toys – Page 2 – Marisa Meidle's Baby Showers

Reduction In Quality of Modern Toys

Call me old fashioned, but toys are not built as well as they used to be. Back in the day, a good toy used to last you well into adulthood, and would never go wrong. You could drop your wooden toy car from the top of a multi-story car park and the most damage it would receive would be a few minor scratches to the paint work. Try dropping a modern toy car from any height at all and it pretty much atomizes. You spend weeks looking for all the bits and pieces that have cracked, smashed and fallen off.

Some people might suggest that today’s toys are more advanced and have more technical pieces to go wrong. This is a pretty lousy argument however as there are some toys that are just as simple these days, and yet they still fall apart. Also, think back to when got old train sets as gifts, and the intricacies involved with the small parts and mechanics. These trains seemed to be built from rock. You could lay something on the line to derail it and it even when the whole thing came off the tracks, it still stayed in one piece.

So how come toys are not being made the standard that they once were? Well, as you might expect it comes down to money. There are still some toy makers and distributors that provide good quality products, but they are sadly in the minority these days and most companies are more concerned with getting high volume of products, for low cost and built from rubbish materials.

What to do? If you’re buying for a girl, hunt around for the best gifts for women on trusted websites, where you know you’ll get quality. When buying gifts for men you’re more advised to actually go to a shop to take a look at the build quality. As boys are a little more aggressive with their toys than girls, making sure you buy ones that are built of stern stuff is pretty important

How Your Childhood Toys Influence Your Adult Attitudes and Emotions

You can probably remember your favorite toy when you were a child. It’ll be the one you took with you everywhere you went and had a hissy fit about whenever you couldn’t find it. Maybe without even knowing it, you probably had a type of toy that you played with most, be it balls or building block or perhaps it was toy cooking apparatus. These choices may have affected you more than you realise, as new research from the London Psychology Institute suggests we are strongly influenced in later life by our childhood toys. Lets take a better look at the main 3 findings from the study.

1. Those children who were encouraged to play with educational toys did not become more intelligent, but were more analytical in their approach to problems in later life. The research showed that learning toys promoted patience and taught people to break down a problem into its simplest parts in order to overcome tasks

2. Those children who played mostly with toys such as dolls or action men etc (toys that had human characteristics) displayed greater communication abilities and could interact better with those around them as adults. I has been suggested that any object that vaguely replicates a human encourages children to communicate with it and share any musings that they have with it.

3. Probably the most interesting finding from the research was that children who always had access to toys wherever they were, not only had more confidence in later life but had better earnings. This means if children played with bath toys, took toys out and about with them and had access to toys at friends houses etc, they became more successful in later life.

There is of course the argument of unknown cause and effect which could undermine this research potentially. For example, did the boy become more analytical by playing with his puzzle, or did he choose the puzzle because he was more analytical by nature? Most experts tend to think that its a bit of both, which means that the study still provides some valid findings.

It Is Vital To Know About Safe Toddler Toys, In Order To Watch over Your Toddler

First of all, we must understand that the suggested age that is listed on the toy’s packaging is important. This is a good guideline to use when making up one’s mind to purchase a new toy. This is especially helpful to new parents and people who are purchasing a gift. The age recommendation will help you to avoid buying a toy which may be too advanced for a child, or a toy which may be risky to a very small child.

Toys with small parts should never be given to a youngster under the age of three years. kids in this age group frequently put objects into their mouths. This introduces a serious choking hazard. kids are very quick, and even though some people believe that they will have time to intervene if this happens, sadly, it is seldom the case. Toddlers should always be given age appropriate toys.

Painted toys are a bit of a dilemma. Unfortunately, many of these toys are manufactured in areas with standards that do not meet proper safety requirements. There’s in fact been an inflow of painted toys containing lead paint, circulated in many places. If you choose to purchase a painted toy, you should be sure to take a look at the country where it was manufactured. Find out what the toy safety standards and prerequisites are. If you have any doubts, it is probably best not to purchase the toy.
It is important that your toddler’s toys are washable. Again, small kids tend to put everything into their mouths. Germs can be very quickly spread, through a contaminated toy which has not been decently cleaned. Toys which are made out of fabric, must be both washable, and flame resistant.

If you want to know about safe toddler toys, it is important that you watch your toddler’s doings and habits.

Beware of Toy Recalls When Buying Toys

When you shop for toys for children, it is important to know which toys are safe to purchase and which ones are not safe. Some toys have been recalled but the stores continue to shelf them. If you have not been keeping up with the news and the toy recall list, then you might purchase some really cool toys that your kids will love to play with but these toys may contain some toxic, harmful materials. You need to be careful when purchasing toddlers toys or any toys for babies in particular because a tiny amount of dangerous material in toys can harm them.

It is disturbing that dangerous toys are still sold in stores nationwide, despite a lot of laws that aim to protect children from toxic toys. Toy safety is an important issue that parents are always worried about. Although most toys on store shelves are considered safe, there continues to be various toys that are dangerous for small kids. Therefore, parents and child care providers need to exercise care in order to prevent toy-related deaths and injuries. With more knowledge, the scope of unsafe toys has been widened to include toys that were considered to be safe such as those labeled as phthalate-free. It is true that even some products labeled phthalate-free contain the dangerous chemical.

While manufacturers of toys should quickly recall products that are unsafe and also provide parents all the information they need to allow them to buy toys that are safe for their children, some of them just do not. You will no doubt have heard of many toy recalls in the news but there are many more toy recalls that are not reported. Therefore, parents may not be aware that they are unsafe to use or buy. The government agency that is charged with keeping toys safe called The Consumer Product Safety Commission have published alerts and information on toy safety but there are still lots of manufacturers that are not doing anything and still sell toys laden with toxic substances. The Consumer Product Safety Commission cannot do much about existing toys that are already out on the shelves.

If you think that you have a hazardous toy or any product that is unsafe, you need report the incident to the CPSC by calling a toll-free Consumer Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 800-638-8270).

Disney Toys for Kids

One of the best toys to give to your children, are stuffed and Disney plush toys. The reason being is that’s because they are cuddly, they comfort you, they look good and many people get them as collectibles. Kids nowadays want the latest stuffed and plush toys like stuffed toys from the latest video games, and the latest anime, television shows and movies. Stuffed toys can also be used to express themselves emotionally and creatively.

According to the research, playing with plush and stuffed toys can help children in many ways. The child can imagine that the stuffed toy is like a friend which they can share their thoughts, emotions, dreams or troubles. By providing your child with many stuffed toys, the child will turn to be more creative and imaginative by giving each toy a different personality and name. And as a result the child will improve their social skills and be more confident.

Studies also state that by playing with stuffed toys rather than general toys the child will show different sets of behaviour. Children with Disney stuffed toys are seen to be more empathetic, less agitated and show good behaviour towards their parents and siblings. They tend to also develop a very positive and confident attitude towards life. Plush animals come in different sizes ranging from tiny cute ones to huge jumbo size.

Playing with stuffed animals and plush toys can also have a calm and soothing effect on kids. What stuffed toys are suitable for your child? Animal stuffed toys are most popular and are given to many children around the world. They are widely accepted among babies and young children. The toys might also vary in different shapes and animals. Walt Disney toys are very popular with children.

Another popular form of stuffed toy is the ones from video games, movies and anime cartoons. Kids who play video games love stuffed toys from Super Mario, Donkey Kong and Pokémon. Recent movies such as BOLT and Wall-E have their own stuffed toys which are popular with kids. Naruto and Bleach are Japanese anime shows which have stuffed toys that are also popular and trendy now.