Traditional toys are those classic playthings that have inspired the hands and minds of children for centuries. Today, these childhood treasures continue to be favourites of children around the world and they provide hours of creative play that promote healthy growth and development.

Wooden toys have been a part of playtime throughout civilization, beginning with crude stick dolls and primitively carved blocks before evolving to more refined, handmade wooden toys played with by affluent European children in the 18th century. Today, wooden toys are still made in a variety of styles and designs for all ages and promise a safe play experience that is not just fun, but also educational.

Types of Wooden Toys Many, many traditional toys are made of wood, including blocks of various colors, shapes, and sizes, cars, trucks, and other vehicles that really move, and people and buildings that replicate real life. Wooden activity sets are modern favorites and are a terrific way to build your child’s individual interests.

A child who loves to build, for example, could imagine endless possibilities with wooden construction toys. Miniature construction workers, working cranes and loaders, and even tiny wooden hazard cones and wheelbarrows can create the ultimate building site for little imaginations. Wooden toys like these invite your child to initiate play, offering the most educational and productive play sessions.

Benefits of Wooden Toys

After thousands of years, traditional wooden toys are still just as popular today as they were back then. Even with all the modern electronic toys with stimulating lights and sounds, parents and children alike continue to favour the fantastic possibilities found in wooden toys.

- Wooden toys are constructed of quality materials and carefully crafted to ensure a safe toy that lasts for years. - Traditional toys without buttons and batteries encourage children to use their imagination with open ended play. - Small wooden toys are an excellent way to build small motor skills as children manipulate the toy with their hands. Battery operated toys and games, electronic learning toys, and video games are fun toys that children want, but traditional toys are typically the ones that will still be played with several months after they are taken out of the package. Many electronic toys on the market are educational and fun, but wooden toys provide a genuine element of play that is lacking from many modern toys; the ability to create a new game, story, or scenario every single time your child plays.

Traditional toys keep the creativity and dreaminess of child’s play alive by providing the tools to develop real world play situations that teach valuable lessons, from social skills to problem solving. It is best to provide your child with a variety of quality toys, including educational, electronic toys as well as traditional, wooden toys, for the most beneficial play time and hours of fun.

About the author

Gary Clay is the managing director of Monkeyshine, the UK's favourite retailer of traditional toys and a respected authority on the developmental benefits of wooden toys.