Every stage of a child’s development is exciting for both child and parent (with the possible exception of potty training). With so many choices out there, it’s sometimes difficult to navigate between what a child really needs and what advertisers want you to believe children need. Creating a comfortable, low-pressure space from which children can explore the world is most important. Electronics are not.
Clothes and Costumes
Face it, the only one who cares if a toddler’s socks and hair ribbon match are the parents. Toddlers will happily wander around in mismatched shoes on the wrong feet while sporting purple pants and an orange top. A parent’s responsibility is to provide comfortable clothes that their child can move in without worrying about getting rubbed raw with a decorative element. Focus on building a wardrobe of soft easy-to-wear designers by Cat & Dogma or HuxBaby clothing, for example.
Many children live in their Disney princess outfits, but a much more meaningful way to build imaginative skills is by providing a variety of hats, scarves, and fabric scraps. When children have a range of options, they can expand their play beyond being just a certain character. Many fabric stores have bins with an assortment of bolt-end fabric at a high discount. Sheer fabric in many colors is especially fun for children to use in make-believe and dress-up.
Toys
At its most basic, every toy chest should include a set of smooth wooden blocks. There is so much about the world that children can learn from blocks. They learn about the weight of wood, its strength, its feel, and its dimensions, for example. Wooden blocks can be used to build towers or houses. Blocks can be transformed into cars or phones. Giving your child these simple, organic shapes will let them be the creators of their play. If you give a child a toy cell phone, that’s all it’s going to be. A block can be anything your child dreams it to be.
Books
Providing a print-rich environment for children is important, and the easiest way to do this is through books. Books should be printed on paper or cardboard (as opposed to on a computer screen). Although it is okay to occasionally download the book’s audio, it should really be you or another caring adult reading to your child. While you read, your child is “reading” with you. They are learning about intonation and fluency without even realizing it. Even though high-quality audiobooks sound good, they are not a substitute for the one-on-one interaction of reading. While you read, you can pause and say why you think something is funny, or discuss what is going on in a picture, or ask questions to judge whether your child understands what’s going on.
Knowing what is best for your child is an awesome responsibility. It’s complicated by the many expert advertisers who prey on apprehensive parents who are constantly worried that they aren’t giving their children the right kind of experiences. The reality is that children need very little experience with electronics at a young age, but they will thrive while given opportunities to create and imagine.
