Infant Toys and Perception
At birth, infants have a functional sensory system that enables them to respond to stimuli and gain awareness of their environment as they grow. At this time, vision, hearing, touch, and smell are fairly mature. However, the perception of knowledge is still lacking, and this must be gained through experience as the senses continue to mature (Johnson & Kim, 2020). This is gained through activities that the parent involves the infant with, as well as the use of age-appropriate toys because children show different interests and learn new skills at various stages of their development. Therefore, finding a toy that is appropriate to their age is likely to align well with their skills and interest.
The toys in the pictures below are Squeeze and Stalk Block by Infantino and Oball Clickity Twist. Based on the elements of perception, I can purchase them. The block set contains eight soft and squishy colourful and textured, which are perfect for the baby’s hands. It is appropriate for a baby from 4 months to over 12 months. The baby will also be exercising grasping of the blocks in two hands, one or even transferring from one to another. Besides, as the child continues to develop motor skills for playing and sitting, the baby will be trying to hold the block in both hands and banging them together and also demonstrate eye-coordination and control in stalking them on top of another. Apart from that, the Oball Clickity Twist is a colourful toy and appropriate for the babies during the teething process, which can be between the ages of 6 months to even 24 months. Besides, it has colourful and flexible arms are brightly coloured that is soft to promote grasp and hold. In addition, the centre of the toy has the capability to rotate and make fun clicking sounds which are able to capture the attention of the child. It also has multiple surface textures together with the bright coloured surfaces creates engaging scenes and helps the baby in both visual and tactile stimulation.
Some of the advantages of the toy include being less expensive, lightweight, and being attractive to the baby’s eyes. Besides, the toys have the capacity to stimulate the motor development of the child through grasping and movement as well as their vision, which is crucial in their growth. However, they have a high possibility of being the source of infections for the child because the babies in that age category are in the teething process and thus, they are prone to directing most of the things they grasp to the mouth. Also, plastic toys are easily broken and can be taken by the baby, which might be dangerous to them in case of poor supervision from the parents.
The manufactures of the toys have clearly stated the advantages that the toys have, including promoting and stimulating motor and visual development of the child. They have also indicated the portability of the toys and their attractiveness to the child because of the colour, which helps the children differentiate colours as they grow. Additionally, the manufacturers’ description of the products does not provide information that can be regarded as inappropriate or that describes the toy beyond what it can help the child. Therefore, there is nothing that can be disputed.