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Are you looking for the perfect gift for a young one at Christmas time? Perhaps you are always on the lookout for good birthday gifts and stock up whenever you have a chance so that you will always be prepared. Whether you are a parent, a relative, a friend, or a nanny, you are probably on the lookout for gifts that will last, gifts that will entertain, and gifts that will instruct. It may seem difficult to obtain that magic combination of features in a gift, but you can do so with quality wooden toys. Quality wooden toys are available for all age groups and levels of mental and physical development. They can be chewed on by teething infants, thrown by stubborn toddlers, or left outside in the rain by forgetful kindergartners, and yet they will last longer than many other toys on the market that have been manufactured en masse from inferior materials. Wooden toys can be plain or painted different colors in non-toxic paints. They can be in many different shapes, sizes, and designs, and if you purchase hand-made pieces, each will be unique. At any level, quality wooden toys can challenge a child to go a step beyond his or her current level of development, which is always important to keeping a child moving forward in learning. Wooden puzzles can provide practice with matching shapes, interlocking pieces can provide ample opportunity for problem solving, and nesting bowls can give a child the opportunity to learn spatial reasoning. For infants from 0 to 12 months old, wooden puzzles feature large handles that babies can grasp as they are developing their dexterity. They usually have very few pieces that are distinctly shaped. Each piece will usually have a corresponding placement that has a picture on it showing the child which piece will match. This teaches infants some early matching recognition skills as well as helping them with hand-eye coordination as they have to be able to turn the puzzle piece in order to make it fit properly. For the younger end of the spectrum, quality wooden toys that are very chunky and include a rattling object inside are very popular. They are thick enough for baby fingers to grasp and the noise that occurs when it is shaken will begin to help a child understand and associate sounds with actions. Baby toys can include simple stacking objects or play pieces that feature many different parts, such as rings, sliders, and rattles. Wooden push toys are available for those infants beginning to learn to walk. Toddlers in the 1 to 2 year age range can begin to have more complicated puzzles with more pieces that are similarly shaped. Matching the picture becomes more important as babies grow up and learn to assemble objects. Wooden puzzles for this age can feature letters, numbers, and colors as children learn these things while enjoying their play time. Quality wooden toys for toddlers begin to get more complex, such as more intricately carved stacking and interlocking blocks. Wooden bead mazes teach children dexterity as they move their little hands around the tracks of each strand of beads. Letters and numbers become more familiar with ABC blocks and rings that are stacked in sequential, numerical order. Blocks can become more strategic and even teach important concepts such as fractions. Children ages three and older can begin to learn even more from quality wooden toys. This can include toys like a wooden clock face with moving hands, an abacus with colored beads, and magnetic wooden alphabet pieces that can be used to spell longer words on the refrigerator.
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