Wooden toys or Plastic Toys: Making the right decision for your Child

All too often as parents, our kids tend to drag us into the aisles of the toy section looking for new and flashy toys. Whilst your child might enjoy many hours of fun playing with these fancy gadgets, you should think. Are you really making the right choices when buying these expensive items? Often many of these new toys consist of plastic and require batteries for operation. Along with their high price tag, there are also many reasons why these kinds of toys can harm your child and hinder their playtime. Wooden toys, whilst usually overlooked, are a much better alternative. Here are the reasons why: 

Enhance your child’s imagination 

Unlike many new-age toys made from plastics, most wooden toys are created with an educational and imaginative purpose in mind. Toys such as a wooden pizza playset can be used in a ‘kids cook-off’ in the playroom. Wooden numbers can even be used in a competitive kids’ math comp if they want or to keep score of a sports match. 

On the contrary, toys made from plastic such as superhero figures with voice command can only offer so much. These toys limit the imagination of young kids. Whilst they get an initial kick out of their superhero doll, the lifespan of use will most likely be shorter than those toys that offer a more imaginative approach.

The need for mental stimulation 

Another point to note is that as we are very much now in a digital age, it would be easy to just pass your phone to your children and keep them occupied playing games on it. However, this will only keep them occupied for a limited amount of time and dull their brain stimulation, making them less sociable. Kids at a young age need mental and social stimulation to ensure healthy brain growth and to interact well with others. Toys that are made from wood allow for all of this. They teach young children to use their imagination and to interact with others around them.

No ‘chewing hazards’

Toys such as wooden jigsaw puzzle pieces and wooden letters and numbers are easy to go missing. At play time kids will throw them around the room, hide them behind the couch or they will simply just get lost. Losing these items around the house is not ideal. However, when the kids do find them and start to chew on them, you will have less worry than if they were plastic. There is much toxicity contained in many plastics such as PVC. On the other hand, wooden toys don’t carry any of this. So put your mind at rest as a parent in providing your kids with toys made of wood to play with.

The hidden costs of plastic toys

Many toys these days are encased in plastic and need batteries to operate them. Think of action figurines, remote controlled cars and dress-up dolls. In most cases many of these toys require batteries and have a large amount of plastic used in their creation. Even if they don’t, there are still small electronic parts inside of them. These parts can be a hazard to small children if found or accidentally ingested.

Batteries are also prone to leakage. Leaky battery acid is highly toxic and is definitely something you don’t want your child coming into contact with as it’s also poisonous. For this reason, you can see why wooden toys are a much better choice for your child.

Cost-friendliness 

Imagine if you wanted to teach your young boy or girl how to read analogue time. You might decide to buy some whizz-bang high-tech clock made out of plastic. Whilst on the other hand you could choose to buy a wooden clock toy that doubles as a jigsaw puzzle. Your child may really get a kick out of the new high-tech expensive plastic clock. However, being made from wood, a wooden clock is always going to be much cheaper and cost effective to teach your child the time. 

On the whole toys that are made from wood are much less expensive than paying for high-tech, plastic toys. Whilst this may come as no surprise, for parents who are budgeting, this is well worth remembering.

Longer lifetime of play 

Toys made from wood are much more durable and aren’t prone to break and shatter. Unlike many new toys made from plastic, toys such as wooden building blocks or wooden jigsaw puzzles have a longer lifespan. They can therefore be handed down for generations to come and still serve a playful purpose for years to come. 

Kids also tend to break plastic toys more easily than toys made from wood. Plastic tends to be a bit flimsier and therefore can snap off and leave small pieces scattered around the place. This is not good for younger kids who are always putting things into their mouths and therefore might choke or hurt themselves with.

Create a stylish aesthetic to your child’s playroom

Your child’s wooden toys do not always have to serve a practical advantage over plastic toys. For example, many wooden toys have a simplistic and stylish touch that plastic toys cannot achieve. Toys made from wood can make your home look more aesthetically pleasing to visitors who venture into your child’s playroom. You will be surprised at the homely touch that wooden toys can have around the house.

Your younger kids will also love the sensory experience that these toys give them. Think about giving them a wooden clock toy or a wooden pizza play set. These kinds of toys can spark their creativity in play, and they will love to touch the smoothness of the wood.