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Guests
Lorraine
EricaThe lucky winner of the Dino Adventure Rig is Sara Busymomto5. Congratulations Sara!
Have you ever stood in a toy aisle before and felt completely overwhelmed? I mean, how do you choose between the gizmo that lights up and the brightly colored box filled with action figures? Do you choose what your child is begging for or what will help their brain development? Read on as Sprig Toys helps you better understand play and navigate the tricky toy aisle…
Play is so important to child development that it has been recognized by the UN High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. I had no idea until I started delving deeper into the research of play for this post. It’s a powerful statement and the UN has good reasons for placing such importance on play. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing imagination, dexterity, as well as physical, cognitive and emotional strength according to Pediatrics.
Given the importance of play in our children’s development, what are the best toys for children these days? How do you choose when we have such an ocean of choices? Up to about 5 or 6 years of age, many of the toy purchasing decisions are still made by caregivers; after this point children tend to clamor for the toys they see on TV. Increasingly toys for older children are disappearing as video games move down age and take over the bulk of a child’s play time.
While you still have the ability to choose for your child, we would recommend your choices should be heavily weighted towards toys that encourage undirected or open-ended play. That isn’t to say that a video game once in a while doesn’t have its place, but most experts agree that the bulk of children’s play time should be open ended. Object play with the hands creates a brain suited for understanding and solving problems of all kinds.
When in the toy aisle, take a look at not just the flashy packaging, but delve deeper into what is actually IN the box. Does the toy dictate to the child how it should be played with or does it offer endless possibilities for the child? Our parents’ toys: the wooden blocks, the heavy duty dump truck and the tea sets of yesterday are classics for a reason, they offer the open ended play that foster imaginations. Maybe this is why many children opt to playing with the box itself, boxes are blank canvases waiting for an adventure! Some great options along this line are: Sprig Toys’ Adventure Series line or Eco-trucks; Green Toys Tea or Tool sets; Legos. Don’t forget the value of a great dress-up box to foster imaginative play as well, dress-up clothes can be purchased either at your local toy store or even at your local thrift store, your child probably won’t know the difference unless they are a dedicated Cinderella fan!
Kim Greenlee of Sprig Toys
If you ever have a question or just need a fun toy recommendation for the beloved little one in your life, feel free to tweet me: @kimatsprig. I would love to chat!
Sprig Toys is offering a great giveaway for our readers.
Leave a comment on this post and your name will be entered in a chance to win this fantastic
Dino Adventure Rig
Be sure to leave your email address (will not be published) or Twitter handle so we can contact the lucky winner.
Want another chance to win? Become a fan of The Survival Guide for Rookie Moms on Facebook and get an extra entry for this giveaway. Leave a comment under The Right Stuff (in the toy aisle) post on our Facebook page stating you are a new fan.
Contest runs until Thursday December 31, 2009. Canada and US only
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Tawna Hill with What is Natural?
Becky Goddard-Hill with Dressing Your Baby Beautifully on a Budget
Shari of Baby Banz with Winter Sun Protection Tips
Lindsay of GlowBaby on Keeping Track of Your Newborn Just Got Easier
My sons would flip over the dino toys!!
My daughter would love this, she loves trucks LOL she says “truck” about a thousand times when we go for a walk.
thanks!
amym_brown@hotmail.com
My boys would Love these!
sprague.liz at gmail dot com
I’m a Facebook Fan (Elizabeth Poff-Sprague)
sprague.liz at gmail dot com
This was a great post.
I am a HUGE believer of free play. I love getting my kids outside to play and LOVE watching them use the toys around the house to make their own adventures….THAT is being a kid
I love these toys. The dino rig is especially neat – truck AND dinosaur – what could be better?!
alotofloves@gmail.com
Love Sprig Toys. Have Adventure Rig. DS would enjoy Dino toy
COMPLETELY AGREE! My son only has 2 baskets of toys at age 2 1/2 – and the neighbourhood kids all ask me where I’m hiding the rest! They’ve got so many their parents have boxes stashed away in their crawl spaces and attics! But his toys are good quality such as a Discover Rig and a Rally Racer. (thanks to http://www.raspberrykids.com who introduced me to your Sprig line)
The Discover Rig often gets used as a lawnmower (summer) or a vacuum (winter). It’s so refreshing to see him use his imagination and free play with them and other things like the blanket, chairs and pillows that make a fort, or the pots and pans and spoons which become a musical band. Given the new interest in Dinosaurs, he’d love to win a Dino Toy! And I absolutely LOVE the Dolphin explorer boat – Saw it just yesterday and must pick it up for Christmas for him. Keep up the great work!!!!
