Children and Toys

This past Friday while I was at my midwife's house, the Mermaid really enjoyed herself playing with the other children and with the toys that my midwife had around the house. My midwife is a really cool person, and very into natural and healthy things. I noticed that all the toys she had in her home were wooden toys or knitted toys....no plastic, no loud songs or voices, no constantly flashing bright lights. I noticed that this kept the mommy discussion going quite nicely, as we didn't have to yell to be heard over the toys. I also noticed that the Mermaid seemed to enjoy these types of toys more than her own! Rather than listen to what a hard plastic doll was shouting at her, she got to play with a soft, knit doll, and decide for herself what the doll would say. I couldn't believe I never realized how imaginative she really is, and I guess it was because the lights and sounds of her plastic toys really limited her. Then when I was looking for news to post about, I found this interesting article about how some toys can actually inhibit the child's learning process. Thus, I decided to start slowly switching over to wooden and other "natural" toys. For the Guppy's Christmas present we bought a couple wooden toys, and I also knit this:

I plan on making three more balls, a little bigger than this one, with all different colors. And I am also in the process of knitting the Guppy a stuffed pig. So, what do you think about toys these days? Do you prefer the more high tech toys, or the more basic and natural toys?

Children and Toys