What are the right toys for 24 to 36 months-old children?
[mme_highlight] Especially between 30 and 36 months, children show interest in playing with other children and engage in game and pretend play with others. Good toys choices for this age group are: push and pull toys, ride-on toys, balls, construction toys, puzzles, magnetic boards, counting boards, chalk boards, picture dominoes, sandbox tools, dolls, music instruments, drawing materials, large trucks and books. [/mme_highlight]
Play is essential for children, contributing to the cognitive, physical, social development as well as for their emotional and general well-being. The importance of playing for an optimal development children is reflected in the recognition by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights of playing as a right of every child.
Parents and Educators aware and promoting the right of children to play, want to choose the right toys for every age, which can be a challenge. Knowing the main developmental milestones and features of each age may be a great help to choose the most appropriate toys. Thus, when choosing a toy, always ensure it meets the general characteristics of a good toy: safety, durability and suitability for the age group. Beware of toys containing small parts because of its inherent chocking risk.
What are the main developmental milestones between 24 and 36 months?
Between 24 and 36 months, your child explores the world around in all possible ways: running, jumping, climbing, hanging by arms, galloping. They can throw and retrieve objects. Between 30 and 36 months they improve a lot their hands-feet coordination. Children in this age group show interest in object features like color, shape, size and texture. They also begin to develop counting skills.
You will notice their creativity in constructions and drawings. Pretend play and fantasy play are prominent features of this period and children make toys carry out actions on other toys. Especially between 30 and 36 months, children show interest in playing with other children and engage in game and pretend play with others.
They use language to express likes and wishes too. Your 2 to 3-year-old child loves to be read stories from picture books. A desire for independence is noticeable and children show pride in their accomplishments.
What kind of toys to prefer between 24 and 36 months?
Generally, prefer toys that meet your kids’ interests at this age: cooperative and social play, pretend play, action toys (with movement or sounds resulting from child’s action). Children like realistic toys and they pay attention to toys’ qualities. Choose light toys, more easy to carry, and those in bright colors.
What toys to buy between 24 and 36 months?
Buying toys for kids can be as exciting as challenging for parents and family members. In fact, these toys not only should be suitable for their kids’ age group, but they also should present specific characteristics that may help their children’s development.
- Push and Pull Toys
- Ride-on Toys
Wagons, doll carriages, vacuum cleaner, shopping cart
Find those with realistic looks, like tractors and motorcycles. Small tricycles can be offered from 30- 36 months.
- Gym equipment (only with adult supervision)
- Balls (diameter larger than 44 mm)
- Construction Toys
- Puzzles
- Magnetic Boards, Counting Boards, Chalk boards
- Shape Sorters
- Simple lotto matching pieces
- Bathtub activities
- Sandbox tools
- Soft-bodied and rubber dolls
Tunnels, climbing structures and swings
Plastic bricks, wooden blocks.
4 to 5 pieces for children aged 24 to 30 months
6 to 12 pieces for children aged 30 to 36 months
Children prefer those with a realistic look, talking, with accessories and garments
- Small hand puppets
- Music Instruments
- Drawing materials (crayons, sturdy markers, blunt end scissors)
- Play scenes: farm, airport, garage, castle.
- Large trucks, cars
- Books
Rhythm (bell, drums, triangle)
Horns and whistles (from the age of 30 months)
What toys should be avoided between 24 and 36 months?
Try to avoid projectile toys and toys with small parts which have choking risk.
Are there sex differences concerning toys preferences among 3 year olds?
Studies have demonstrated these differences may be noticeable since young childhood. A cross-sectional study by Serven A et al. investigated toy-choice in 1 to 5-year-old children between 10 different toys (four feminine, four masculine, and two neutral) during a structured play-session, in which children played alone for 7 minutes and then with parent for another 7 minutes.
As indicated in the box below, girls and boys differed significantly in what toy they chose (p<0.01). The ball was still the most popular toy among all children. However, girls chose the doll more often than the boys did, and the boys chose the car more often compared to girls.
[mme_databox]
Proportions for toy choices among 3-year-olds by gender
| Ball | Doll | Car | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Girls | 50% | 39% | 11% |
| Boys | 63% | 0% | 38% |
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During the play session, girls preferred Barbie and Ken dolls, as well as the beauty set, while boys played more with the bus, construction toys and the garage, as shown in the box below.
[mme_databox]
Analysis of variance for toy choices among 3-year-olds by gender
- 3-year-old girls played significantly more than the boys with:
- 3-year-old boys played significantly more than the girls with:
The Barbie and Ken dolls (t=64, p<0.01 – statistically significant)
With the beauty set (t=23, p<0.001- statistically significant)
The bus (t=2.16, p<05 – statistically significant)
The construction toy (t=2.46, p<01 – statistically significant)
The garage (t=2.75, p<0.01 – statistically significant)
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Summary and Recommendations
- When choosing a toy, always ensure it meets the general characteristics of a good toy: safety, durability and suitability for the age group.
- 24 to 36-months-old children love to run, jump, climb, hang by arms and gallop. They like pretend play a lot and start showing interest in playing with other children.
- Prefer toys that promote cooperative and social play, pretend play and action toys with special features.
- Good toys choices for this age group are: push and pull toys, ride-on toys, balls, construction toys, puzzles, magnetic boards, counting boards, chalk boards, picture dominoes, sandbox tools, dolls, music instruments, drawing materials, large trucks and books.
- Studies have suggested that sex differences regarding toys preferences can be noticed early in childhood and among 2 to 3-year-olds they are prominent: in a study, girls chose the doll more often than the boys did, and the boys chose the car more often compared to girls.
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References
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Goodson B, Bronson . Which Toy for Which Child: A Consumer’s Guide for Selecting Suitable Toys.
- Servin A, Bohlin G, Berlin L. Sex differences in 1-, 3-, and 5-year-olds’ toy-choice in a structured play-session. Scand J Psychol. 1999 Mar;40(1):43-8.
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