Because of the premature birth of Little D, we would conduct cognitive tests every once in a while, and once, I asked the psychology professor about how to build a smart preschooler, and the professor emphasized one sentence:
Play, many, many play, in "play learning".
At that time, I began to think: how to play? What to play? What kind of toys should be picked for the baby, so that the baby loves to play, and let the baby play more and more intelligently?
How to play?
When it comes to what to play, there are probably two big extremes that we hear about:
The first is basic free range, letting the child go crazy outside every day;
The other is basically the theoretical school, which arranges a lot of sitting activities every day to develop children's abilities in all aspects.
For preschool children, the content of play must be diversified, must be combined with dynamic and static, and can be retracted freely.
What toys to play with?
Take the toys we play with our children every day, and you can join our ingenuity in the choice of toys.
The standard of a good toy should be based on ensuring the safety of the material, so that it is interesting, diverse to play, and stimulates children's interest and desire to explore.
When I visited the Little D Kindergarten a few years ago, I talked to a kindergarten director about the topic of toy selection, and she combined her classroom settings to summarize several major types of toys that preschool children should have, so that children can fully play!
1. Sensory development toys
Benefits: Stimulates sensory development, promotes color, shape cognition, and early mathematical science enlightenment.
Before the age of 1, there is no need to introduce additional toys that develop the senses alone, it is a good enlightenment to touch the child more every day, talk and sing with the child more, let the child see the face of the parents, and introduce some toys with different materials and bright colors.
After the age of 1, you can start to introduce some sensory play games, spend money can buy plasticine, power sand, etc., and there are many ideas that do not cost money, such as playing with water, playing pasta and so on.
For example: some plastic animals, a basin of water, and poking holes under several disposable cups allow children to experience the texture of water.
Of course, sensory games are not only about playing with water, but also about catching hair balls, putting various objects in sealed bags, and so on.
2. Brain toys
Benefits: Improved problem-solving, concentration and frustration resistance
There is a class of toys that additionally require the child to focus on a certain goal to solve a specific problem.
For example: building blocks, puzzles, threading rope, small nail boards are all good toys.
The simplest example is that a child wants to pile blocks into a tower and fold the snares in order.
Little D, who is still lying down, has already begun to play with the little nail board
3. Art toys
Advantages: Improve creativity, aesthetic influence, cultivate hands-on ability
When it comes to artistic enlightenment, in addition to drawing, there is also a good game: tearing paper (no child does not like to tear paper)
Many parents will have headaches, the picture books bought back have been torn, in fact, tearing paper is also one of the children's exploration behavior, rather than blocking, it is better to provide an alternative solution, it is estimated that this is why almost every kindergarten has this paper tearing art.
There is also a kind of soft paper with some color, similar to single-layer napkins. This kind of child will also like it, and randomly trampling paper is their favorite. After the age of 1, you can play, let the child knead the paper at will. This kneading process also exercises the child's finger strength, proper guidance can also recognize the color.
If you don't want to prepare so much trouble yourself, you can also buy some soft paper handmade material packages online, which will bring a variety of soft paper and pattern templates.
4. Playing toys
Advantages: Exercise imagination, language development, and self-awareness
Many of the role-playing toys are large pieces, and my feeling of use is that if you want to buy a lot, you can choose from the following categories.
"The Other Me in the World"
Take out a toy, such as a plush toy, and let the child learn how to take care of it, thinking of it as "the other me in the world", which is a way to continuously strengthen the development of the child's self.
Scenario class
The most common scene toys are: kitchen, doctor, afternoon tea, dinner, shopping cashier and so on.
If the family buys it, it is not necessary to buy a particularly large piece at one time, you can buy a "protagonist" and then match it with the existing toys at home.
The theme chosen was best started with scenarios that children were interested in and familiar with, such as little D's love of eating and shopping (well, I was born), so we only had a small kitchen and a cash register, and then we could play with other toys in the house.
Dress up class
For example, a firefighter's helmet, a cloak, or even a blanket to role-play. This type of introduction time is not in a hurry, generally need to be until the child is over 3 years old, and begins to be willing to play with other small partners.
At this time, several children discuss the role assignment together, and jointly direct and self-act, which is also the development of social skills.