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All parents wish to make the right choices and, in doing so, to give their children the advantages available. As such, parents attempt to evaluate the legitimacy of these promises and put their consumer dollars to work in the most efficient ways possible.

What Happened to Blocks?
Unlike when many parents were children, today’s kids’ toys integrate electronics in ways never before imagined to the fledgling toy buyer. Even those toys that are not filled with their own circuitry are often accompanied by DVDs to enhance the play experience. Add to this that parents want to choose toys and activities that will be engaging, but that will not completely disrupt the sanity of the adults, the propensity of toys to make noise is often a whole separate challenge.

The good news is that flashing lights, motion, and interactive challenges all act to provide positive stimulation to developing minds. The repetition that electronic toys can provide helps to reinforce major concepts like colours to young children and alleviates the need for parents to spend quite as much time repeating themselves. Current research suggests that repetition is one of the most powerful learning methodologies available, making simple electronic games amongst the best for teaching many basic concepts.

Does Every Child Need to Be a Nuclear Physicist?
With names that use words like Einstein, genius, and advanced, an increasing number of products suggest that they can help your child to fall into the gifted category. These kids’ toys tout their own ability to give children a head start over kids who are deprived of these modern miracles of play technology. The nasty by product of this push is that many parents are left feeling that if their children are not advanced, they are falling behind. Words like “normal” become pejorative and something to be avoided. The companies that make kids’ toys have discovered that parents will universally open their wallets in order to protect their children’s future place in the world.

Parents of the World Unite
In response to this growing phenomenon, more and more parents have banded to together to form consumer advocate groups with several purposes. Some are as basic and straightforward as providing parents with a forum to review toys and share their experiences – what worked, how their children reacted, and which toys seem of little interest. Others are more ambitious, looking for clinical research to support or refute many of the claims made by these companies. In this latter group, some perform their own studies, while others form coalitions with public universities or industry leaders. These groups have determined that no corporation ever got bad press trying to protect kids. These parents realized that the same fears and motivations that led them to purchase the toys could be used to get them tested.

Overall, the landscape for kids’ toys has become significantly more complex over recent decades. The pace of technology is present in this billion-dollar industry, just as it is throughout society. The best thing a parent can do is to remain vigilant and make conscientious choices.

What a waste of money! While the best bet is to talk to some children who are “in the know” to find out what’s popular in the different categories, here’s a list of some of the toys and games that are selling the most right now.

Action Figures

Action figures are always popular with boys and girls. Hot this year is the WWE’s set of action figures. With these collectible items, kids can re-create their favourite matches from TV or the can even create their own. If you’re not familiar with the popularity of WWE wrestling entertainment, you might be surprised when you see the huge collection of action figures they have available.

Perhaps the best selling of all action figures this year are those from the Transformer movies. These have particular appeal not only from the motion pictures, but because these action figures actually change shapes from people into vehicles. Like most things, there are some adults who are seriously into collecting these.

Toys and Games

Toy retailers are reporting that board games are making resurgence, becoming a popular family pastime (again). This means that the traditional games like Monopoly, Life, Scrabble, Yahtzee, and others will have new life.

You’ve probably heard about the mechanical hamster that is popular this year. This toy rodent is part of the Zhu Zhu Pets line by Cepia. This toy has created a huge end of year demand and is destined to be the top toy of the year.

Learning Toys

Learning toys are good for kids, especially for the younger children who aren’t so keen on toy fads. Still, parents are up on the latest and greatest “must haves,” so you should take time out to find out what’s hot. A good place to start is with Vtech whose Nitro Web Notebook product gets young kids safely online for a learning experience that mimics adult behaviour.

Outdoor Toys

May not be trendy, but they might help get children outside playing (and exercising) rather than flopped in front of the television set. Consider traditional items like bicycles and wagons then see what other cool outdoor toys you can find.

The stores can also be very crowded and extremely unhelpful to someone shopping for a child. A great alternative to regular toy stores are online toy shops. These stores offer all the same items, and sometime even better ones, than regular toy shops while offering the convenience of shopping from your own home.

