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When considering construction toys or puzzles as options for toddler toys, most parents might give them a pass thinking that they might not be appropriate for their young toddler to play with. This thinking however is not entirely true. Yes, toddlers might not be able to reassemble parts to form the picture on the box, but they can definitely assemble the parts to form something. Construction toys and puzzles are great toddler toys and learning aids for your kids. They stimulate a child’s mental and motor skills encouraging problem solving, imaginative thinking etc.

Types of construction toddler toys

The best kind of construction toddler toy would be interlocking blocks. These blocks are large and fairly simple. They fit by a child simply shunting them together. These construction blocks can also be used to increase a child’s language and math capabilities. Language capabilities are increase by encouraging a child to speak about what he or she is building with the construction toddler toy and math capabilities can be increased by encouraging him to count the blocks etc.

Guidelines to picking up construction toddler toys

There are fairly simple rules that you need to follow while buying a construction toddler toy for your young one.

Make sure that the blocks are the interlocking type and not the fitting type. This is important as a toddlers motor skills are not yet fully developed. Once you see that your child can handle the interlocking toddler toys with ease you can shift to the fitting type.

Make sure that the blocks are large.

Remember that your toddler does not have the capability to copy and build something from scratch. Therefore while choosing a construction toddler toy for your little one it might be simpler to opt for something that already has a base construction to which a toddler can add on.

Puzzle toddler toys

Toddler puzzles are also a great way to encourage a toddler to think. They are also freely available at most toy stores. Like construction toddler toys, toddler puzzles also help develop motor, language and math skills. These puzzles generally have 2 to 4 pieces as part of the set and are made of durable materials like thick cardboard, wood and plastic. If you are looking for such puzzles you will find them at Smalltime Child. Smalltime Child has an interesting animal puzzle set called Baby Animal Pairs by Eeboo which will be perfect for your toddler.

Helpful tips for buying puzzle toddler toys

Ensure that the puzzle set has large pieces

If possible try and ensure that the base of the puzzle has pictures corresponding to the pieces of the puzzle. This makes it easier for the child to piece the puzzle together.

Puzzles made out of wood would be the best option as they make for durable toddler toys.

Try and pick up a puzzle set that has some sort of pegs on the pieces to facilitate easier handling for your toddler.

Educational value of stacking toddler toys

Stacking toddler toys are perhaps the simplest and most basic form of toddler toys. Every toddler is bound to have at least a couple of sets of these. Whether they are cups, blocks or rings, all of these serve the same purpose is developing a toddlers mental skills. They encourage problem solving, recognition of shapes and sizes, reasoning, colour recognition etc. These stacking toddler toys are educational at many different levels. At the basic level, they can be used as tools to help a toddler recognise different shapes, sizes and colour. At a more advanced level they can be used to learn numbers, the alphabet and even to construct shapes.

Guidelines to buying good stacking toddler toys

The number of cups / blocks / rings is the most crucial. If you want to facilitate learning through these toddler toys then it is necessary that the sets contain at least 5 or more cups / rings / blocks. Most sets available in the market have between 6 to 9 cups / rings / blocks.

Ensure that the stacking toys are made of good non toxic materials and are solid colours, preferably one solid colour per item. This will make colour recognition easier for the child.

You could also look for stacking toddler toys that have pictures on them; these will help in the recognition of shapes etc. This could also be introduced at a later stage.

Basic stacking toddler toys

Basic stacking toddler toys are available in plastic, wood and even fabric. The most common form of these toys are rings, cups and block. These basic stacking sets are great learning aids for toddlers. Stacking sets are also available in fabric. These are great for babies as they are soft and very attractive. However they do not make for great play value as most of these fabric sets are not available in flat colours. The materials that they are made of are generally multi coloured and hence it becomes difficult for a child to differentiate.

Advanced stacking toddler toys

Apart from the basic stacking toddler games, there are also advanced stacking toddler games. These kinds of toddler games encourage problem solving and have great educational value. Stacking toddler games are basically those where each piece represents a particular part of the stack. For example, if the whole stacking toddler toy represents a creature then each individual part will represent a body part of that creature. This sort of toddler toy also ensures motor skill development in your child. These kind of toddler toys are also the make and break kinds that will give your child endless hours of joy as he or she constructs and reconstructs the stacking toddler toy over and over. Care must be taken to ensure that these kinds of stacking toys do not have any small parts that can be detached or easily swallowed by the child. Also ensure that the toys are made of durable materials are toddler can get quite rough if they have to break something.