The Nanny Diaries:Toys for toddlers

One of my nanny babies was two last week and I was looking forward to choosing her a special birthday present.

Loving toys as much as children do I excitedly headed to a well known local toy shop. What I realised immediately is the choice was limited. The majority of toys are plastic or of a specific (mainly tv) ‘theme’.

There was very little choice of imagination toys.

I found myself wanting to look online. Which is a shame as I like to keep our high streets functioning.

But I wanted something high quality. Something that would last. Something that would inspire imagination and curiosity. Something like…I’d had as a child.

It suddenly struck me then. They really don’t make them like they used to!

There’s nothing quite like retro toys. Those adorable multi-coloured metal spinning tops. Curly haired baby dolls, silver cross prams. Train sets complete with working crossings and people in carriages, and REAL pot tea sets and tin pans.

I was looking for something that no longer exists! I long for the simplicity of a little turntable with each record playing a tune, Tiddly-winks and fuzzy felt and my absolute FAVOURITE, bean filled babies in a matchbox.

Many of these have ceased production due to safely standards, but many have been replaced with what some boardroom executive thinks is ‘better and more educational’.

But are they?

Todays toys for toddlers are more sophisticated than a laptop! The bells and lights and whistles overwhelming, and all require a dozen batteries.

Children don’t need us to think for them. Their brains are constantly evolving and developing. It’s actually NECESSARY that children are bored.

We need to go back to basics. I don’t mean the fashion for grey and ‘beige’ wooden toys either, I mean REAL materials and simple to use toys and apparatus.

Let’s go back to a ball, a dolly and a car. Let’s make a little radio with 2 buttons, pot tea sets and aluminium pans. Let’s be REAL.

Anyway. In the end I settled on a microphone and a teddy. She loves it.

But her favourite toy? Her POTTY!