In an era of overstimulation and constant stimulation, toys that promote a quieter and more sustained play environment can be hugely beneficial to young children and their cognitive development. A wooden toy is very relaxing and attractive not only to the child's sense of touch. Research shows that children experience quieter and more advantageous quality play with wooden toys than with any other material. Exploring and playing with toys made with organic materials allows children to slow down and explore the qualities and possibilities of play.
Noisy and bright plastic toys can overstimulate, stress and cause exhaustion in children compared to the minimalist, healthy and non-intrusive nature of wooden toys. The result is a child immersed in silence and deeply in imaginative quality play. One of the many benefits of blocks and other wooden toys is that they give children the opportunity to recreate and imitate the world around them. Wooden toys encourage children to interact and collaborate effectively, an essential element in children's development.
In addition, most wooden toys are handmade and the quality of the workmanship ensures that the final product meets the highest standards. It is resistant to mold and decay, so many wooden toys can last for generations without degrading, while plastic can break after a few years. The study suggests that the benefits of playing with wood could be due to the fact that children use more cognitive muscles when playing with toys made with it. Children also begin to exercise fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination with wooden toys instead of simply pressing buttons and watching.
One of the main advantages of wooden toys is that they require the child to use their own imagination to play. Some of the classic wooden toys, such as puzzles and building blocks, help children learn arithmetic, motor skills and problem solving. Wooden toys don't have electronic parts or voice commands to tell your child what to do. Children can choose between realistic wooden toys that reproduce real life objects, such as wooden food, vehicles and household items, or simpler ones, such as blocks and geometric shapes.
Nowadays, wooden toys are manufactured according to research and methodologies on children's learning and development, based on principles developed by legendary child psychologists, scientists and pedagogues such as Montessori, Steiner and Dewey. It goes without saying that wooden toys are essential for the development of fine motor skills, which is the coordination of small muscles and the synchronization of hands and fingers with the eyes. Many wooden toys are made in Germany, where there are prizes for those who meet certain criteria called “Spiel gut”, which literally means “play well”. In a world of plastic toys, electronic devices, and other overstimulating toys, wooden toys not only look better but they're also very good for your child's development.
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