Simple wooden toys teach quiet and peaceful lessons in physics, cause and effect, object permanence, creativity, problem solving and many other fundamental topics. However, wooden toys tend to be quieter, allowing for a quieter play environment that is free from the noise (not to mention the lights and movement) of many plastic toys. When children play with wooden toys, they emit all the voices, alarms, and other sound effects, instead of hearing the toy. This allows children to be in control of what they do with toys and to keep their minds clear while thinking about different scenarios or solving problems.
We have already established that sensory play creates interconnections in the nervous system and brain pathways, which develops a child's ability to perform complex learning tasks. Wooden toys support a child's cognitive development, improving their thinking, reasoning and logic processes. By grabbing and lifting, stacking, merging and sorting wooden blocks and toys, children learn to draw logical conclusions and to understand the physical attributes and rules of weight, dynamics, geometry and volume. In addition to math skills, children learn to solve problems when they play with blocks and other wooden toys.
Wooden toys support a child's cognitive development, since they classify and classify while developing an understanding of weight, volume, shape and color. Wooden toys don't usually have sharp ends or edges, especially those made by the best craftsmen, which means that your children won't be able to harm themselves while playing with them. Wooden toys are manufactured according to research and methodologies related to children's learning and development, based on principles developed by legendary child psychologists, scientists and pedagogues such as Montessori, Steiner and Dewey. Pinching, lifting and balancing pieces of wooden toys exercises the nervous system and develops the parts of the brain responsible for dexterity and coordination.
For example, children can experiment with physics by building different structures with classic wooden blocks or learn geometry by manipulating toys to create their own geometric patterns. Traditional classic wooden toys have been around for centuries and have many advantages compared to flashy modern plastic versions. Children also begin to exercise fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination with wooden toys instead of simply pressing buttons and watching. Since wooden toys are not designed with trends in mind, but with functionality and quality, wooden toys last much longer compared to plastic toys.
Many wooden toys are made in Germany, where there are prizes for those who meet certain criteria called “Spiel gut”, which literally means “play well”. Wooden toys are designed to help children from an early age to learn about shapes, sizes, colors and textures, as well as to develop logical thinking, cause and effect, organization, problem solving and decision-making, among others. As we mentioned in this post, wooden toys last a lifetime and are not sensitive to trends, so finding a new second-hand toy for your little loved one isn't as difficult as you might think. In my opinion, the biggest advantage of wooden toys is that they are made from a renewable resource, while plastic toys are not.
Wooden toys don't have electronic parts or voice commands to tell your child what to do.
