Toys That Teach Our Children And How To Choose Action Figures
By Laura Hoops
The wonderful thing about toys is you are never too old to enjoy them. It doesn”t matter whether it’’s an action figure, a Barbie doll or a jigsaw puzzle, classic toys always conjure up fond memories of your childhood.
As adults we want to give our children toys that make them happy but, just as importantly, we want toys to stir our child’’s imagination and educate them at the same time. For babies, we buy mobiles that hang from the ceiling. We”ll buy a mobile that we like and in turn, our preferences are passed on to our progeny. If we like animals we”ll buy a Lion King or a Jungle book mobile, as the child grows we”ll say “this is Simba he is a lion cub, this is Zazu he’’s a Hornbill” and we”ll get them to repeat it. Before long they”ll want to watch the film and be an animal lover. The same applies if you”re mad about a football team and you have a new born son, if you buy a teddy bear dressed in the team colours and the child falls in love with the teddy bear, he will eventually associate that bond with the team.
If you”ve ever been to Disney Land you”ll see hundreds of young girls dressed in princess dresses such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow white, Arial or Belle. They love dressing up in sparkly dresses and shoes. When they grow up they will still want to dress up, they will like sparkly shoes and dresses, wear make-up and look like modern day princesses, probably just like you do.
If you like working with your hands you”ll probably buy toys where you can help the child build something. You might buy a Meccano set and help them build a crane, teaching them engineering skills and how things work. Maybe you will buy a Lego set and play at being a house builder, teaching them how to build a strong house.
As the child gets older, so the complexity of the toys and games they play with become more challenging. Where a young child will enjoy putting together a 100 piece jigsaw, she will now accomplish a 1000 piece jigsaw. The process never stops, the mind loves to learn and we never get too old to improve.
Choosing Action figures
If you are buying an action figure for your child, the task is easier than buying for a grandchild, nephew or godchild. You will know that his favourite toys are action figures and his favourites are Spiderman, Batman or Star Wars figures.You”ll know what TV programs he likes and what films he’’s seen. But if you are a relative that only sees the child occasionally, you have to decide which, if any, action toys to buy.
The sensible thing of course is to ask the parents, but that means you have to admit to them that you don”t know your nephew, grandchild or godchild very well, and no one wants that.
The answer is to do a little research. You need information. There are various places and people to obtain this type of information from. One place is the high street. You could drop into two or three toy shops and ask the attendants what are the latest action figures that a child of this age wants to play with. You can then examine the action toys for quality, suitability and durability.
If you haven”t time to visit toy shops, call some online stores and talk to the sales people. Ask which action figures are the most popular at the moment. They will be able to tell you what the top ten best sellers are.
You could do a search on ”what are the most current action figures toys”. The results will list names of figures, e.g. action man, toy story, Disney princesses or Barbie, and then you can follow this up by reading reviews. There will be pages inviting you to discussion forums where you can read what other people think of action figures or any specific action figure. You don”t have to participate in the forum, but you”ll be able to read what has been discussed by other people.
Once you know the action figures you want to buy, you have then to decide where to buy them from; the high street or the internet. Wherever you decide to buy, make sure they have a returns policy, where at the very least you can exchange the action figure for another one if the child already has it.
About The Author
For more information on the latest toys and games visit http://www.toys-n-games.co.uk/