Need to know what books, toys, games 4yr olds enjoy & how it helps intellectual development

[Mil16]

I am doing a survey about a 4 yr olds intellectual development. I would like to know whether they prefer toys, books or games (and which ones) and the topics (eg numbers) that they like that help with their intellectual development.

snakes & ladders massive hit with DS (now 5 - but has been obsessed for over a yr)

Guess who is a big hit too...

DS does really love to read, but I think games win

forgot to say DS also loves snap

Have you joined Mumsnet just to do research??

this ought to be helpful

are you a student? or a toy developer? or nosey? or what?

this one 5318008

Any basic book on child development will tell you all of this. Remember that every child is different though, some will be more advanced the others.

ah thanks belle

Im a student and for part of my gsce i need to design and make a toy, game or book for a 4 year old. I have to do research about it and a friend recommended this site to ask parents

Have you been to the toy shops to see what they are selling?? This is a good place to start.

i'm doing that 2morrow

Best of luck. My son liked jigsaws at this age and fuzzy felt was a big hit.

All the Orchard Toys are good. Anything that encourages counting, shape recognition etc and interaction between the people who are playing. Also things that can be played with in lots of differnt ways such as Lego or Playdoh - encourages imaginative play. Puzzles are great too.

Depends on the child and what the parent teaches them to do with the toys/games, etc. We always had as much fun with water and sand and counting pebbling, looking at flowers as we did with expensive toys but the best were plastic animals to make farms, and jungles and zoos but that was just us.

My DS is nearly five now but he loves anything to do with crayons and paints and colouring books. He has a skittles set he loves and a set of pirate dolls that you throw hoops at and try to hook over ( cant think what its called.)

Anything with bats and balls too. He has a magnetic face that you can put disguises he loves. ( I think it is made with iron filings under a plastic case and the "pen" has amagnet in the end to pick up and move the filings around in the picture) . Lego is another favourite and large buiding bricks.

He loves dinosaurs and books about them and racing cars. He also likes the Thomas the Tank Engline stories. He likes his bike, swings and slide.

How that helps his development I think you might want to go to the old Piagetian theory for stuff on developing motor skills and co ordination etc.

I doubt most children know about that and it is never top od my list when I get him anything

DS now 8, has ALWAYS had obsessions with particular board games - maths based. It started with Pop to the Shops, then Snakes and Ladders and Ludo, at about 6 it was Monopoly, then Chess, next City Monopoly but we are make to regular Monopoly. It can be several times a day. both DS and DH have a BIG thing for Lego. Recently, he has adventured out into making animations with an iflip and imovie. But I have to say all that Monopoly has helped with his maths skills.

DD is all art, craft, reading and writing. She loves to make and do. Pencil and paper keep her happy for hours. She and friends also love Hama beads and threading beads to make jewellery. She is an avid reader and is pretty girlie with everything. Needless to say her strengths are reading, writing and art. She still likes little world things, wooden dolls house and play mobil - likes to make up stories.

Good luck with the PGCE. Have a look at the Puzzle Company products as well - some great things there. I agree about Orchard Toys - great things.

Don't forget that a few good men is worth a hundred books! The best way to stimulate a 4 year old is to out into the open world, show, talk and engage the child by observing the world around you. This kind of intellectual stimulation you can't put in a box or read in a book!