I’m a play therapist & there are five gifts I’d never give kids – noisy plastic toys are a no & I hate too much stuff
WITH Christmas fast approaching, parents will be soon be searching high and low for the perfect gifts for their children to unwrap this December 25.
But a former play therapist, who posts under the acronym @amysgiftideas, took to TikTok and shared the five toys she won’t be getting her children.
In the clip, she begins by saying she plans on avoiding “noisy plastic toys.”
Amy explains: “Other than being annoying for parents, they’re also not great for kids.
“Studies show they can be overwhelming to children – especially young kids – and they can also delay language development.”
Moving onto number two, Amy urges parents to steer clear of “toys with a lot of pieces.
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She warns: “Kids cannot handle too many options.
“Studies show that when they have too many options available to them, they’re more likely to make a mess and walk away because they lose focus, get distracted, get overwhelmed, and it’s just too much for them.”
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Next on Amy’s banned list is big toys.
“Grandparents are notoriously guilty of giving big toys because they want to give something that is really big and impressive,” she explains.
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“Big and impressive toys are going to take up space and I know that kids thrive in play spaces that are less cluttered and there are not as many options around.
“So I like to give toys that can be easily put away in a bin and rotate or packed away in a closet, and while there’s a lot of value in these big toys that promote open-ended play, I’m going to let the parents choose that they want in their space.”
As for number four, Amy says she’d never get her kids “any kind of gift that comes with an instruction or obligation of my expectation of how and when and where they’ll use it.”
She continues: “For example, I’m not going to get a child an outfit and say, ‘I thought you could wear this on the first day of school.’
Or giving a stuffed animal and say, ‘this is for you to sleep with every night.’
“We’re going to give kids the creativity and independence to choose if, how, when and where they use the gifts we get them.”
Amy concludes by noting she she’d never gift anything that gives children five minutes of fun and when its over, what’s left is something they’re not going to continue to play.
The post has since garnered thousands of views, with many taking to the comments section to offer their opinions.
“Kids love the simpler things give them pots and pan and cardboard boxes they will be occupied for hours,” wrote one.
A second penned: “Anything that takes up a lot of space or a long time to set up (eg hot wheels track) is guaranteed not to be played with.”
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A third noted: “YES! As a kindergarten teacher this warms my heart! All these fisher price plastic sh** sends me into hulk-rage-mode.”
Meanwhile, another added: “As a mum I 100000000 agree. How do I ask my kids grandparents to stop buying them stuff and set money away instead.”