Action figures
If a child really likes action figures, he or she is likely to have many already. It can be hard to find new action figures that the child does not have in the store. Searching online can be a great place to find hard-to-find types of collectable dolls. Many online toy shops offer a larger variety and selection than any retail store. It is also possible to find these toys through auction sites and other person-to-person sales.

Interactive toys
It seems that almost all of the toys made for children these days are interactive. They talk, walk, make computations, make things, take instructions, and more. There are computers designed for children, game consoles designed for children, and strange interactive contraptions that don’t really have a purpose, but look cool. It can be hard to know which toy to purchase for a child who loves interactive toys. An online toy shop can often be helpful in choosing the right interactive toy for a particular child. Many online stores offer toy guides for relatives and friends of a child who wishes to buy a toy. The guides offer helpful tips about what toy is designed for what age level. Many of these sites also review different toys of all kinds to help people choose the best toys for their kids.

Hard to find toys
If you have a child who has to have a certain toy that cannot be found anywhere in stores, you are in luck with online toy shops. Not only do online stores often have a larger number of a certain toy than offline shops, but sometimes they are even cheaper. If you cannot find the toy in an online store either, then it is possible to search auction sites or trading sites to help get the perfect toy for your child. It is also possible to find toys that are no longer being made, such as toys that you had when you were a child. These toys often carry more meaning to a child because they have meaning to you as well.

Other kids toys
If you are a parent or friend of a child you have probably noticed how many commercial toys there are. Most of the toys in stores are promoting some type of television show or movie. If you do not want your child to be a walking advertisement, then alternatives must be found. Online toy shops are some of the best places to find wholesome toys that are not related to any movie or television show. These toys encourage imagination and offer a wholesome style of play that is good for any child. Check out these online toy shops today.

Because gender roles are separated when children are infants, gender inequality continues to grow. Boys are given the image that they should be dirty, drive trucks, go to work and do yard work and girls are to make supper and take care of the house and kids. Their toys are continuing their inequality because the roles that the toys are portraying always lean towards the male or female gender. This is the reason behind what types of toys parents buy for different children.

Around the world, both girls and boys prefer to play with different kinds of toys. Boys usually like playing with cars and trucks, while girls usually like playing with dolls. The traditional and sociological explanation for this is that girls and boys are socialized and also encouraged to play with different types of toys by parents, friends and society. Recent scientific evidence now suggests that the preferences of girls and boys may actually have an origin that is biological.

A child’s gender role comes from the influence and reinforcement from the toys he or she plays with. During infancy and toddlerhood, they get most toys from parents and close friends; and that toy choice is based on their view of gender roles. One example would be where a parent gives his or her daughter a doll to go to sleep with but gives a teddy bear to a boy. A grandparent may give a toy truck to a grandson but would never consider giving the same toy to a granddaughter. These types of gifts that are given to children set them up for the roles that they are expected to carry out throughout their lives.

As children age, their toy choices are greatly influenced by what they are watching on television. Remote-controlled cars, although can be enjoyed by both boys and girls equally, are usually targeted at boys through advertisements. Advertising of crafts and dolls are targeted at girls. Advertisers are very careful not to call toys for boys ‘dolls; they are called ‘action figures’. Every day, we see toys and their advertisements that are reinforcing the gender roles that boys are adventurous and active and girls are mothering and passive.

There are some gender-free toys that are promoting equality between girls and boys. Some toys that were once seen as gender specific are now being played by both. Girls should be allowed to play with cars and trucks without feeling like they are different, just as boys should be allowed to play with dolls. In the mind of a child, all of these toys are gender-less. It is us, the children’s parents and other adults, who are buying them and putting the meaning into these simple toys. Both girls and boys should play with whatever they want to and allow their imaginations to explore without being judged. It is good to expose children to many different toys and then be allowed to choose, explore and also try out various things. They need to seek what it is they want to seek.

Go to any toy store and you will see toys divided by gender. One side of the store will be inundated with pink, pink, pink. You will see princesses and pastel ponies, little sets of dishes (both pink and stainless steel) and tiny dolls that fit into the palm of a little girl’s hand. The other side will be packaged in bright blues, reds and yellows. Here you will find every type of truck and car, construction vehicles, trains, balls for every sport, action figures and toy guns and swords. In the middle you will see gender neutral items: books, games, etc. Are children taught socially that toys are gender specific, or are they innately attracted to certain types of playthings? Exploring why children prefer gender specific toys can help parents understand the way and reason children play as they do.

