The right games for children for every age group: from 0 to 6+ years
Childhood is a wonderful time of life: you have no worries, you are cuddled by your parents, the only worries are eating, playing, and sleeping.
The most stimulating activities for children are games, and they are like sponges: they absorb all information and learn new things every day. From birth, every playful interaction is a form of teaching that helps your child grow. Playing with babies stimulates the brain and helps cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development.
Here are some ideas for games to play with your child, right from birth.
1. First age group: 0-1 year
As already mentioned, babies are like sponges, newborns absorb everything from the tone of your voice to the care you give them. Already after the first months, babies are able to engage in play and the first game many parents try is exchanging and encouraging smiles, funny faces, or laughter. These are games that mostly require physical interaction, but there are toys, such as rattles, that can stimulate them, or even songs and nursery rhymes: even if the child does not understand everything, it is very important to talk to him already at this time as he is developing language skills. Another important thing is to help babies explore the world by letting them touch different objects, from soft plush toys to harder objects.
2. Second age group: 1-3 years
Young children are ready for games that exercise growing brains and bodies! It's time to start playing with educational games, such as smart colour puzzles, picture games for learning about the world, drawing board, books, and memory games.
3. Third age group: 4-5 years
Children at this age develop the ability to concentrate and solve problems with games that challenge them. They can already begin to learn numbers, they can already brush their own teeth and why not do it with a game? They need also toys that stimulate their creativity, such as games to build things do-it-yourself or building bricks.
4. Fourth age group: 6+ years
After the age of 6, children begin to be more independent, they start to read and write, they go to school. At this time, too, it is essential to accompany them with the right toys. This is the time when they begin to have passions and why not help them to cultivate them? There are those who love cars, so the perfect toys could be beautiful model cars and tracks, even different ones, so they can learn more and more new things. One thing that all children also love is singing, and they are always learning new songs at school, so one way to stimulate them further would be a nice microphone!
Children are super creative, games that could stimulate their creativity are DIY games: it’s the right moment for more complicated games, ranging from bracelets to building toy cars or even creating small electronic games.
It should also be added that unfortunately children are not stress-free either and especially the time when they start school can be difficult for them, particularly in the situation we are experiencing today due to the pandemic. In this case, there are some toys that can help your child reduce stress: the new fidget toys, or rainbow push bubble fidgets in different shapes, stretch strings or fidget spinners.
In conclusion, children of all ages have different needs and, fortunately, today there are many new, creative, and smart toys to help your child through the different stages of childhood. You can find all the great toys we've talked about in WowPorium, where quality and safety come first!
Maria Schembri