What’s a childhood without toys, right? Kids love toys. Their wide-eyed wonder when you take them into a toy store is unparalleled by anything else in their little worlds! Well, the great news is that toys not only keep your little ones entertained and out of your hands for a little bit, but also give them a whole range of benefits in terms of their growth and development.
How Toys Help in a Child’s Development
Toys provide a means for children to explore their curiosity and creativity. Put a toy in a child’s hands and you’ll soon see that they’ve invented uses and stories for the thing that probably would have never crossed your mind. This process of exploring and making sense out of their environment is a crucial element in a child’s life and can be encouraged with the right toys. There’s indeed a lot that children can learn from toys, such as physical dexterity, language development, social skills and problem-solving.
The fact that they’re naturally curious also enables children to ask questions when presented with toys, which helps in gaining information and learning about the world and the environment, such as shapes, colors, numbers, alphabets and how things work.
Playing with toys also provides an outlet for your child’s energy, helping to build strength, stamina, encourage physical development and also refine their mental, emotional and motor skills. Lego blocks, for example, help develop motor skills and facilitate the learning of symmetry.
Another great thing about toys is that children can bond with each other over them. They learn to share, establish rules, work as a team, make friends, and negotiate with each other. Toys can also be a great way for you to bond with your child while you spend time teaching them and playing with them.
Ultimately though, toys give children the much-needed splash of color and fun in their lives! Playing with toys gives children happiness while also helping to learn and retain their learning. Associating learning with toys helps children look forward to learning, a task that is otherwise a challenge for most parents!
The Right Toys for Your Child!
Toys can be interactive or educational. We’ve given you our top picks of toys that are great for 5-year-olds based on their developmental capacity, price and just how fun they are!
1. Snowflakes Educational Building Connect Toy from Little Genius Minds – $13.50
This toy is a great option for building and refining your 5-year-old’s motor skills. Perfect for boys and girls, this toy consists of inter-connectable pieces in 3 different colors that your child can use to link together and build structures, unleashing their creativity and building crucial motor skills in the process. Manufactured by Little Genius Minds and sold on Walmart’s site at a great price of $13.50, this “connect toy” is a great educational device!
Why We Recommend:
Helps build motor skills
Encourages creativity
Unisex
Low price of $13.50 and great value for the price
Good as an educational device
2. Educational Construction Engineering Toy Drill from MegaToy Brand – $29.99
Perfect for the aspiring engineer in your child, this 280-piece construction set includes a kids’ electric drill and an instruction booklet so that your child can learn how to make multiple models and shapes. This product not only encourages your child’s creativity and productivity by having them attempt challenging creations but is also a great educational tool to teach your kids different shapes and their meanings, such as cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, and robots, to name a few.
Another great thing about the toy is that it also encourages the development of social skills by encouraging kids to work together to build structures. With a completely safe low voltage drill especially designed for your 5-year-old, the product comes with an ASTM Safety Certificate so you may rest assured! The product is available at Walmart at a price of $29.99 and makes a perfect gift for your child’s learning.
Why We Recommend:
280 pieces that can be taken apart and reassembled
Includes a low-voltage safe drill designed especially for children and an instruction manual
ASTM certified
Encourages social skills, collaboration, creativity, productivity and learning in your 5-year-old
Unisex
Requires AA batteries for operation that are not included in the kit
A great educational device at $29.99, manufactured by MegaToy Brand and sold by Walmart
3. Nickelodeon Paw Patrol Sound Book from ToysRUs – $10.99
The “Nickelodeon Paw Patrol I’m Ready to Read with Chase Sound Book” may have a lengthy title but believe us when we say that the list of benefits your 5-year-old will receive from this toy is as lengthy, if not more! With 24 pages of adventure, the book has 10 matching sound buttons with text narrated by the featured character on the page, and let’s not forget the sound effects!
Great for developing your child’s vocabulary, evoking emotional development, and problem-solving with an adventurous story, this book also lets you bond with your child as you help him or her read and understand the story. With great characters from the popular Nickelodeon show, this $10.99 product is a great option to encourage your child’s learning!
Why We Recommend:
24 pages with a padded cover
10 matching sound buttons that provide a total of 2 minutes of audio
Text narrated by featured characters, along with sound effects
Helps develop your child’s vocabulary, emotional sense, and problem-solving skills
Manufactured and sold by ToysRUs for $10.99
Unisex
Battery-operated but batteries not included with the product
Based on the popular Nickelodeon show “Paw Patrol”
4. LeapStart Interactive Learning System from LeapFrog – $39.99
This interactive learning system is great for your little one especially before they take their first tiny steps into kindergarten or school. Packed with key life and school skills, this system encourages your child’s curiosity and learning, keeping them engaged and wanting more! Kids can even compose their own music, listen to jokes and songs, play games and hunt for letters and numbers, learning up to 50 key skills in each level of the system.
