It seems like almost every toy on the market today runs on batteries. Not really, but a large portion of them do come ‘batteries required’. Figuring out which ones your kids will use beyond the initial ‘new’ period does not have to be difficult. Just ask yourself a few questions before hitting the check out lane, and consider some age appropriate guidelines to help ease your shopping experience.
Does the toy have replay value, or is it something more along the lines of a passing fad?
Can it be passed down to a younger child, or can more than one child play it at a time?
Is it interactive?
Will it help your child develop any skills, such as reading, writing, phonics, math, music, etc?
Is it fun?
Infant
Side by side, two electronic toys may appear to be quite similar. Both may light up, make sounds, be about the same size, but one may be far superior to the other. A toy that does not offer interactive features will soon be nothing more than litter at the bottom of your child’s toy box. Even the smallest infant will respond to a toy that does ‘something’ when touched or swung at, but the same baby will quickly lose interest in a similar object that does the same thing over an over with no variation or possible response to an action. Baby Einstein offers some fantastic products for this early age group, including the Animal Orchestra Stacker or the Baby Einstein Sing & Learn Plush Dragon.
Toddlers and preschoolers not only love toys that react, but ones that offer various reactions to different input. Their growing minds are constantly in search of the new, yet are comforted by the ‘new’ being surrounded by familiar. LeapPad brand products are a perfect example for these age groups. With changeable books and other electronic toys, that even includes stuffed animals such as ‘Hug & Learn Baby Tad; they offer a nearly unlimited set of interactive activities.
Elementary
Fun has to be a priority when choosing an electronic toy for this age group, and if it teaches something along the way, all the better. Spelling games, such as Turbo Twist Spelling, by LeapFrog is one such toy. Through a combination of music and words, spelling is taught with so much fun, kids forget they are actually accomplishing something and just focus on the fun.
Middle School and Up
With an overload of video games, movie characters, and television, this age group may have the most options available on the store shelves, but they are often the hardest group to find a toy for that they will fully use. It is hard to sneak learning into a product and the fun factor is uppermost in their minds. Find out what their interests are and go from there. One pick that might intrigue that hard to figure out kid include Snap Circuits PRO from Elenco Electronics Inc. More of an electronics lab than toy, it offers the older child the opportunity to build their own doorbells, radios and hundreds of other electronics. Another offering by the same company is HYDRAZOID, a robotic alien like creature that children first build then learn the dynamics of its movements. Fun, creepy, educational all rolled into one!
