Toys, toys, glorious toys! What to choose is always a challenge as your child is constantly growing and changing.

Here is guide for the types of toys preschoolers like.
Inquisitive and creative are two words which come to mind when thinking about the play life of a preschooler. They love to pretend play and copy what grown ups do. They are also developing quite a bit of independence and know what they want to do. Organize your toys into plastic containers using categories. A container for kitchen utensils and play food, a container for dress ups, a container of blocks etc. You get the idea! This way, when your preschooler has an idea of what she wants to do, she can quickly find what she needs straight away and it makes your life easier too!

Here is a guide to what types of toys your Preschooler will enjoy:

• Building Blocks: now your preschooler will actually be able to start building towers of increasing height
• Puzzles: children this age love to fit objects together. Doing puzzles becomes rewarding and challenging as they gain even more control over their fingers. Provide a variety of puzzles. Puzzles which show a picture of an animal or an interesting scene (such as a farm yard) are best for this age.
• Threading beads: as your child is developing and becoming more skilled at this, find beads which are slightly smaller to keep them challenged. Always supervise bead play.
• Shape Sorters: preschoolers can handle small objects now with one or two fingers. Which means she can really experiment with placing objects into there correct holes
• Dress Up Clothes: children love to pretend. Provide dress up clothes that are imaginative such as fairies and wizards, but also include dress up clothes that mimic real life people. Examples of these are construction workers, doctors, and nurses.
• CD Player: to encourage your child's independence try and find a small collection of music and a child friendly CD player to encourage your child to develop her own tastes in music
• Tunnels: children love to crawl through these - great for using inside and outside
• Duplo: these are fun for nimble fingers to use. Be sure to include some animals and people
• Cars and Trucks: a small collection of different vehicles encourages a range of play opportunities. Include dump trucks, a garbage truck, a car, a farm truck/tractor and a fire engine. Boys and girls will both enjoy playing with them. Find a small patch of dirt in your yard so they can construct their own roads and towns
• Animals: a collection of animals with a little barn are another way to encourage imaginative play
• Puppets: you'll need a few people, a couple of animals and a lot of imagination! These are great for developing language and communication skills
• Small table and child sized chairs
• Dolls and accessories (doll's clothes, beds, strollers etc)
• Plastic or wooden play food
• Kitchen Utensils and Kitchen Oven

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