However, the product works best with a library of replayable activity books which are sold separately, but this is optional. The interactive system alone comes at a price of $39.99 on the ToysRUs site.
Why We Recommend:
Encourages curiosity, creativity, and learning in your 5-year-old
Great for preschool or pre-kindergarten prepping
Easy-to-grip stylus that lets kids navigate the activities, play games and activate audio responses
Keeps your little one engaged
Each level teaches up to 50 new life and school skills
Unisex
Battery-operated (AA) but the product doesn’t include batteries
Is most effective only with the additional activity books but these are sold separately and hence may be an additional expense
5. Let’s Play House! By Melissa and Doug – $29.99
This set of toys encourages children to take responsibility and accountability for the cleanliness of their environment. The six-piece set helps kids develop housekeeping skills that are crucial life skills while growing, and encourages them to take accountability for the cleanliness and organization of the house. Sized perfectly for your 5-year-old and highly durable, the set consists of a broom, mop, duster, dustpan, and hand brush that are all easily storable and comfortable to use. The natural wood handles add an extra classy touch to the whole set, while the bright colors add some brightness to otherwise dull chores. Available at $29.99 on Melissa and Doug’s website, this toy is a perfect encouragement to bring out the organizational and cleaning skills in your child!
Why We Recommend:
Highly durable materials such as natural wood
A 6-piece set that consists of a broom, mop, duster, dustpan and hand brush
Easily storable and comfortable to use
Encourages your child to take responsibility and be accountable for the cleanliness of his or her environment
Available at $29.99
6. Zoo Friends Hands Puppets by Melissa and Doug – $19.99
This set of four adorable hand puppets is a great way for the whole family to get involved, as well as encourage your child’s creativity and imagination! Put on a puppet show with the tiger, monkey, elephant and giraffe hand puppets and watch your child’s imagination and vocabulary grow. By doing so, your little one’s motor skills and self-confidence also get a boost, and you get to spend some much-needed quality time together as well. Available at $19.99 on Melissa and Doug’s website, these puppets are a great learning tool for your kids!
Why We Recommend:
Four zoo-themed glove puppets
Help your child develop motor skills, vocabulary, self-confidence, and creativity
Bright patterns and easy-to-wash fabric that is highly durable
7. Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe by Walmart – $44.44
The “Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe”, manufactured by VTech and sold by Walmart, is a great learning tool for your child with its interactive activity cards and three-in-one desk feature. The product features a desktop that’s interactive, with five pages of engaging content such as letters, numbers, colors, and music. The desktop also transforms into an easel and chalkboard with plenty of storage space for art supplies, thus bringing out the Picasso in your little one! The product features an LED display that illustrates letter and number strokes, and also lessons on how to draw basic shapes. Even more fun is the toy telephone that lets your 5-year-old listen to fun tunes on the music player! Available at $44.44 on Walmart’s site, this product is a great learning tool for your child’s all-round development!
Why We Recommend:
Interactive desk that includes five activity pages of engaging content
LED display that teaches number, letter and basic shape strokes
Transforms from a desk into an easel and chalkboard
Great storage space for art supplies
Toy telephone for extended fun
Can be used with separately sold expansion packs that include other curriculums
8. IQ Challenge Set by GamieUSA -$12.95
This set of exceptional brain games from GamieUSA is a great educational toy that challenges your child’s mental capacity and stimulates their creativity. Perfect for developing problem-solving and reasoning skills, spatial relations, mental stamina and self-confidence, the set comes with a complete, easy-to-understand instruction manual and 7 IQ toys. Even better, the company makes sure to send you the instruction manual as an ebook for easy access and backup reference. Available on Amazon at $12.95, this “IQ Challenge Set” is the perfect combination of fun and productivity.
Why We Recommend:
Challenges your child’s mental skills and refines their creativity, problem-solving, reasoning, mental stamina, spatial relations and self-confidence
Includes a complete, step-by-step guide to help kids, which is also emailed as an e-book post-purchase by the manufacturer
7 IQ toys: a 3-inch puzzle ball, 4 different 2.5-inch plastic puzzle balls, a metal puzzle, and a 2-inch wooden cube puzzle
Tests your kid’s dedication and perseverance
Is highly interactive and engaging
Designed for maximum safety and durability
All Work and No Play!
As the saying famously goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Play is an important part of a child’s life, responsible for more than just fun. The right toys can help build your child’s skill sets, developing their motor skills, confidence, emotional and cognitive abilities, creativity, learning and social skills, and in doing so, can also help you and your little one bond. Take a pick from our list and discover new skills in your child each day!
