What Pediatricians Say Are the Best Toys

“The best toys for healthy kids’ development are classic and inexpensive.”

Did you know that the American Association of Pediatricians (AAP) has released an updated report about the best toys for childhood development?  And there’s nary a screen or battery to be seen in their recommendations.

The guidelines for pediatricians and families state that, “the best toys go back to the basics.” And stresses that, although toy aisles are increasingly filled with blinking lights, soundtracks, and screens, the very best toys for learning are the simplest toys, like blocks, dolls, games, and balls.

“Toys have evolved over the years, and advertisements may leave parents with the impression that toys with a ‘virtual’ or digital-based platform are more educational,” Aleeya Healey, MD, FAAP, a lead author of the report, stated in an AAP press release. “Research tells us that the best toys need not be flashy or expensive or come with an app. Simple, in this case, really is better.”

When kids are young, they need toys that provided them opportunities to be social and encourage relationships. They also need toys that help them develop language, social, psychomotor, and problem solving skills. While simple toys like blocks, or a bat and ball, encourage all of these things, screens and digital toys can isolate kids and make them inactive.

“The best toys are those that support parents and children playing, pretending, and interacting together,” said Alan Mendelsohn, MD, FAAP, co-author of the report and associate professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Population Health at NYU Langone Health. “You just don’t reap the same rewards from a tablet or screen. And when children play with parents – the real magic happens, whether they are pretending with toy characters or building blocks or painting new characters together.”

KiddoMood Art Kits are precisely the kind of “best toy” the AAP report recommends - they are simple and classic. The kits usually come with wood pieces, water-based paints, paint brushes, and sometimes stickers - no technology or bells and whistles required. Kids can use the tools provided in their kit to create a brand new toy using their own eyes, hands, and imaginations. Then, they can take those toys to play with their friends or by themselves, indoors or outdoors. With KiddoMood, the possibilities for customization and play are endless, the tools used are simple and inexpensive, and you’re provided with an invitation to use your imagination. Get back into simpler toys. Get into the KiddoMood!