There is a toy being stored in my inlaws' guest bedroom that I had the unfortunate experience of bumping into in the middle of the night. "Oooone Two Threeee Four Five Six Sev'n Eight Nine Tinhnnnnnn" it loudly sang out for about four seconds. WHY? I wonder. How could a child learn to count to ten from a toy that rushes through it in four seconds? So I tried my own experiment. Playing with my niece, I found a toy that would say the alphabet. She loves pushing buttons and seeing things light up, but she did not seem to pay attention to the alphabet. Before laying her down for her afternoon nap, I held her in my arms and sung the ABC's. She quickly became uninterested in pulling my eyeglasses off my face and listened to me sing. She was QUIET, and STILL!! My study may not be very scientific, but I believe that she was more attentive to a human voice singing the alphabet than a toy that shouts hyperactively as she pushes buttons.
I believe that limiting battery operated toys will encourage Graham's imagination, lessen our environmental impact, and strengthen bonding and interaction between Graham and us parents. There are many wonderful wooden toys that encourage puzzle solving in small children, such as this toy snake on my registry:
Babies twist the wooden pieces to shape the curves of the worm's body differently. I plan to introduce this toy to Graham as soon as he starts playing with his own fingers in front of his chest (about four months). I am excited about playing with it too. Sometimes fascination can be found in simple objects.
Some toys could encourage imagination by limiting the noises they produce. This phone, for example, makes a lot less noises than other toy phones. I prefer a toy that does not say "Hello" when you push a button, so that my child will create his own conversation. I may decide to take the batteries out of this toy so that it does not ring, but there are other ways this toy can be fascinating to children. The bright colors, mirror, different textures, and teether rings would be interesting enough, without the noises. I was perfectly content playing with my pink phone that did not have batteries as a child. I liked talking on the phone to no one, just like I had observed my mom talking to the phone.
Then there are classic children's toys that were created before the wide spread use of batteries. These can be bath toys, counting tools, stacking objects, knocking down towers, a shape lesson... A creative parent or an imaginative child could come up with different ways to play with such a simple toy. One parent on Amazon suggested using them to build sand castles! Another parent observed that these cups have a color pattern. They are also BPA, PVC and phthalate free and make good chew toys for teething babies.
There are a few things that I would like batteries for, such as this adorable soothing sea horse. I have played with it at Walmart so I know that the night light on the tummy is very soft and mellow. The music is also very quiet, useful in quieting the baby as he wants to listen to the soothing sounds of waves. I plan to put Graham down to sleep in his portable crib before he is completely asleep, so this cute little soother would keep him company.
Battery operated toys are easier on the parent, but personal interaction is a much better way to learn. I'll be singing to Graham a lot and personally be sitting on the floor with him to show him shapes and colors, instead of his toys loudly announcing what shape the button was that he just pushed. Instead of pushing a car around the house that makes racecar noises, I want Graham to make the noises and imagine racing tracks and other opponents on his track. An imagination will be an important asset for a child who will have fewer belongings while travelling and who will be learning more from experiences than textbooks.
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