The prevailing thought for many years was that children were taught from a very early age to play with gender specific toys. In recent years, however, there has been a shift in belief that much of a child’s toy preference is innate, or genetically “hard-wired” into the brain. In these studies, monkeys of both sexes were placed in a room with various toys. The monkeys examined all of the toys equally, but the male monkeys played with traditional boy toys (trucks, construction toys, balls) and the female monkeys played with traditional girl toys (dolls and dishes). Likewise, children who have been raised gender neutral environments (with an equal number of “boy” and “girl” toys) tend to choose toys specific to their gender when given a choice.

Boys tend to choose toys that involve action or movement. Boys love to roll or crash trucks or cars and will energetically kick, roll or throw any type of ball. Boys also tend to like toys that allow them to play rough. Action figures that battle one another and construction equipment that knocks buildings down can occupy the typical boy for hours at a time.

Girls, on the other hand, prefer toys that they can nurture or that deal with appearances. A little girl will nurture and love a doll, acting like its mother. Little pastel ponies will have their flowing manes brushed and styled until they look like little princesses. Almost every little girl can name every Disney princess and loves to dress up like her favourite one.

Children will also play differently with toys. A little boy who only has the pastel ponies to play with will turn them into fighting stallions that valiantly fight each other to protect home and health. Girls will push their favourite stuffed animal around in a toy car, but would never use the toy car to knock down a tower of blocks. Girls “cook” with play dishes and boys use them as drums or frisbies.

One cannot dismiss the role of society in children’s play. Children are very perceptive and can identify the traditional roles that males and females fill. Children also tend to gravitate toward the roles the parent of their same gender fills. As roles in society change, children’s perceptions of these roles will also change.

There will always be the independent child who makes his own way in the world and does not prefer a specific type of toy. These children can move through life enjoying the best of both genders. Most of the time, however, girls will be girls and boys will be boys.

Girls and boys tend to differ in their toy preferences. While a young girl may be attracted to soft toys and kitchen sets, a young boy may be more interested in action figures or electronic toys. These differences may stifle the child’s ability to learn about the wonders of the opposite gender.

The reason for these different preferences is still being researched. There is one theory that blames gender socialization. This theory is based on the idea that society teaches children to play in a certain way, according to their gender. Generally, boys are encouraged to be more energetic and assertive, and girls are taught to be young ladies. These lessons begin at a very early stage. Parents may not even be aware of their participation in the stereotyping. They may buy things like balls, skateboards, or other outdoor toys for a boy. This encourages an active, carefree playtime. When a boy is handed a car and shown how to roll it around and make noise, he may develop an interest in other toys that promote the same behaviour. If a girl is offered calming items like musical toys or baby dolls, she may develop a need for gentle play. She may satisfy this need by picking toys and games that require quiet talking.

Children may also choose a gender specific toy because they see others choosing it. If a parent picks up a toy train and hands it to a boy, the boy will most likely choose a train on his own. If a girl is given a plush animal, she may automatically develop a preference for soft things. Children love to imitate adults. The way an adult interacts with a certain toy affects the opinions a child has about that toy. On a similar note, young girls tend to imitate their mothers, and boys try to be like their fathers. If a parent teaches the child to choose gender related toys, the child will do it to please and impress the parent.

Society may not be the only reason for the gender boundaries associated with toys and games. Nature may have something to do with it as well. A child’s gender-based toy preference may be biological. Females are genetically designed to care for and nurture others. This may be why a girl chooses to bake in her toy oven, rather than push around a dump truck. Males generally have a need to hunt and gather. This may be why a boy would rather run around the yard with his explorer set than play with a fashion doll.

Although there are many toys designed to attract male or female interest, children can be given the option of choosing both types. With gender-based stereotypes being broken more and more each year, children are developing more balanced views of the world. Mothers are stepping into the work force more, and fathers are taking on more responsibilities at home. Allowing children to play with a variety of toys inspires them cross over gender boundaries as they grow up. Their imaginations can soar without limitations.