Picking Winners: How to Select the Right Toys for Your Child

By Matthew S. Robinson

Whether you’re a toy manufacturer, a parent or a child-development researcher, there’s no question that play is serious business. Every year, hundreds of new toys and games come on the market competing for shelf space, advertising budgets and, most important, consumers’ attention.

So how can you tell which toys are appropriate for your child?

“Almost any play material can present opportunities for being creative, imaginative and constructive,” says W. George Scarlett, Ph.D., assistant professor of child development at Tufts University and author of the forthcoming book Children’s Play. Parents should not ask what toys or play materials are “educational” and “creative,” Scarlett advises, but rather how the child’s interests can create opportunities for learning and creating with a particular toy.

Child-development and play experts offer these tips and considerations to keep in mind when filling your own child’s toy box:

Look for toys that are related to your child’s interests.

Toy use can be subjective and each child has different needs and interests.

“The key is to follow your children’s interests and to not be limited by what they ask for,” says Susan Oliver, director of Playing for Keeps, an organization dedicated to promoting healthy and constructive play. “Kids have different reasons that lead them to ask for a particular toy. If they have seen a toy on TV or among their peers, that can make the whole thing more complicated.”

But rather than giving in to requests for the latest fad or a child’s whim of the moment, Oliver advises parents to watch how their kids spend their time when given the choice and let that be a guide.

Playing for Keeps analyzes and shares the latest information about play and proper play materials with teachers, pediatricians and parents. To help adults make the best choices for kids, the organization focuses not so much on individual toys, but on characteristics of the play those toys encourage.

“As play is a natural way for children to learn, most children gravitate toward certain play features,” Oliver says. “So, if you try to find a ‘good’ toy, you need to start with where the child is developmentally, what they are working on, and what is fun and/or challenging for them.”

Look for toys that match a child’s stage of development.

“I do not think that parents can choose any toy on the shelf and assume it will work for their child. You have to know your children and understand what they can do and what they like,” says Diana Nielander, director of business development for the National Lekotek Center, an organization that researches play, acts as a consultant to toy manufacturers and provides special play centers and toy lending libraries – all primarily for children with special needs.

Nielander urges parents to pay attention to the manufacturer’s age-level suggestions on toys, even when it comes to kids with special needs. “Age ranges are very helpful to parents because they help guide us to things that are closer to good matches. Even if your child’s developmental age does not match his or her chronological age, age-level labeling can help in your decisions.”