How to Pick Safe Toys For Toddlers

Making sure that your toddler is playing with safe and age appropriate toys is a challenge for any parent. With so many recalls and scares of lead-based paint in toys, one can never be too safe as a parent. Follow these steps to make certain that your children are playing with the safest toys possible.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Consider your child's age and interests into consideration before you go toy shopping. This will greatly determine what types of toys you need to buy. During the younger years, toys have a smaller life span because of the ever changing needs of children. What a child likes at 1 year old may bore him at 2 years old. Is your 3-year-old great with blocks and can he build pretty much anything? Then your child would need very different toys than a child who likes to draw or color.

2. Make certain to read the labels. Almost every toy label will tell you what age the toy is appropriate for and while this is mainly a guideline, it is a pretty accurate one. However, there will be instances when you may disregard the age levels when your child has demonstrated significant ability to play appropriately with the toy based on past experience.

3. Read all directions carefully and double check to insure that you properly assemble the toy when you get home. These instructions will usually explain how the toy is to be played with and you can go over this with your child.

4. Observe and supervise your child when playing with a new toy. Watch for parts that she can easily remove and place in her mouth or parts that can break off during rougher play. It is also critical to set rules of play for your child, such as not taking the toy in the bath (which can be hazardous for toys with batteries) or playing with the toy in a way that it was not designed to be played with (such as using a toy electric car as a baseball bat).

5. Check all toys periodically. This is something that many parents simply forget to do. A weekly or monthly check of your child's toys can find any damages, missing parts and let you know when it is simply time to retire a toy or throw it away.

Tips & Warnings

• The best plan is to provide your child with a variety of toys that will allow him to be creative, physical and to just play. Finding toys that provide a combination of these qualities is key.
• Always let siblings, grandparents and caregivers know if there are any safety-related concerns or proper ways to play with toys.
• Remember that all toys are unique and that there is not one best toy for children. It can be trial and error process for finding the right toys for your children. What one child loves, another child my never want to play with.
• Choking and falling contribute to most toy-related injuries and deaths in kids ages 4 years and younger.
• For children under 3, make certain that toys have fewer removable parts, as this age group has the highest risk of choking. This age group is almost always putting everything in their mouths, including toys.
• Remember that the majority of children's toys are safe and are not recalled. Only a few are recalled every year.
• Be careful about donating toys. If it is something that your child will no longer play with, make certain that it is because of lack of interest rather than a safety issue. If you would not let your child play with it, throw it away.

Resources

• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• National Safety Council
• American National Standards Institute
• National Safe Kids Campaign

[JenBrody]

on 6/9/2008 Excellent tips!