Baby toys have no long-term benefit
Rushda:
April 29th, 2007
I was a little surprised to see recent research saying that there is actually no long-term benefit of babies having toys to play with. Though games and books are good for development at the time, the Institute of Education has found no significant future associations, and apparently the most important thing is for mothers to talk to children and play with them themselves.
Now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. What is most important to little kids is having all the attention, love, and real communication they need. My own little niece is very bright (though I do say so myself!) and has little interest in toys compared to playing games with and chatting to her family. I think it’s important to realise however, that it may not be the toys themselves which are the key factor here. What may matter more is simply happiness, where the happier a kid is when younger, the better their future prospects. It just so happens that human interaction gives more happiness than toys.