Parental debate 2: How many toys should a child have?

Question

Who's opinion do you support?
Woman A - Her 2 year old has a chest full of toys. This gives him many toys to choose to play with, even if he doesn't play with half of them. Every 6 months, he is given about 5-8 new toys and still has access to all his previous toys.
Woman B - Her 2 year old has 10-12 toys, varing in size and purpose. Most of his toys are educational and frequently played with. He is given a new toy every 2-3 months, but one is taken away also.

Answer 1

Woman B is providing a pleasant, educational, stimulating, thought provoking environment for her child.

When a child has too many toys to choose from he/she may have trouble picking one, therefore going from toy to toy instead of settling down to play with one for awhile and actually learning.

Many child psychologists and other experts are concerned about what's in your child's toy box - at best, you're wasting your money; at worst, you risk stunting your child's development.

A child-development worker, did a study on children & their toys. She found that too many playthings can restrict development and may harm children.

They get overwhelmed and over-stimulated and cannot concentrate on any one thing long enough to learn from it so they just shut down. Too many toys means they are not learning to play imaginatively either.

Another study recently concluded that expensive, hi-tech toys are a waste of money - children learn just as much from playing with an old mobile phone.

A nursery school packed away all playthings for three months out of every year, leaving the children with nothing but tables, chairs, blankets and their initiative. Initially, the children were bored but by day two they had turned tables and blankets into dens and were absorbed in make-believe games. They became more imaginative and contented, and in the process learned to concentrate, communicate better and integrate more in groups.

Educationalists have recognized the positive effects of taking away excess toys from children and replacing them with simpler, more natural playthings such as shells and lengths of fabric to stimulate creative play.

Fewer and simpler toys mean imagination has to do all the work to stimulate their senses. The mistake that many parents make when they buy a toy, especially for very young children, is they get toys that can do a lot, instead of getting toys a child can do a lot with. When a child is given a new object they go through two stages: exploration then play.

In exploration, children ask: "What does this object do?" In play it is "What can I do with this?" When a child is confronted with too many new toys they spend too long exploring and not enough time playing. The theory is that children who play more tend to become more creative, imaginative and emotionally secure.

Less is more when it comes to boosting a child's development. Children need toys that require imaginative input from the child: Lego, blocks, farm animals, simple dolls, good books.

And playing simple games with them is worth more than the over-flowing toybox. Spending time with your child is the best present you can give them.

But what to do with all the toys that your children have already accumulated? Boxing up old toys and bringing them out several months later helps reduce over-stimulation and boredom. Or divide the toys into different bags. Give them a new bag for a day or so, then store it away again.

As parents and grandparents I think we are all guilty of buying too much. It's done out of love and because we want our children to have better and more than we did as children.

Answer 2

It's a great idea to have children play with educational toys because they're a great tool for their development. Give them as many educational toys as possible, I say. Bright Kids has loads of great products!!

Answer 3

Young children learn from playing with toys. As long as toys are age-appropriate, educational and stimulate use of different skills, have as many as you can have them (for various types, not the same type of toys). I'd say something in between A & B is a good idea.

Answer 4

I admit I am more like Woman A, but mainly b/c of family members buying so many toys. Woman B is probably better off, kids don't need that many toys and could be overstimulated and/or get bored with them. Even if you have too many toys, I suggest rotating them so the kid doesn't have access to ALL of them at once.

Answer 5

my daughter is 17 months old and has so many toys. Her room is full of toys and she has taken over the front room too. But most of them are educational and she plays with almost all of them. Especially when our next door neighbors 18 month old son comes over they get every toy out.

Answer 6

I am like woman b. But, I do that because I don't want to end up with a hundred toys inside my kids room. I let them choose what it is they want to get at the store. After all they are the one's playing with the toys. I don't want to force an educational toy on my child because when we do something educational we do just that go to museums, look at nature around us, my kids enjoy reading books.

Answer 7

Woman C- Have a chest that all the toys can fit in and that goes in their room, you have a box or two of toys in storage and every month or two your rotate out toys so they dont get board easily... while your rotating everything throw away broken toys or toys they have grown out of. I also like the idea that nothing comes in unless something goes... im adopting that!! :P

Answer 8

omg my kids have soooo many toys they prolly have about 4 toy chest full and then some.....we go through and get rid of some every spring....but they still add up but i dont mind they have what i never had and i think they deserve it....so i agree with woman 1

Answer 9

My child was child A until he turned about two. Then I laid down the law that nothing new came in until something else left. This actually had more to do with space restrictions than any specific method of parenting.

Answer 10

B.