MomBloggersPlanet Cutest Baby with TOYS Contest

ToyS!! Yippee!! Children love toys...and so does babies and toddlers!

I guess AIR doesn’t really have a favourite toy at the moment. Anything he can grab and get hold of, would be his toy there and then, and his next step would be to stuff this toy of his into his mouth.

However, that being said, I noticed that he has his ye ol’ faithful – the seahorse rattle, the all-time-fav-but-always-not-allowed – the ASTRO remote control and the ultimate-too-huge-for-him – Big Book of ABCs.
The seahorse rattle – he had this since he learnt how to grip and hold and stuff things into his mouth, circa 2 months plus. This is his first rattle, and in my attempt to give him other types of rattle (he has a box which had almost 10 varieties of rattles as his gift) to use up all in the box, he still loves this. Perhaps it’s the sound, its multiple rings and just-nice shape which got him stuck to this. He ‘kisses’ seahorse on his ‘snout’ and stuffs it into his mouth very often, while alternating between munching on the rings and the ‘fin’. This toy introduces various shapes and textures embossed on it to him.

His all-time-fav-but-not-allowed toy is the ASTRO remote control. Give him any other toy next to this one (the seahorse included) and the remote control wins hands down EVERYTIME. Give him a different remote control, he will not even take a second glimpse. He is glued to this because of the multi-coloured buttons within the remote and perhaps also the size of these buttons. I’ve tried giving him another remote control with some colour, but smaller buttons, and he just couldn’t be bothered. The fact that this is a remote control, we rarely let him play with it. The moment he sets eyes on it, it’s tough to get it away from him. We were tempted to buy him a ‘pirated’ one from the pasar malam, but at RM15, we decided it could be better spent on better toys/things for him. Stingy ei…hehe…No lar..cos if we buy and let him play a dummy remote control, later on, he may just think all remote controls are his toys. Not a good move.

Then the ultimate-too-huge-for-him ABC book. He loves the pictures and when it was first introduced to him, he will coo and make sounds when you read to him. There’s 5 in a pack, but for now, only 2 are relevant and easy for him to look at the pictures. I discovered his liking and attraction to large colourful pictures when I was breastfeeding him in the BabyRoom where a poster with some daily items was on the wall and he kept looking at it. After feeding, I took him nearer and he loved it. Trying to interact and wanting to touch all the items there.

Yummy book of ABCs
Posing with my book and 'Ellephant'
Mummy had taken my 'Seahorse'

Toys are an important means for the development of the babies and early childhood learning. Grasping, feeling the different textures, response to different sounds or noise, feeling and learning about different shapes and sizes aids in the development of children. Toys do not have to be expensive for it to be useful or good for the child/baby. As long as the toys are able to promote those that have been mentioned above, it is good enough for them.

All of his toys at home or at the baby sitter’s promote these different reflexes and learning abilities. Softbooks/clothbooks are also good for him. Unfortunately, AIR prefers his larger than him book as it is more colourful (and realistic, perhaps…hehe) and has more pictures compared to his clothbook.

In a nutshell, all toys for babies development have one thing in common, they 'stimulate' the senses in babies in order to promote learning. Be it visual, feel or sound, they have that ultimate goal.

Toys for children/toddlers are in fact no different, except that they can come in different sizes. They encourage thinking more. Building blocks, puzzles and role-play items encourage children to imitate characters and it the process they learn. Thinking used in puzzle solving or buiding of any item encourages them to explore and if they face difficulty and can come to a simple solution, it speaks alot of their ability.

So, get some good toys for children/babies/toddlers and may their world of learning and exploration come through....

Interested to join this contest?
Click here for more info. Hurry, before 15th August 2009...

Thanks to Photobook and Alicewonders for sponsoring the gifts and making this possible.