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Why we love soft toys?
My 2 year old son’s best playmate Gogo is a brown teddy bear. Since he started grabbing things and communicating with the outside world, he has been hugging, tossing and talking to this furry, brown bag of wool and cotton almost every day. How much my son irritates his teddy, the soft bundle of joy always responds with a smile. It listens, it comforts and it lets my son manage his emotions in a beautiful way.
Many, or perhaps most of us grew up playing with at least a few teddy bears. These stuffed toys became our best friends when no one was around to talk to. We hugged them, kissed them, and when we were mad, we thrashed them. But they liked it or not, they never hurt us back.
They are so cute!
Teddy bears and other stuffed toys help us escape into a world where there is nothing but innocence, happiness and comfort. In simple words, stuffed toys, or plushies are cute. These soft toys or stuffed animals make us think of love, romance, cuteness and innocence. We love to cuddle these inanimate creatures. We appreciate them in a unique way.
Benefits of Soft Toys for Babies
Babies love to touch, taste, see, smell and hear things to learn about them. Good quality soft toys or stuffed animals can help your baby develop sensory skills, communication skills and a sound mind. If we observe we see that babies love to touch and feel new textures, particularly with their mouths. A soft toy made from various types of fabrics, helps your child experience various textures and patterns through touch and taste(although tasting things is not really a healthy habit, you cannot stop kids from doing it!).
Benefits of Soft Toys for Toddlers
Soft toys are not pricey, they are priceless because they help us develop empathy, affection and bonding in our character. I will tell you why. If you notice, you may have observed that babies go through various emotional changes and mood swings throughout the day. Sometimes they smile, sometimes they shout and sometimes they just sit there silently observing things around. They may need something to hug or cling to when you are not around, just to let all the unexpressed emotions out. They may need something warm and soothing to hug while falling asleep. Therefore, giving a teddy bear or any soft toy can be a perfect way to help your baby deal with separation anxiety and loneliness. Your playful child develop verbal and non-verbal communication skills, patience, and respect for family and relationships while playing with soft toys.
Grown Ups Love Them Too
Not only babies and toddlers, many young and old adults still love to hug teddies once in a while, if not every day. Studies suggest that cuddling a soft toy can help us manage our mood. It seems that any touch that mimics human interaction, such as cuddling a full size teddy bear, can help patients deal with depression, low seThe researchers at UV University Amsterdam revealed that touch that mimics human interaction, such a cuddling a teddy bear, could be a helpful addition to treat low self-esteem, depression and anxiety.
Experts have noticed that interacting with something that mimics a human is not only beneficial for babies and toddlers, it helps grown ups deal with emotional turbulences too. Even the kind of attachment we develop with these stuffed toys can help someone cope with stress and anxiety. Even the sight of a shop full of teddy bears can help us forget all the negativity for a minute. Therefore, we should be surprised to hear that around 28% of men and women in the world still fall asleep cuddling their teddy bear in bed. Our relationship with our collection of soft toys is far more complex than our eyes can see.
How to buy the best toys or soft toys online for babies
Babies learn about the outer world through toys and soft toys are the first set of objects that parents give them to play with. They touch, taste, see, hear and smell things around them to learn about them. Therefore, any toy that can help them understand the world around them in a safe way is good enough.
Manufacturers may claim many things, but “educational toys” that comes with lots of buttons, levers, music and lights are not really education friendly because they make the life of a baby or a toddler less challenging. A battery powered ride-on or toy car may look smart and trendy but a pedal-powered tricycle is always a lot more beneficial for a child’s mental and physical development.
If you really observe and think deeply, you will realise that simple toys like teddy bears and bunnies, are actually more educational for children because they allow children to practise imagination and social skills. These soft toys, as they do nothing other that sitting pretty, forces children find innovative ways to play with them. The more a child uses its body and mind the better.
Therefore you should buy only ‘baby-proof’ soft toys online
Babies start to grasp the different colours, sizes and textures of the world around them and colorful stuffed animals are a safe way for them to do so. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the soft toy you are buying is suitable for those under 12 months of age. Because a baby chews or sucks whatever it gets, there should be no small parts or lose fibres that may present as a choking hazard.
Various soft toys available online:
1. Teddy Bears Buy a cute teddy bear now!
After being created by Morris Michtom and named after the US President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, since 1902, these soft tiny bears cubs have won the heart of millions of children and grown ups around the world. These cute little furry balls of wool and fabric give your baby the safety and comfort they need in their cradle, or bed.
2. Stuffed Dolls Buy stuffed dolls now!
Baby boys like them too, but baby girls are crazy for them. If you don’t know how to make your little daughter smile, give her a stuffed baby doll. The human like dolls are safe mates for your daughters and they are ideal for pretend plays. Children develop their social and language skills interacting with stuffed dolls.
3. Soft Balls Buy soft balls now!
Baby boys are more into sports and therefore, anything that looks like a ball entices them to grab, throw and kick. A stuffed ball is soft enough for a child to play with. Throwing or kicking something soft, like a stuffed ball, is a safe way to develop sportsman spirit and physical fitness in children.
4. Plushies Buy plushies now!
Children form ideas about animals and learn to identify them from books, videos and parents. We show them pictures and tell them about various animals and birds. They start to develop positive ideas about animals they see around and in the wild. Giving them a stuffed animal like a crazy monkey or a roaring tiger, will make their imagination more vivid and complex.
5. Interactive Stuffed Toys Buy one now!
Technology has enabled toy makers to produce interactive soft toys that can sing, cry, laugh and even have lights. When a baby presses a soft toy, the toy may laugh, cry or tell something interesting like ‘Good Morning’, Please’, or ‘Thank You’. Some toys can replay what you tell them. This type of toys encourages your baby to be curious and wonder about how stuff works.
6. Disney Characters Buy some now!
Our first images of Mickey Mouse came in 1928 and since then, Disney has created several popular characters to entertain kids and grown ups. The effect of Disney movies on the mind of children cannot be denied. Therefore, any stuffed animal that looks like a Disney character, like Mickey Mouse, or Scooby Doo will surely will the heart of your kid.
7. Finger Puppets Here are some awesome finger puppets for you!
Finger Puppets are an interesting soft toys that you put on your finger tips. They represent a variety of characters that attracts the attention on babies the most. They are something that can be easily worn and controlled merely by moving the fingers. Babies love to watch these characters talking, moving and dancing with fingers.
8. Pillow Toys Buy soft toys online now!
We love our pillows because they are soft and comfy, and when we give them the shape of an animal or a butterfly, they become great bedtime toys for kids and adults both. Kids love to rest their heads on pillows that is colourful and interesting enough to trigger vivid imagination and fantasy.
9. Clip-ons Check this collection now!
We love them because they can be hung and adjusted anywhere. Hang them in places where your baby spends most of his time. You can hang them in your car to keep you baby calm while travelling long distances. Most parents perhaps like to hang clip-ons in the baby’s crib, pram, or in their car. These are one of the best soft toys for babies.
Caution
Soft toys for kids are awesome, but when it comes to hygiene, they are germ magnets, because fabric gathers dirt faster. It is too risky to let your child play with unwashed soft toys for months. Therefore, the more often you clean them the better. Learn how to clean soft toys properly, it is your responsibility.
Also Read: Top 200 Best Unique Hindu Baby Boy Names
