Choosing toys that stimulate the imagination: how to do it?

For children, games and toys are not only fun, they are also good because they stimulate the imagination! I have always found it beautiful how children can be absorbed in their play, but how to stimulate their imagination??

Learning through play

Children learn by playing. Not only do they learn to distinguish shapes and colors, for example, play also teaches them to understand how the world works, and helps them process information and events. It pays to pick toys that respond well to this, toys that stimulate the imagination!

Almost everything is educational

As a parent you are of course aware that your child has a lot to learn before it can stand on its own two feet. We all want our child to develop well, keep up in school and not fall behind. For that reason we fall in love with toys that advertise themselves with the word ‘educational’.

Educational toys are the ones that teach your child the most!

But is it really?

In part this is true. A child indeed learns by playing. However, it’s not like it requires special educational toys.

In fact, all toys are educational, although some are more challenging than others and some will stimulate the imagination more than others.

Learning cause and effect

For example, something children learn from lots of toys is cause-effect. When I press this button, a little bear appears there. But also: if I step on this little train, it will break down.

There are special toys that focus entirely on cause and effect, but even if they don’t, your child will learn something from them.

Further develop the imagination

Another thing play does is stimulate the imagination. In the world of the child anything is possible, nothing is impossible. This way of thinking slowly but surely disappears over the years, but this is precisely why it is important to encourage it at an early age.

Let the child use its imagination, it will become solution-oriented.

Stimulate the imagination

For that reason, it’s fun to choose toys that don’t necessarily have a set shape in which to play with them. A toy that makes a sound when you press a button is fun, but not very stimulating. By choosing something with a freer interpretation, the child can decide for himself how to play with it.

Wooden toys are good

With wooden toys, this is often the case. Shapes and figures are given, but what happens to them is up to the child. A wooden elephant having a small wooden bunny as a child? Can! That same elephant taking a stroll through the playground or happily flying through the air?

Nothing is impossible!

What are popular wooden toys now?

A popular wooden toy is the Wobble. With this wooden arch the child can practice balance, but can just as easily make a tunnel. It is a stepping stone, but also a chair.

It’s a farm for little animals, or the dolls’ home. A perfect example of a toy that generously stimulates the imagination.

Toys that stimulate

‘My children could entertain themselves for hours with nothing,’ I sometimes said! By that I actually meant that they needed very little, in order to have fun. We too had boxes full of toys at home, but when we spent seven months traveling across America and Canada in an RV, they entertained themselves with anything they found, in nature or on the beach.

Their imaginations were stimulated with much more than just toys and I feel they still benefit from that today.