Popular Wooden Toys
And why are Wooden Toys Often the Best
If I think about what toys I played with, the toys I most remember were the ones made from either wood or metal. I hardly remember any plastic toys, besides Lego, to be honest.
But that somewhat proves the point that the best toys, the ones you remember the most fondly, are the ones that are most durable. Lego blocks, metal Matchbox Cars, any basically any toy made of wood is pretty much indestructable.
So why are wooden toys often remembered to be peoples favorite?
For one, as mentioned above, they are tough and durable. The longer you can play with something, the better you will remember it. Wooden toys can take a beating and still survive multiple kids. Toys are dropped from their high chairs, rammed into each other, smashed into walls, toys are thrown down stairs, and every other sort of abuse possible.
Plastic toys with all their pieces, break more easily and do not stand up well over time like wooden toys do.
Wooden toys are simple. Wooden toys are made of larger pieces, unlike plastic or metal that can be made into any shape. Wood trains, cars, blocks, and small wooden people all have only a few large pieces.
These pieces are more likely than not to be in simple shapes, such as cubes, circles, triangles, and rectangles. These are the basic shapes that kids should be learning and becoming familiar with.
Studies show that the simpler the toy, the more kids play with them. The more sophisticated the toy, the less imagination it takes to play with it, which leads to boredom fairly quickly.
Wooden toys expand with the child and are not as fixed as other more complicated toys. Because kids can use their imagination more with simple wooden toys, they tend to have a longer play life than other toys. Another way of putting this is to call the toy "open ended".
Babies can play with wood blocks, and when the child gets older those blocks can be stacked. If there are colors on the blocks, then patterns can be laid out. Same goes if there are letters on the blocks. The blocks can be stacked on top of other kinds of toys.
Wooden toys have natural variation that plastic and metal toys do not have if the wood is not painted, and the true wood grain is showing. This may not seem like anything special to an adult, but to kids who are still discovering the world, wood grain patern, and natural color variations give an extra level of exploration.
Wooden toys can be made from different kinds of wood. So the same size block for example, one made from maple and another made from balsa wood, will weigh completely differently.
Kids will notice these differences and it will encourage them to ask questions about their environment.
Overall, wooden toys make great toys because they are:
Natural and Safe
Unbreakable and Durable
Expandable and Open ended
