We should try to apply the K.I.S.S. rule for baby toys — Keep It Simple S…

When I was a baby, baby toys were not half as complex as they are today. In fact the baby toys I had couldn’t really be called complex. I had a rattle, a doll, and a block or two. They stayed in pretty pristine condition because my baby toys of choice tended to be things like pots and pans from my mothers kitchen, a wooden spoon that made a delightful bang when it hit the floor and empty boxes.

Even baby toys are being geared towards mind stimulation. There are baby toys that have bright colors for mind stimulation. There are baby toys that speak different languages. Shouldn’t our kids learn their own primary language before having toys that speak multiple languages? Whatever happened to baby toys that allow babies to be babies? Some of the best toys for our babies are the ones that rattle and roll – allowing them to giggle and learn about how to make sounds and things move.

When my own daughter was born, my friends through me a beautiful shower and I received a lot of baby toys as gifts. At least I thought they were baby toys, but most of them looked like you needed a college degree in engineering just to get them out of the box. Once out of the box, some of these baby toys took me hours to figure out. As I sat looking at a computerized panel thing that was supposed to hang on the crib and stimulate an infant with soothing sounds and soft flashing lights, I wondered what happened to the days of simple baby toys.

Even when my daughter got a little older, I was more focused on making sure that my daughter enjoyed being a child. Her baby toys were cute, cuddly, colorful and noisy. I wasn’t showing her flashcards at the age of six months old and teaching her how to add and subtract. I was rolling around on the floor with her, teaching her about animals and colors. Her baby toys allowed her to be a baby.

As my daughter’s first birthday approached, I started to think about what baby toys might make a good birthday gift for her. My friends all had a myriad of suggestions for suitable baby toys. As I compiled my list, adding every must have my friends suggested, I wondered how one tiny child could play with so many baby toys. True my daughter has a short attention span, but I always figured that meant I could rotate the same five baby toys into her toy chest.

I spent an entire afternoon in a toy store perusing all ten aisles of baby toys. There were toys to stimulate a child’s vocal abilities. Toys to stimulate visual learning. Toys to help with coordination and other toys that were just for fun. It seemed to me that if I bought my daughter everything that my friends recommended and everything the helpful toy store clerks suggested, my daughter could play with a different toy every hour of the day for a week and never touch the same toy twice.

I read the back of the boxes, compared toys, and finally made a few purchases. I took everything home and spent the evening wrapping gifts and picturing my daughter’s face as she opened the toys I had lovingly picked out for her. She did enjoy opening her gifts and glanced at them for about five seconds before she tossed them aside for the ribbons, paper, and boxes.

One of the best things that I ever purchased for her wasn’t a baby toy, but a video. She loved the Baby Einstein videos. The music and colors kept her captivated for the entire length of the video. While I cannot say for certain that her brain was being stimulated and she was learning things, I can say that it certainly wasn’t harmful to her.

You really can’t go wrong with purchasing baby toys. Perhaps the toys require your infant to be lying on their stomach for some ‘tummy time’ and strengthening their muscles, which is something that all babies need. Or, perhaps you’re more focused on having your child learn colors and sounds. No matter what toy your infant or toddler is using on a daily basis, their minds are being stimulated. In my opinion, we don’t need to be focusing on creating baby geniuses. We need to be focusing on raising healthy, happy and intelligent children. There isn’t a need to be pushing for anything more than that.