MomBloggersPlanet Cutest Baby with TOYS Contest

Days without toys are no days at all to a child. To a child, toys are as vital as breakfast in the morning. Children put every ounce of energy and concentration into playing with toys, for it is their way of learning about themselves, other people, and the physical world. Watch children play with toys and you will see tremendous growth.

From the start they love action. Babies practice single exploratory actions. They kick their feet and shake their rattles over and over again.

This is Timothy(D.O.B: 12th Feb 2007) at 6mths old, playing with his dancing mat and rattler. This interactive dance mat from Fischer Price has 4 instrumental-themed activities, lively beat and dancing lights that encourages physical development by motivating the baby to move to the music while the rattler which we managed to grab from one of the toy shops in Penang stimulates his communication skills. When Timothy explores the rattler by mouth, his lips and tongue are stimulated. Control of the lips and tongue are essential to the development of sound and speech. And when we show him how to grasp the rattler, we are actually helping him to develop eye-to-hand coordination.

Older babies set harder tasks, such as playing with wooden blocks, large soft blocks, crawl through tunnels and stacking cubes.

This is Timothy at 10mths old, playing with the shape sorter which mummy bought for him from Amazon.com. The shape sorter is fun and challenging. By figuring out how to drop each piece into its proper hole, Timothy is learning to categorize and eventually name shapes.At first, he was trying to jam all the pieces into one hole. However, with some gentle guide, he was able to recognize the shapes and was soon sorting like a pro. Daddy & Mummy were both so proud of him when he first got the square thru the hole and could hear both of them shouting out loudly "Bingo!"

Another toy bought from Amazon.com, a toy tunnel. Here is Timothy at 18mths old crawling thru the tunnel. And look who is he with....

Here is Timothy chasing his friend, John in the tunnel. This toy tunnel is very fun to play and has many benefits. It not only develop the child's abdominal & chest muscles but it also encourages social play. Timothy just loves to spend time with his friends in the tunnel. You can just leave the kids in the garden the whole day and you can hear their giggles & laughter while chasing each other in the tunnel.

Toys develops brain as well as brawn power. Naturally curious children figure out increasingly difficult problems. They begin to use and interpret symbols and that is where they learn to fix puzzles. As they grow, their play becomes more imaginative, planned, and varied. They explore objects, arrange them in order, build, and pretend with them. This is the time of make-believe.

Here is Timothy at 18mths, playing with his netball toy, bought from Toysrus. Acting like one of the Chicago Bull players, he managed a slam dunk after several try.

Here is Timothy at 20mths old with his fleet of red Ferraris. This collection of Ferraris which we diligently bought for Timothy each time a new version was on display at the Shell petrol station, promotes physical activity each time he pushes and lines up the Ferraris. This in turn helps to reduce certain diseases such as childhood obesity.

Here is Timothy with his set of Legos at 20mths old. Timothy is a big fan of Legos. He just loves to construct with Legos. What is really wonderful about the fact that children love this toy is that it's a toy which is good for their minds and bodies.Legos unique interlocking system is a great way for kids to learn about construction and design. It also is a great tactile toy which allows children to develop muscles in the fingers and hands. Not only do Legos stimulate creativity and lateral thinking, they also help build dexterity and develop math and pattern skills.

Another of Timothy's favourite is to play 'masak masak'. Here he is at 24mths old with his 'masak masak' play set. He loves to bring out all his make-believe vegetables and cooking ware during his 'masak masak' sessions and would sit for hours on the floor cooking for mummy & daddy to eat. From the 'masak masak sessions, Timothy has gained more knowledge by learning the different types of vegetables and name of the cooking utensils.

Timothy just simply love any jigsaws. Here he is at 26mths old and able to complete a 45pcs jigsaw at one sitting within 20minutes. No parent will argue that jigsaw puzzle is truly educational for kids. Here are the many benefits that Timothy has gained from fixing jigsaw:

• It improves hand-eye coordination since children will have to fit the jigsaw pieces into the board properly.
• It develops shape/size recognition and matching ability.
• It develops logical thinking.
• It enhances spatial relation skills.
• It develops pre-reading skills by enhancing the ability of children to recognize shapes.
• It develops perseverance attitude since children will have to persevere to be able to complete the child jigsaw puzzle.
• It enhances social skills. Who would not enjoy putting jigsaw pieces together with friends and famiy by the way?

Toys indeed help to turn a child's play into learning and offers lots of possibilities to build on.

MomBloggersPlanet contest page : http://www.mombloggersplanet.com/1312/cutest-baby-photo-contest-august-09/
PhotoBookMalaysia : http://www.photobook.com.my
AliceWonders : http://www.alicewonders.com