Toys vs. Activities: Which One is Better for Toddlers?
Many kids are showered with toys from birth. Christmas, birthdays, and kids' meals bring more and more into the home, making toys an easily overwhelming part of childhood. However, you can set a standard early on. Are toys worth the hassle, or are activities better for toddlers?
Striking a balance between toys and activities is best for toddlers. Both encourage imaginative play and crucial skill development, but toys are better at providing targeted skill building and structure, while activities are better at flexibility and engaging multiple skills at once.
No surprise, toys and activities are both essential to toddler development. But, is there a balance? Should we emphasize one over the other?
How Do Toys Benefit Toddler Development?
Toys are a medium by which play can happen, but they are not the only medium. Play can happen through activities and games. Moreover, toys are not only items marketed as toys, but also items in the environment that your toddler can play with like a toy (kitchen utensils, cups, blankets, and other safe items).
How do toys and safe everyday items help your little one develop? Here are a few ways:
Sensory Exploration
In the toddler stage, your child is still trying to understand the world through sensory exploration. Sensory exploration is exploring the world through touching, smelling, tasting, seeing, and hearing.
Research over the years has shown how beneficial "sensory play" is, which is why the baby and toddler toy market is flooded with "sensory toys." However, not all toys are created equal.
Sensory play creates rich neural pathways when the play involves a sensory-rich environment (source). This does not mean taking your toddler to an arcade's environment of overwhelming flashing lights and loud sounds. It means an environment that supports focus on stimulating the senses rather than overwhelming them.
So, selecting toys that stimulate certain senses can help your little one expand her understanding of the physical world. Read more specifics in Are Toddlers Too Old for Sensory Toys?
Targeted Skill Building
Toys are a nifty way to promote focused practice on building particular skills. For example, if you notice that your little one struggles with hand-eye coordination, you can invest in a toy to help her practice, like stacking cups.
Tricycles, big balls, and buckets primarily promote gross motor skills, while shape sorters, stacking rings, and wooden puzzles challenge fine motor skills. Of course, these toys also engage your toddler's mind.
Structured Play and Focus
Little ones often focus better if they have something in hand. Imaginative play begins in the toddler years, but it always has physical elements to it, like toys or household items.
Some toys have multiple steps or parts, which makes a game that your little one can try to finish (like shape sorters). However, it is totally appropriate at this age to not finish the game due to distraction or interest in using the pieces for some other game.
How Do Activities Benefit Toddler Development?
Activities can be open-ended or structured play. They are different from toys in that the play does not center around physical toys or items. For example, sensory activities can be playing in water, sand, mud, or crunchy leaves.