing game. The implementation of these types of game requires:

• “feature” possessions, open child fantasy and allowing different names and uses (capable of being substitutes for different objects and characters);
• Common little dolls (babies, soldiers);
• Dolls of unspecified sex and age (faceless);
• Finger dolls and dolls for theatre;
• Small animal figurines (soft and plastic);
• Objects of unspecified significance (rods, balls of all material, pieces of textile);

Independence

Building and developing autonomy in role playing and playing with rules. These types of games require:

• Doll sets of different genders and sizes;
• Doll furniture, dishes, clothes;
• Kits for doctor, hairdresser, shop play, etc.;
• Costume details and attributes that help you accept and hold a game role (doctor’s robe and bandage, car steering, militia cap, red caps, etc.);
• Transport goods (trucks, trains, cars that allow you to carry something);
• Dolls and accessories for domestic play;
• Attributes required to play a hairdresser, doctor, etc.;
• Board-print games;
• All kinds of age-appropriate didactic games.

Contact

Obviously, contact occurs first with other people, adults and peers. However, in pre-school age, it is possible (and quite common) to come into contact with a mantle who is like a “partner” in conversation. These are so-called “possessions-girlfriends” who are capable of becoming lovers. Dolls and animals with attractive exterior and vivid individuality can become such: plush teddies, caddies, dogs, small dolls with expressive, artistic exterior that are comfortable for a child’s actions and easy to “inspire.” Important qualities of such property (dolls or animals): incompleteness, openness to any transformation, helplessness, which provides for care and care by the child, which stimulates prosocial behavior and assistance. Only in this case can “mantle-girlfriend” not only be a doll, but become the second “EU,” an object of concern and an interface partner.

In addition to building these important personal qualities at pre-school age, there is an intense involvement of the child in social life, which takes place, first, by participating in the festivities that are accepted to celebrate in our country and, second, by introducing the peculiarities of other peoples (tolerance raising).

Engaging in social events

The most typical form of involvement of a pre-school-aged child in public life is participation in festivities. Participation in the festivities is associated with many of the festive attributes which includes:

• Decorations for Christmas trees;
• Flags, balloons;
• Whistles, rattles;
• Caps;
• Strings etc.

Things that reflect different moments in adult life can also be quite useful:

• Dolls in different costumes that match different situations;
• Work attributes for different professions and adults;
• Models of modern technical means;
• Toy cars of different types etc.

Tolerance and humane behavior

Tolerance education can be encouraged by belongings that model a different lifestyles. These may be features of appearance, custom and human behavior belonging to other cultures, such as:

• Dolls that reflect people from different ethnicities;
• Costumes of different peoples;
• Toy tableware and household objects relating to different cultures, etc.

The raising of humane behavior is facilitated by the care of a doll or toy animal, which is carried out in a directional and role-playing game.