Importance of What Your Child Plays With

I am always on the lookout for activities to engage Amina with. One thing that I and my husband agreed on was to NOT get electronic toys that have blaring music or flashing lights. I’ve seen how these toys overstimulate a child and they’ve had to be calmed down at the end of it. And there isn’t much learning happening either.. From what I’ve observed there is little work for the child to do. Instead it’s the toy that does all the work. 

Play is so important for a child’s development. It is through play that a child’s social, cognitive and language skills (to name a few) grow.
The other day I came across a study, where three types of toys were used to find out how each affected the parent-child interaction for the purpose of early language development. They used three materials- electronic toys, traditional toys and books. The parents interacted with the children with the toys for a certain amount of time. 

Well, guess what the results were? To quote the study, "Play with electronic toys is associated with decreased quantity and quality of language input compared with play with books or traditional toys. To promote early language development, play with electronic toys should be discouraged"

And I do agree with this. I believe parents are children’s first teachers from whom they learn. And what we do with this knowledge and how we go about it goes a long way in shaping them. 

The greater the interaction, the more children learn.
I prefer buying toys that would foster Amina’s creativity and imagination. She is at a stage where she loves to explore. And these budding, inquisitive minds need much more than just being plopped down in front of the screen. We have tried to keep only a small amount of toys around her at a time so that she doesn’t get overwhelmed, and she plays and gives time to each one. As of now, she has the traditional stacking cups, blocks and rattles. Other than that, I try to select objects from the house for her to play with.
In the picture above (sorry for the blurry image), I have filled the basket with items of different materials-  a cleaning cloth made of foam, a sponge and a cotton napkin. It was fascinating seeing her touch, feel and put things in her mouth! Of course, I was nearby to stop her from harming herself. She turned them over, felt them and kept hitting them on the floor. She was at it for a good 10-15 minutes. Along the course I kept talking with her, telling her about each thing she picked up and asking her to feel it. I concentrated on the verbs- touch, feel, pick, put and the material- soft, rough, spongy. At the end of the day she enjoyed the activity (at least I hope she did!) and we both got to learn new things from each other :)