Why Simple Wooden Toys Are the Best for Your Child

We all want the best for our children, but what if you're not sure which toys are the finest? You'll find yourself on a specific aisle, surrounded by options. At first glance, your child may be drawn to the flashiest, most expensive item, while the classic wooden toys at the end of the aisle may be neglected. Nonetheless, simple wooden toys with basic packaging should be considered over the fresh and new on occasion. Here’s why:

Why Wooden Toys?

Wooden toys are always in style. The latest wooden pieces are rarely the subject of great commercial hoopla, yet they've been cherished for years and are still going strong. Wooden toys, unlike plastic digital fads that are buried under new technology every year (remember Bop It and Tamagotchi? ), are both healthful and timeless.

There are numerous reasons why wooden toys are preferable, not just for your child but also for the environment. They're more durable (producing less waste than plastic versions), biodegradable, and could even be manufactured from sustainable wood. PVC, phthalates, and other toxins found in plastic toys are not found in good quality, eco-friendly wooden toys. However, be wary of low-cost, low-quality timber. Some are built of poisonous plywood that leaches formaldehyde and contains harmful glues. Because of the lack of quality control on these lower-cost materials, it's likely that lead-tainted paints were also utilised.

Low Cost, High Quality

Even on a tight budget, solid wooden toys allow you to be environmentally conscious. There are many of high-quality wooden toys available that won't break the bank and are considerably more intricate than you may imagine. A basic wooden cash register scored well in the originality area in the annual TIMPANI toy research in 2015, and was enjoyed equally by boys and girls from all socioeconomic groups.

Play-Food for Thought

Children aren't only keeping themselves occupied when they play with toys; they're also learning. Unstructured playtime, such as with open-ended, simple wooden toys, is valued and preferred over classroom time, according to research. Children's imaginations fly when they play with items that don't have a clear, singular purpose. Imagine a toddler stacking wooden blocks into the shape of a house, a building, a zoo, or anything else he or she can imagine.

Flashy Can Drain the Brain

Popular toys, or those that appear to be the most engaging to children and adults, are frequently not appropriate additions to the toy box. These are the showy, plastic toys with an electronic component that offer nothing in the way of creative play and, despite the manufacturer's claims, may even interfere with growth. Finally, basic is preferable. All of the bells and whistles are unnecessary for a toy. Besides, over-stimulation can lead to negative neural impact, making it more difficult for the brain to think critically. 

An Introduction to Maileg

Why do children love to play with Maileg?

Is it because the mice in matchboxes are so cute? Is there something going on in terms of development?

Maileg's characters have a vast universe. From dancing bunnies to cuddling hippos to dollhouses and race cars, the emphasis is on delicate, small-world play with evocative detail and soft, natural materials that children like playing with.

But it's not the characters' charm that makes them so enjoyable to play with: it's the fact that they're divided into families. There are unspoken connections between the toys. You can probably guess what the back story is. Perhaps the younger brother never cleans his room, Grandpa is always sleeping in the armchair, and the baby is always hungry. Their lifestyles are almost certainly similar to yours.

Table of contents:

What is Maileg?

How do you play with Maileg?

What is Maileg?

Maileg creates fanciful dolls and dollhouses with painstaking attention to detail in their clothing and accessories (such as mice that live in matchboxes and dancing bunnies who lay on daybeds in gold tutus). Buttons, bows, blankets, and other products are all hand-sewn in delicate, muted colours and textures. As a result, a selection of toys for girls and boys that feels both homey and traditional, while also containing plenty of comedy and fairytale charm, has emerged.

How do you play with Maileg?

Almost single Maileg figure has a theme of nurturing and caring. This, combined with their fantastical accessories and props like matchbox beds, camping tents, and motorcycles, makes them ideal small-world play toys. Small world play is a smaller, more enclosed cousin of imaginative play, where children are free to imagine and narrate their own stories and dramas on a child-size scale. It allows children to explore events in their own lives, assisting them in making sense of the world.

Playing with Maileg can also be collaboration. All children love peaceful time alone with their toys, although collaboration can be beneficial at times. It is, in fact, one of the most critical ways in which we learn. Children learn through interactions with a more informed 'other,' according to social constructivists. It could be an older child or an adult, as well as a peer. Soon, there will be a blog entry on this subject.