Are obnoxious colourful plastic toys really that bad?

[listenordont]

I hear a lot of talk about the benefits of wooden toys and the general Montessori play philosophy. In fact many people comment about plastic toys, often die to having lights or making sounds, can be over stimulating to babies.

What does the research say about all these toys? Are plastic pretend food and noisy activity tables eViL?

 

[gavinbatsonezoic]

@listenordont From an initial search it seems like the main issue is the displacement of caregiver interaction by electronic toys, and that more open ended, flexible toys promote the kind of imaginative play experts seem to prefer. A summary type article is at https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/143/1/e20183348

 

[gavinbatsonezoic]

From a parent perspective, an advantage of analog toys is the electronic toys can be incredibly tinny and annoying and turn on in the middle of the night. Also you have to keep batteries in stock, they're harder to clean, and on the whole more susceptible to breaking than more solid toys like Duplo, which are plastic, blocks, which can be a lot of materials, or other more flexible kinds of toys.

 

[stronglady]

@gavinbatsonezoic All of this, plus, if you’re like me and do a lot of thrifting/buy-nothing, the toys that still work on the third kid are all analog. My kid’s favorite toy for a year was a 1970s smiley face apple with a bell inside. I’ve kept that one to give to his kid(s) someday.

 

[heptatron]

@stronglady My kid's favorite toy that she played with the longest was a set of stacking buckets. They were designed with holes in them to make "showers" during bathtime and play during bathtime but we played with those blocks daily for years. Sometimes for hours. Stacking them inside each other, building towers upside down, playing in the bath... you name it.

My sister bought them for her for like $4 because she needed to add a few more bucks to the order for free shipping.

 

[emwu]

@stronglady This is true, although my mum bought a whole heap of tacky looking, very loud and bright plastic toys for my eldest nephew almost 13 years ago. Some are a bit faded but with a couple of battery replacements, are still going strong over a decade and 5 grandkids plus additional grand-nieces and nephews later.

 

[wildflower1113]

@stronglady I have both snd don’t have any don’t don’t work for our third child, granted I stuck with better brands for the electronic toys but we are going on 5 years with some of these snd they work just like day one.

 

[allyson]

@stronglady We've got that apple too! Passed down from when my sister was a kid in the 70s.

 

[graceoverfear]

@stronglady Loved that Apple! Fond memories

 

[listenordont]

@gavinbatsonezoic Thanks for sharing!

 

[pilgrim37]

@listenordont I don’t think it’s the plastic that’s the problem. My kid has duplo blocks and plastic colorful toys that we love. It’s the electronic and noisy toys that are the problem. I really love the RIE method of parenting, and they are similar to Montessori in that toys should be open ended and not electronic. If a toy makes noise, the child should be able to see what’s making the noise. For example, a clear rattle that he can watch the beads move around and see that it’s making the noise. Or a toy instrument like a xylophone, where they learn that using the hammer to hit the keys is what’s making the noise.

We basically have a “no batteries” rule in my house. If a toy requires batteries, it’s a no-go and we return it.

 

[sweetascandy1990]

@pilgrim37 Actually, plastic is part of the problem. Plastics contain harmful chemicals like phthalates, BPA, etc. Kids put them in their mouths, especially plastic food like the OP mentioned.

 

[sunshine77]

@sweetascandy1990 Do you have a citation? Anything that shows that the replacement of older toys with today’s plastics has shown a rise in negative ramifications in the younger generations?

 

[mikeysavedbygrace]

@sunshine77 The chemicals actually do you cause endocrine problems. I don’t think they’ve studied toys in particular but they have definitely studied the chemicals that are in the toys.

 

[danial1234567]

@mikeysavedbygrace There is an organization in Oregon I think that tests kid’s toys to see what is really in them and at what levels. I found them years ago when I was researching whether to do plastic or not. Biased opinions, but they share the raw data for every toy they tested which was fascinating. (On phone so I can’t try to dig up my bookmarks.)

 

[donnamaui]

@danial1234567 If you don’t mind posting the link later, I’m very interested!

 

[dancequeen12]

@danial1234567 I would also be interested in this

 

[sunshine77]

@mikeysavedbygrace Right, but have we proven that babies nommin’ on toys transfers a sufficient enough of the chemicals to cause those problems.

 

[stronglady]

@sweetascandy1990 If it makes you feel better, BPA at least is only leached at higher temperatures. A room temperature plastic toy isn’t capable of transmitting BPA.

Fun fact: store receipts are full of BPA!

 

[dancequeen12]

@stronglady Receipts are full of BPA which is why you should avoid touching them. It’s an important occupational exposure and is definitely harmful.