4 of the Best Toys of All Time for Child Development
From balls to blocks, today I’m sharing four of the best toys of all time for child development and how to play with them to target speech and language.
Have you ever had this experience?
You buy the hottest toy of the year for your toddler or preschooler. You can’t wait to see the excitement across your little one’s face, to show off all the toy’s features. It arrives in the mail a handful of days later. The unwrapping begins. There’s some clapping. Maybe there’s even some squealing.
And then your child spends two minutes exploring the toy before showing a clear preference for the cardboard box it arrived in.
You feel like you’ve wasted your money.
It’s a bit baffling, and I’ve been there.
But I finally learned what works.
I learned to lean on the classic toys –– the best toys that have stood the test of time.
I don’t see these toys going out of style anytime soon, and (bonus!) they are some of the best toys to support your child’s development. Including speech and language! But therapy time with these toys won’t feel like therapy for your child. He or she will think it’s play –– because it is!
I’ll share four of these toys shortly. But first, let’s give play its moment.
Play Is Invaluable for Child Development
Society tends to undervalue play, but it’s one of the most important avenues for kids’ learning. Think of play as children’s “work.” It’s how they learn about the world.
Play not only supports development of skills across developmental areas: cognitive, physical, self-help, social-emotional, speech and language, and pre-academics. It also supports bonding between parent and child. (1) And it fosters interaction skills between children.
It’s important to pay close attention to play skills, as many of our children with developmental delays struggle in this area. We also know that improving play skills will actually help with the development of skills in many other domains, including speech, language, and social interaction! (2)
And did you know that not all play is created equal
Play is actually surprisingly complex. Experts divide different kinds of play into different types or categories. Today I’m sharing four –– with toys!
4 Different Types of Play and the Best Toys for Each
While you can certainly find ways to target all different play types with any toy, some toys lend themselves more naturally than others!
Dolls for Functional Play
Functional play involves using items for their appropriate function. Children re-enact scenarios they have witnessed, discovering how to use objects and how they work together.
A baby doll is my go-to for developing functional play skills in a child. Dolls are naturally intriguing to young children, and they offer an endless number of scenarios to recreate! A child might perform familiar routines with a doll. For example, he or she might feed it with a spoon, brush its hair, help it drink with a cup, or put it to sleep with a blanket. The child might explore actions with the doll, too: jumping, sitting, throwing, and climbing.
And play with dolls is conducive to speech and language learning! If you have an early communicator, simply begin by narrating your child’s play with single words (e.g., “Baby!” or “Night-night”). Practice following directions by directing your child to complete actions with the doll (e.g., “Make the baby eat”).
Playdough for Symbolic Play
Symbolic play is play that involves using an item as a symbol for another item it represents. Through this type of play, children learn that something can symbolize something else, just like we use words to stand for items, actions, people, or ideas. Symbolic play develops flexible and abstract thinking.
Of all the classics, playdough is one of the best toys for practicing symbolic play. We can use playdough to make any number of things –– the sky is the limit! I like to start by rolling a piece of playdoh into a long snake. First it’s a snake, but it quickly becomes a necklace. And then a snail. A flat circular piece of playdough might transform from a plate to a pancake, from a frisbee to a beret.
There are plenty of opportunities for speech and language practice with this favorite toy. Target imitation by patting, rolling, pinching, poking, and squishing the playdough; does your child copy your model? Practice using describing words related to senses: smooth, squishy, smelly, bumpy, and soft.
Blocks for Constructive Play
Constructive play, as you might guess, involves building and constructing. It helps children understand that simple, individual units can, together, create something new and complex. Consider the significance with regard to language here! Small units like words can, together, form sentences. And sentences, together, can form stories.
Blocks are a fun and easy way to engage children in constructive play. A child might start by simply banging blocks together and then stacking blocks, one on top of another, to form a tower. Knocking the tower over is half the fun! As he or she develops, the child might create other structures. Building houses, castles, walls, cars, and bridges are fun ways to explore constructive play.
If you’re looking for speech and language skills to target easily with blocks, start with turn-taking! With your child, alternate adding a block to the structure you’re building together; use language such as “my turn” and “your turn.” Blocks also lend naturally to pre-academic skills. Practice counting blocks and naming their colors and shapes.
Balls for Motor Play
Motor play is important for developing a child’s physical skills, including balance, coordination, motor planning, strength, and more. And many of these skills are important for adequate production of speech, too!
Balls are my favorite classic toy for motor play. Try using balls with your young child to encourage reaching, rolling, and tapping. Balls are also great for filling and dumping! If your child is a bit older, grab a bouncy ball to get your child running. A blown up beach ball is perfect for catching and kicking. A big yoga ball is a fun way to practice balance (with adult support!).
And even ball play can be turned into a language-learning opportunity! Practice spatial concepts (e.g., “Throw it up in the air” or “The ball is under the table”). Work on verb tenses (e.g., “We’re rolling the ball!” or “You kicked the ball!”) and even early Wh- questions (“Where did the ball go?”) when your child is ready.
Keep Classic Toys in Your Closet
With the holidays around the corner and online shopping carts filling, make sure you’re keeping the classics in mind. Trade high-tech gadgets and expensive accessories for dolls, blocks, balls, and playdough.
Those are four of the best toys for child development, but there are more on the list! For others that have stood the test of time, as well as tips for playing with them, check out Speech and Language at Home’s Play Skills Parent Handout.
If you do nothing else today, play!
