All parents want their kids to grow up strong, healthy and happy. Kids are their precious possessions and so they are willing to invest anything or any amount for their well-being. Parents are ready to devote time to play with kids to help them make wonderful memories of learning and playing.
Yet, some parents often mistake and neglect the role of play in the development of their children. Play is a vital component of their childhood; it can much impact several aspects of their future. Factors like confidence, risk assessment, creativity and imagination are sparked by play.
However, not all factors are right all the time and parents should provide only meaningful and age-appropriate toys for kids. Only such toys will ensure that kids draw maximum benefit from playtime.
Ride-on cars are one such genre of toys. You can order kids car online or buy them from physical stores. There are numerous benefits of toy cars for kids and some of them are as follows:
- Enhances motor skills
Kids need to home two kinds of skills in their early years: gross and fine motor skills. Thankfully, certain ride-on cars can aid in developing both these skills, based on the kind of car. Kids will develop the skills of using their legs on cars with ‘kick ride-on’ when they hold and manoeuvre the steering.
Certain ride-on cars feature functional doors, switches and buttons, all of which will train the kids to use their feet, legs, arms and hands to engage with the toy in myriad ways.
- Boosts physical activity and exercise
Most persons, both adults and kids, prefer to neglect the factor of exercise. But kids will not realize that they are exercising since they are occupied with having fun. Pedal-powered or kick-ride-on cars encourage children to use their feet to move around.
The toy car cannot move around till the user manoeuvres his legs, and it cannot be turned around without the user operating the steering wheel. Some of such small movements can even help exercise the legs and hands of young users, helping them to develop physical strength, particularly when they ride every day.
- Develops self-confidence
Instilling self-confidence in kids is a primary duty of every parent. The opportunity for this is possible by using ride-on cars. When kids play with this toy, it is possible for them to learn how to manoeuvre and move around with the car while being cheered on by adults.
They may need much time to learn and master the art of driving toy cars, but this is crucial since they automatically establish goals and attempt to accomplish them. When you support the achievement of milestones, you basically are aiding in boosting their self-confidence to accomplish any targets.
When they begin to traverse long distances, making the right turns and bends and riding on top of bumps, they will sense a boost in self-esteem.
- Improves spatial intelligence
An important element of children’s development is spatial intelligence or visual thinking. This skill helps them to know the environment around them and the mode of interaction with space. Playing with ride-on cars helps children become aware of their surroundings.
Such awareness helps them to become sensitive to the world around them and know the mode to explore it. Kids will learn the art of stopping in the face of obstruction, turning when space is sufficient, and slowing down when there are bumps in the road ahead.
Spatial intelligence can be developed with the help of parents when they make creative tracks with different obstacles for the children. Boosting spatial intelligence features numerous benefits and can aid kids in successfully tackling STEM subjects such as science and maths.
- Encourages imagination and creativity
It is natural for adults to forget their childhood activities. But as opposed to adults, it takes very little to stimulate the imagination of the child. Kids are basically creative and imaginative. Ride-on cars help boost the imagination and creativity of kids.
Kids like to ride toy cars and pretend to play all the time they like. They may pretend to race cars/ pick up groceries/ drive to school etc. Ride-on cars for kids serve as a platform for practising their imagination; this is vital for developing valuable skills like problem-solving and critical thinking.
- Skills in following instructions and rules
Parents double up as coaches for kids. Every kid relies on their parents to train them to use tools as well as play with toys. While playing with ride-on cars, the kids will get trained in following instructions since the parents will instruct them on how to put on seatbelts, go, stop, and make turns.
There is no better chance to train children about traffic lights, road rules, and the consequences of not following these instructions. Parents can infuse a dose of creativity into this task by doing pretend play by posing as traffic sergeants while kids are drivers.
As part of this play, you can impose a ticket on the young rider when he or she breaks a rule. If the kid gets multiple tickets, you can impound the car for a couple of hours. Such pretend play is a very useful activity that trains kids to respect regulations and rules.
- Encourages adventure and exploration
When kids play with ride-on cars, they begin to experience a whole new world that is not limited by crawling or walking. Such activities encourage adventure and exploration since kids feel like checking out different views and experiences.
Later on, when they ride their little cars in parks or anywhere outdoors, their adventures become more varied and colourful while they explore everything around. Such exploration is good for kids since it helps them develop skills of critical thinking.
- Boosts social and emotional development
When they drive toy cars for kids, children learn to cooperate by sharing toys and taking turns at driving the car. They may even pretend to be various characters while they play, which helps boost their social and emotional skills. With pretend play, kids try to live out situations of real life wherein they can indulge in satisfying and happy activities. These are positive situations that help kids to socialize better with each other.
- Improves coordination
The child will learn to coordinate his senses, arms and legs while continually pedalling on the ride-on cars. Car kids will coordinate their eyes, arms and legs to have a comfortable ride and enjoy themselves.
In sum, kids should develop their physical, mental, social and emotional facets of life while growing up. A ride-on car is one such instrument that helps in these developments as part of the play and having fun.