Great post! Thanks.
Great article. We have a lot of open ended toys and lean towards natural objects we find around the home too. Talked about choosing Early Childhood toys in this weeks podcast with Mara Kaplan too.
That truck looks great for the littlest one. He’s into all his brothers things so it would be nice for him to have something that’s first his….you know 3rd child syndrome.
@playactivities
Have seen these rigs in different articles and flyers recently – look super cute and would be a perfect fit for my toddler!
Love Sprig Toys and Miss L would LOVE this Dino Rig!
I saw this line of toys at a recent trade show and was VERY impressed. My son would absolutely love the Don Rig!
Cute giveaway!! My little guy would enjoy this
Maria @BOREDmommy
As a preschool teacher, I understand the importance of choosing the right toy. Thanks so much for sharing this great info!!
Wonderful, wonderful article, Kim! We love Sprig Toys!
Lisa @crazyadventures
Great post. We were introduced to Sprig toys at the Cdn toy fair last January. I love them! It’s great to have toys that are eco-friendly, encourage imaginative play and are fun, like long-last, more than one Christmas season sort of fun.
Carrie Anne @cabadov
Just bought first Sprig toy for my daughter a while ago. I love the smell. Can’t wait for her to open it at Christmas…..as she loves anything with wheels and these are just so cool.
My nephew would LOVE this toy! These looks like awesome toys- wish they would have had toys like this when we were growing up. Awesome giveaway.
@saramomof2
sara_broers(at)yahoo(dot)com
Love Sprig Toys. Eco friendly and imaginative. Would love to win the dino rig.
Couldn’t agree more about play. Not least because I love hearing all their role play games – well, almost all of them. Not so keen on the ones where they pretend to be me, because I always seem to be cooking, washing up, or saying, ‘Yes dear, in a minute’!
We love Sprig toys around here! Thanks for the giveaway…found you through twitter!
Suzy
Wow, what a great post full of information! Love Sprig toys!!
this is just cute…. I love it I know my 2 yr old son would love it as well!! found you through a friend *miranda* on twitter and Facebook!
Sarah
I really love the idea behind sprig toys. The fact that they are environmentally friendly is so great! They are still a little expensive though. Hopefully in the future the price will come down and more families will be able to choose these toys for their kids.
I like the ecofriendliness of these toys…but I LOVE those dino’s big goofy grins!! My son would adore these so much!
melaniesands[at]yahoo[dot]ca
I would love to be entered. Please. What a cute item. Sprig toys are awesome.
My 18 mo old son will be recieving his first Sprig Toys at Christmas – and I can’t wait til his birthday to give him more! This Dino set would be a great addition!
my kids would love this fabulous toy! DS and DD both love dinos and t.rucks!
I can’t tell you how many toys I have had to get rid of because the smell of the plasic makes me sick!
Thanks for the great gift ideas. I’m often at a loss of what toys would be best for creative play so your article helped.
@ennsee
I love toys that encourage children to use their own imagination! Mine are much older now, but I still get items that are geared towards their development (even though they don’t know it)
Things like blocks, dishes, costumes, etc. make children have to “think” what to do with them, and they can come up with some wild ideas!
I have just the little boy in mind for this !
tooluckyducky AT hotmail DOT com
We just got the little diver guy and our girls LOVE it! They’d flip over the dinosaurs
My son LOVES his new Sprig Toys tractor! He would definitely love the truck and dino. Thanks for the chance.
@colleenpierre
my k ids would love this!!
Great post! I’d give this to my neices because they would love it (I love giving them toys of all varieties to encourage them to play and expand their imaginations!)
Such a neat looking toy!
@teachermomoftwo
My kids would love this! I am a fan on facebook too
Kids would love the dinos.
I would love to win this for my nephew.
I would love to be entered! My son would love these! So cute! Thanks!
I would love to win this for my son!
We love Sprig Toys! The Dino rig looks awesome. My DD has been imitating dinosaurs.
tee at thatsitmommy dot com
I love the power of open-ended play. I’ve been so excited that my 2-year-old is taking the first steps into playing creatively and with imagination. So much fun for me, too!
Thanks for the giveaway!
My son would love this. A truck that kind of looks like a monster truck and dinosaurs as well…..how awesome. I have seen these in stores and they look like pretty good quality.