Guide to what to buy

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 10

Guide to what to buy

Birth to crawling

Mobiles, pram beads, plastic rings, rattles, washable soft toys, squeaky toys, soft balls, musical box, small plastic books, activity board, suspended bouncer. Crawling

To the previous list add small toys on wheels that can be pushed and pulled, blocks, nesting beakers, bath toys. Walking to two years Add stacking beakers, drum, stable ride-on and push-along toys, rocking horse, pull-along toys that made a noise, dolls, simple puzzles, plastic carpentry tools, telephone, hammer and peg set, posting box,

small trucks and cars, play dough, housekeeping and sandpit toys, take-apart cars and trucks. Two to three years Add toys for simple “pretend” games, simple musical instruments, outdoor slide, swing, climbing frame, gardening tools, blackboard, water-based Eaints, bubble pipe, large alls, animal and farm sets, plastic nuts and bolts, bead frame, small cars, large beads, buttons or shells for counting or threading, tricycle (but not usually until the age of three. Three to five years Add construction sets,

board games, simple card games, felt-tip pens and crayons, sharp, blunt-nosed scissors, magnifying glass, carpentry tools, fuzzy felt, magnetic or block alphabets (not capital letters), accessories for dressing up dolls, toys for more sophisticated “pretend” games, pushalong train, skittles, variety of trucks and cars, climbing ropes. Five to seven years Add mathematical puzzles, balls and bats for specific games, torch, transistor, record or cassette player, electric train set, slapping rope, stilts, knucklebones, inflatables, more advanced card and

board games, kaleidoscope, mouth organ, marbles, frisbee, sewing, knitting, or macrame set. Seven to 10 years Towards the end of this stage, the child is starting to grow out of the toy department. Preferences are usually quite marked and quite specific, often as a result of seeing what other children have, or the effect of advertising. Add to toy collection electronic games (make sure these are difficult enough to ensure a continuing challenge), skates, skateboards, bicycles, real sports equipment, kitsets and modelling, something to collect. (From “Consumer” 201, December 1982).