At HABA, we've long been advocates for the magic of wooden toys and games, and for good reason. Wooden toys aren't just your average playthings – they're the unsung heroes of the toy chest, sparking creativity, and unleashing endless adventures. From fostering open-ended play to promoting eco-consciousness, wooden toys offer a myriad of benefits for your child's development. Read more on the blog as we explore 10 reasons why wooden toys are the perfect choice for your little one's playtime adventures.
Wooden Toys Are Natural:
Humans have always had a special relationship with wood. Not only has it been a practical and affordable building material throughout history, it also connects us to nature. This connection to nature helps children understand their environment so that when they hold a wooden toy, they know directly where that toy came from and can engage with the rich, soothing and natural colors and textures.
Wooden Toys Are Less Distracting:
Wooden toys don’t have any batteries in them. They don’t produce any artificial sounds or lights. It’s this simplicity that makes wooden toys so great for the healthy, natural development of your child. Wooden toys don’t try to overwhelm children, quite the contrary, they improve their ability to focus, encourage imagination and create an opportunity to play creatively. After all, many parents report that the toys their children spend the most time playing with are usually simple, open-ended toys like wooden blocks.
Wooden Toys Encourage Imaginative Play:
As stated above, the simplicity of wooden toys is what makes them so engaging. Wooden toys encourage open-ended play and stimulate children's imaginations, allowing them to explore freely and create endless possibilities. When you give a child a set of wooden blocks, they can build anything their imaginations come up with. There is no one way to build a block tower and this creative play allows children to learn how to problem solve and use the power of their imagination for play, building essential cognitive skills along the way.
Wooden Toys Support Language Development:
Wooden toys provide opportunities for children to engage in rich language experiences as they describe, narrate, and role-play with their toys. As they create elaborate worlds out of blocks and wooden building toys, they can describe these settings and the changes that they make as they expand their play worlds. Plus, building encourages the use of directional words and an early understanding of positional words.
Wooden Toys Enhance Fine Motor Skills:
Manipulating wooden toys such as blocks and puzzles helps develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills in young children. By picking up a small block, children develop their pincer grasp while placing wooden shapes into a puzzle develops hand-eye coordination.
Wooden Toys Promote Sensory Exploration:
The natural textures and properties of wood engage children's senses, providing a sensory-rich play experience. It’s been proven that wood has a calming effect on us - when we touch wooden objects or look at wooden surfaces, it activates parts of our brains that contribute to our well being. Several studies suggest that people who are stressed will calm down easier in a room that contains wood.
Wooden Toys Are Aesthetically Pleasing:
There’s a certain beauty in the timeless look of a simple wooden toy. As French philosopher Roland Barthes said: “Wood is a familiar and poetic substance, which does not sever the child from close contact with the tree, the table, the floor. Wood does not wound or break down; it does not shatter, it wears out, it can last a long time.” This special kind of beauty is impossible to be replicated by human-created materials. Exposing your child to this beauty has a variety of positive effects and helps to develop their sense of aesthetics. From classic building blocks to dollhouses, wooden toys come in a variety of shapes and sizes, appealing to children of all ages and interests resulting in a timeless and versatile toy.
Wooden Toys Are Environmentally Friendly:
Wood is an environmentally friendly material. Toys made of wood are biodegradable and recyclable and do not create any unnecessary burden on the environment. Also, most wooden toys (including the ones by HABA) are made from timber from sustainable forestry that contributes to the ecological balance of the forests around the world. Our wooden toys have been certified with the PEFC sustainability seal since 2011.
Wooden Toys Are More Durable:
A quality wooden toy may be a little bit more expensive than its plastic counterpart. But it is much more durable, which means it will last longer and provide endless hours of play time. Last but not least, wood is very sturdy, so you don’t have to worry that the wooden toys will break and create sharp, potentially dangerous parts.
That brings us to the last point...
Wooden Toys Are Safe:
Wood doesn’t contain any artificial components. What’s more, it has naturally antibacterial quality - it has a porous surface that absorbs moisture and doesn’t allow bacteria to multiply the way it does on other materials. This is great news for parents worried about their children putting every toy in their mouth. Unfinished wood, or wood finished with solvent-free lacquers and water-based colors is perfectly safe to be chewed on. After all, using all the senses is the best way for little children to explore the world around them.
So, with all that in mind, you can understand why we are wild about wood at HABA and how this natural material provides such a unique sensory experience with innumerable benefits for your child. Wooden toys are simple, beautiful, environmentally-friendly, durable and safe and will be a star of the toy box for generations to come!
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