I rarely purchase light up toys for my children. While I find plenty that are fun and would keep their interest for some time, I am still old school. I prefer toys which cause a spark of imagination which causes the lights to off in their minds and not dependent on “AA” batteries. Wooden toys allow your child to create and imagine rather than having the toy do all the work. There is no ban on light up toys but I want to be certain I pick quality toys that enhance play time and creativity.
HABA Toys have a variety of colorful, interesting, and adorable wooden toys and other imagination sparkers for infants and beyond. I enjoy looking through all the lovely toys as much as my children enjoy looking. To my husband’s horror, my excitement over toys often tempts me to purchase everything that strikes my fancy. I may not be the most sentimental person but toys are always difficult for me to part with. Watching my children play and grow is reward enough for me to purchase quality toys like HABA.
My toddler has the toy pictured above. The toy is recommended for 2-6 years old. I have a child on both ends of that spectrum. I have to say I did not think my 6 year old would find any interest in the toy. Yet, she surprised with her creative ability to incorporate the toy on her level. My 2 year old enjoys the colors, placing the rings on the wooden pegs and matching the ring color to the wooden peg color. She also used the rings as jewelry and thought that was quite clever of her. I showed her how to make patterns and she drove right in and began making her own. My 6 year old used the wooden pegs as counters for math and also enjoyed making complex patterns. While my 6 year old may not benefit from the toy from a critical thinking standpoint it did show me that wooden toys have lasting appeal. So much appeal that the toy piqued the interest of my older children because of the colors and interesting fashion of the toy. My oldest enjoyed playing with my youngest and grew quite impressed with how my little one played with the toy. So the moral of the story is: A toy does not have to light up, make noises, or invade a child’s mind in order to have appeal and long lasting appeal.