All of us went through the stage of childhood. And for sure, we all know how important children’s toys are. An individual’s childhood would be very boring without these toys. This is the main reason why there are toys. They are not considered as “wants”, they are “needs”. These are toys that occupy a baby.

Children’s toys are not just toys that occupy a baby during those times that you are busy of doing something that you cannot be able to play with them. These toys which are specifically called educational toys teach them new skills. They even help your kids to develop their cognitive and motor aspects. Educational toys are teaching them not just ordinary skills but skills which would be very beneficial as they grow to effectively deal with the situation in the real world. As you can observe, these toys are being introduced and recommended as early as 6 months. This is because, based from studies, a child before the age of 5 has the ability to grasp new ideas and skills dynamically and faster. So as a parent, it is your responsibility to give or allow your child to acquire that through providing him or her quality educational toys.

One good example of toys that occupy a baby is set of books. Books are timeless. These can be enjoyed over and over again and can go for several years. You could even hand it down to your future kids. They have the ability to give a child literacy knowledge through seeing pictures of animals and plants that come in variety of colours. They can even be your best means to spend quality time with your children, reading bed time stories. Doing this, you are certainly giving making your child to grow smarter and this would even aid them to learn fast.

Another type of toys that occupy a baby is art supplies. Babies and toddlers love colours especially bright colours. Having the stuffs like crayons, colouring books, and paints would really give them an enjoyable activity. With you supervising, let your child or children as they are doing their craft. You are not just introducing them to colours and various shapes, but you are also helping for their creativity to show up. This is so fun and exciting that they barely notice that they are learning.

Or if you want, you can also have music instruments. They are toys that occupy a baby through the variety of sounds and pitches they produce. They allow your kids to develop their hand-eye coordination and finger movement as well. You could never go wrong with these toys for younger kids love to hear sounds especially if they are not the usual sounds that they hear.

“Don’t play with your food!” How many times as children did we hear that from our parents? And how many times as parents have we told our children not to play with their food? This having been said at so many different times and in so many different ways, one would think that using food as toys would be one of the most horrendous things we could do. However, there is a difference between playing with food that has been prepared to eat and playing with food ingredients that are intended not so much for playing or eating but for the encouragement of creativity.

What we really want to do is to enable our children to have pleasant experiences with food that will encourage them to want to take part in kitchen activities and to have a positive attitude towards food, its preparation and consumption.

Safe, non-toxic toys can be made from food. Some of these are play dough made from flour, salt and water, potato print blocks and chocolate pudding finger paints. If your child decides to eat the toys there will be no harm done. Of course, you do need to differentiate between the ‘toy food’ and mealtime food. The toy theme should not be encouraged at meal times.

One activity that is fun for small children and which helps to develop eye-hand coordination is making necklaces from macaroni which has first been dyed with food coloring. Children will have fun doing both the dyeing and the stringing. Use yarn, dental floss or button thread to string then on, depending on the size of the holes in the macaroni. Macaroni shapes that can be used are wagon wheels, elbow, rigatoni or penne.

There are countless recipes for Play Dough that can be had on-line. Some recipes use cornstarch, others use flour along with salt, cream of tartar and sometimes baking soda. There are also some that use different vegetables for color to allow for variation in your children’s creations. When you do make the Play Dough allow your child to help make it. This will increase their feeling of accomplishment.

To revamp the above, some of the food toys that you can make at home are listed below.

Play Dough- look on-line for Play Dough Recipes

Macaroni Necklaces- macaroni or pasta shaped with holes – dental floss or yarn – the children can help to dye the macaroni – just mix food coloring with small amounts of water and dip the macaroni in the colored water with teaspoons. Allow to dry before having the children string them.

Suggested Shapes- Elbow Macaroni, Wagon Wheels, Penne, Ziti, short tubular macaroni

Potato Block Printing- parents – cut a potato in half and then cut designs in the cut surface (older children can do this themselves with parental help) and then use food coloring for block printing.

Finger Painting- use instant Chocolate Pudding, Pistachio Pudding or Butterscotch Pudding – start out by placing the pudding in a bowl and slowly adding water while stirring until finger-painting consistency is achieved. Use inexpensive roll paper or brown wrapping paper. This is a good outdoor activity during the summer. While the finger painting ‘masterpieces’ are drying, parents can turn on the sprinklers and allow the children to wash off while having fun at the same time.

Try one of the items at a time and let your child’s reaction gauge how much more you will attempt. The idea is to allow your child to experience creativity and to feel good about him/herself. Enjoyment should be had by both the child and the parent.

Baby dragon toys are a great gift for children; the article below will give you a few reasons why this is, and open your mind to the possibilities of what giving a little dragon to a child will do. They aren’t just another stuffed animal or toy, find out why below.

1. Cute: Every baby is cute, but a dragon baby is exceptionally so and this is a huge reason why kids love baby dragons. They make great toys because they are fun to cuddle, fun to take care of, and they are also great for creativity. Children can go wild with their imagination creating stories and playing make believe. A little dragon toy is a favorite that will last a lifetime; while other stuffed animals and dolls will lose their favor, a cute baby dragon will not. They will always have a place in their heart and on their bed for that dragon toy.

2. Relatable: Younger children can relate well with cute little dragon toys because they are much like them. The babies start out as a hatchling, learn about the world day by day, and discover new things about themselves. They are usually very close to their mothers as well, which is the case for most human babies, so children really enjoy hearing and watching stories about baby dragons and their mothers.

3. Magical: Dragons are mystical and magical, and while they are cute and kids love them, they will remain a favorite because even as your child grows, a fascination with dragons and the world that dragons exist in usually doesn’t ever fade. So when your little one grows into a strong, confident adult, they will more than likely still always have a special place for the baby dragon toy. Dragons inspire confidence and strength and children can learn a lot from their character.

A baby dragon toy is adorable, very relatable to children and is a magical creature. Children love them because of all of these reasons and when all of the other toys have been forgotten or given away, the dragon will stay and will continue to captivate their imaginations. More than likely these toys will be passed down to their children since the fondest of memories and childhood stories are often centered around a dragon, its mother or lifelong friend. Giving a child a dragon baby toy will give them a friend they will have forever.