Children learn to play from the first day of their lives. Good toys help them discover the world, understand connections, develop their motor and cognitive abilities and have a lot of fun. The fun factor is extremely important when learning, as scientists keep saying. Knowledge and learning content that is linked to positive feelings are stored sustainably and promote learning motivation.

When playing, children can

• relax
• exchange with friends,
• discover new things,
• discover your own skills,
• be creative,
• try other roles
• and just be a child.

Which games are best for a child?

Of course, this question cannot be answered equally for all children. Very active children need many opportunities to exercise. They love bicycles, scooters, roller skates, featherball rackets, slack lines, a trampoline or equipment for hours of hiking through nature. Slightly quieter children might prefer to engage in board games, card games or read exciting books. Very creative children prefer to tinker, paint, hammer, carve or saw.

Meaningful toys don’t have to be expensive

Parents can spend a lot of money on good toys. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be for their children to be meaningfully busy and learnsomething. Children can play football for days. Good pens and a drawing block can provide entertainment throughout the holidays. An exciting board game is always fun, especially when it is played with many friends. Games are affordable for all families, so fit into any budget. Here you can find MyToys vouchers for many great toys.

What makes a good toy?

First of all, of course, your child must like the toy. If it is unused in the corner after unpacking, it has failed to serve its purpose. Just because parents find a toy great, the children don’t have to like it for a long time. So roughly check with your child where their interests lie and what they would be concerned with. Afterwards, you can browse the toy shelves online or offline for the right gift.

Five criteria for good toys

• It is age-appropriate and does not overwhelm or underwhelm your child.
• It does not rest unused after single use.
• It can be passed on to younger siblings, so it delights several children.
• It is environmentally sound, contains no pollutants and poses no dangers.
• Your child learns something through this toy.

The more fun a child has, the more they learn

There are thousands of examples of this statement. If a child struggles with numbers and arithmetic, the worksheets from school won’t have fun. Here, the same tasks are queried again and again for a long time, a successful experience is hardly to be expected. However, if the same child deals with the same subject in a playful way, it looks very different.

Example of small one-offs

The individual rows can be queried stupide and repeated again and again. Learning is boring. In connection with the craps game “Kniffel” the knowledge of the one-off is also needed, but they are not in the foreground. While your child tries to do the corresponding tasks with the dice, he or she calculates the results by the way. This way, it becomes more and more safe to solve the painting tasks unnoticed. Of course, this also helps him in school in mathematics.

Practice example reading

Many children struggle to read it fluently. Often they are not interested in the texts they get as a homework assignment at school. But if they are now engaged in a game in which their reading skills are in demand, their motivation increases. You would like to read the task cards at Monopoly or funny quiz questions yourself. In this way, they practice loud reading without compulsion and become more and more secure over time.

My tip: Play together

A toy is attractive if others are interested in it. As soon as you as a parent deal with the gift, your child will also find an interest in it. Play a round together, build something together or solve exciting puzzles.