The other day I had an impromptu mummy daughter date with my little one. So we went to the thrift store as I needed to pick some items. While there of course she made her way to the toy isle and as she was looking through the toys I was fortunate the aisle I needed was a place she was within my line of vision. So after like 20 – 30 min she walks over with the item she had picked and it was the above toy cash registry. Usually when I see Vtech or battery operated toys I am running to the hills. Over the years I have seen us buy my son multiple battery operated toys and after a week or two they have been put to the side and the figurines / mini cars are the play item of choice.
There is an account I follow on Instagram by Jerrica Sannes – I have spoken about her here a lot. She is phenomenal. One of the things she mentions is toys should not necessarily be entertaining a child. If all they need to do is push a button and sit back and see red flashy lights and here ding dong repetitive sounds or have the toy do repetitive “educative games” then maybe there could be better options out there.
However after we brought home the cash registry my daughter loved it and was playing all these imaginary games with it. Which got me thinking there has to be a balance where the novelty and imaginative play created by battery operated toys starts and where their functional use ends. We ended up getting my son a sword and a set of legos. Just some thoughts as the holiday season is around the corner and there will be requests for toys etc, Just being mindful of the functionality of actual toy.
Some things to keep in mind when choosing toys – Durability, Loose (Open ended – these are toys that can serve many purposes and do not have only one way to play with them. Then of course less / no batteries as much as possible. Some examples – Swords, Legos, Figurines, Block Cars, Puzzles, Tea Party sets, Wooden blocks / trucks etc etc.
“Give children toys powered by their imagination and not by batteries.” H Jackson Brown.