Appropriate gifting for toddlers can have a positive impact on early childhood development.
The toddler years are well known as the time period consisting of huge developmental milestones including physical, cognitive, emotional and social growth.
Some educators and professionals believe that the first 1000 days are crucial for early childhood development. In this time a child should be exposed to as much as possible especially in terms of sensory (vision, hearing and speech), fine and gross motor functions as well as social situations.
So how does this translate into gifting for toddlers?
Well with the huge emphasis on the importance of early development so as to achieve the result of more grounded and well-rounded individuals in the long run, how can each and every person help?
The answer is simple: By choosing gifts for toddlers that will help them develop the basics without even knowing that they are learning through play!
iKids understands the importance of early development
iKids takes the guess work out of finding the perfect gift for a toddler with their well thought out range of products.
Kids on the go – Travel Doodle Books are great for those road trips whether short or long distance, keep kids entertained with these cool travel activity books, they assist in developing number and letter identification, object identification with a focus on pre-math, pre-reading and pre-writing skills.
Squeaky clean kids – Bath toys are a great way to create conversation, use imagination, practice gross motor skills by moving the toys through the water and fine motor skills by filling and squeezing out those squeaky bath toys.
Drawing and writing – These skills need to be honed from the early days, a really great way to encourage early drawing and writing is with chalkboards, either on a vertical or horizontal surface, the benefits are immense. Read more about the benefits of vertical writing here.
Smarty kids – Start encouraging problem solving and shape identification skills in the form of puzzles, which come in all shapes and sizes. Toddles can be exposed to simple puzzles early on slowly increasing the number of pieces as they are ready to move onto more complicated ones.
Quiet kids – Whether the stage of development that you’re focusing on is tummy time, or developing the ability to entertain themselves playmats can be a great source of entertainment. Whether forming a part of a reading nook, or a car track for racing cars up and down, or creating their own farm, city or zoo scene. There are so many benefits to letting kids spend time exploring safe spaces by themselves.
Musical moments – Enable sensory and cognitive development with songs, singing and musical instruments they will copy sounds and words and learn as they go.
Hungry kids – Even at meal times kids are learning, sensor, fine and gross motor skills are put to the test when eating either using their hands or learning to hold spoons, knives and forks. The iKids tableware range can be a fun way to eat and learn.
Pretend play – Develop social skills with pretend play. Kids love to copy what grown up’s do whether in the kitchen around the house or even at the supermarket. These super cute kitchen or supermarket sets are fantastic to allow kids to put themselves into real world situations. See more benefits of pretend play here.
Walking, Sitting and moving – Developing gross motor skills are essential for balance, walking, running and all sporting activities in the future. Ball pits are a great way to encourage movement while being in a safe space as are play pens.
Clothing and shoes – getting dressed and undressed are also perfect activities for practising gross motor skills as well as social skills. Toddlers also grow pretty fast and get very messy through all their discovering and learning. Clothes are always a thoughtful gift for growing kids.
We hope that you found our gifting for toddlers guide helpful. iKids are always getting new and helpful products in stock so do check back from time to time to see what’s new.
