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Toddler Riding Toys
Buying Guide
What are the best toddler riding toys ? In order to answer this question, let's see the physical development of toddlers and see what the best riding toys for them are.
Toddler 12-24 months.
Children at this age range are learning to walk properly. They have some balance, but they are still not good at balancing and coordinating their bodies. Therefore, they cannot yet pedal or alternate their feet when using ride-on toys. Instead, they make the riding toys go forward by pushing with both feet simultaneously. In addition, they haven't developed enough hand-eye coordination to be able to manuever the steering mechanism effectively. However, toddlers of this age group have a high curiousity level. Therefore anything which has a cause-and-effect mechanism will appeal this age group. So, the best toddler riding toys should: - be stable. This means that the vehicle has to have four instead of two or three wheels. In addition, the wheels should be spaced widely apart, but not too wide.
- be low enough for easy mounting and dismounting. Children should be able to put their feet flat on the floor when seated.
- be basic: does not have pedals, does not have a steering mechanism and is not motorized.
- have bright colors and some activity center attached to the toy.
When buying a toddler riding toy, you may want to get the one which has a small handle at the back. This handle is usually low enough for a very young toddler to reach and hence this type of toddler ride on toy can also be used as a push toy. Pushing a toddler riding toy by using the handle on the back of this toy is somewhat favourable for a very young toddler who is not tall enough to comfortably using the handle in a proper push toy. It is also sturdy and stable enough for a young toddler to push around. For a young toddler (12-18 months), we only recommend a straddle toddler ride on toy with four wheels because this type of toddler ride on toys is the easiest to manouvre. When your child is older , you can try her on a riding toy with four wheels where she can sit inside the toy and propel the toy by pushing using her feet. However, the 'ride-in' toy are more difficult to manouvre. And even some of the older one year olds still not able to manouvre it. We, however, do NOT recommend motorized ride on toys for this age group because this age group is still too young to be able to handle a motorized riding toy. At this age, there is more hazard associated with battery-powered ride-on toys compared to the benefits they can get from this kind of toys. Toddler 24-36 months
Children 2 years of age will enjoy the same features of toddler riding toys as younger children. However, since children at this age group usually start to love pretend play, they will love to have toddler ride on toys that look realistic, such as pretend fire engines. So what kind of toddler riding toys can be used by children within this age group ? - Any four wheel ride-on and ride-in toys, preferably the ones which look real.
- Three-wheeled tricycle with wide standing platforms and no pedal.
- Three- or four-wheels pedal toys. These kind of toys are only ideal for toddlers who are reaching three years and just start learning to pedal. A young two year old, however, may not be able to pedal yet.
Battery-powered ride on toys are still NOT recommended for this age group. Although they now can somewhat handle the steering part of the toy, this age group still cannot control the movement of the motorized vehicle to properly avoid hazard. However, if you and your child are really interested in buying one, then operate this toy only under adult's supervision. With adult guidance, an older 2 year old will be able to move the vehicle very slowly. But always always supervise your toddler when playing with a motorized ride-on toy.
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