The most magical time of the year arrives. Once again, Santa Claus and the Magi ask for the help of the elders to get the gifts they will bring this year to the little ones of the house. His parents, grandparents, uncles, godparents ... know very well that not only will toys help keep them busy, they will help them grow and develop during the first years of his life.
Thus, as educators and child psychologists always explain, toys are fundamental when it comes to developing children's language skills, cognitive thinking, motor skills (both thick and thin), the always necessary social skills or even to strengthen your sense of security.
If in its first months of life its main toy is its own body, as the months and years go by, they will be entertained and developed with the toys they give them. Therefore, it is very important that these adapt to their evolutionary stage.
The first clue, the age
It is not the same to choose a toy for a one-year-old child than for one of two or four. Therefore, the first thing that older people will consider is the age of the little ones. In how many houses have gifts been confiscated for years until the child is old enough to play with this or that toy? And is that they should not be complicated for their age, but also not too simple, because they will end up in the drawer on the second day.
In the following video, the child psychologist Silvia Álava, in collaboration with El Corte Inglés, explains which are the most recommended toys Depending on the age of the child, why they are the most appropriate at that age and other advice that will help when deciding on each other.
The latest trends in toys
Apart from correpasillos, puzzles and constructions, dolls and stuffed animals, balls, bicycles, board games, houses and parks, etc., to the list of possible toys to choose from, two upward trends have been incorporated in recent years: STEM toys and craft kits, perfect for fostering children's creativity and cognitive development.
Behind the acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), hide toys that, apart from promoting gender equality, do the same with the Learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Normally qualified as “scientific games”, They seek to stimulate in children the ability to problem solving and creative thinking for the search of solutions to technical and scientific challenges.
Exercises that will therefore serve as learning for the real world, when faced with very varied disciplines: human body, animals and plants, chemistry, minerals, mechanics, geography, robotics ... In addition, it is not necessary to think that they are oriented towards older children, but there are STEM toys for all ages, some more traditional and others that need a mobile or tablet to get more out of them.
Finally, the other great section to be considered is the craft kit, with which the little ones can design jewelry, create their own bags, decorate with tacks, make perfumes, recycle paper, create their own fofuchas, enter the world of ceramics ... In short, they are a type of toys ideal to work creativity, visomanual coordination and fine skills.
We leave you with some of the toys that you can find in the El Corte Inglés catalog. Do not forget that the offer is very varied and that it will be easy for you to help Santa Claus and the Magi to succeed this Christmas.
