With so many baby toys in the market, it can be hard to choose which one will help in your baby's development. Should you reach for that flashy high-tech gizmo or the traditional rattle? According to a latest study published in the Science Daily, giving babies high-tech toys can stagnate their communication skills.
Researchers from the Northern Arizona University conducted a study on the effects of high-tech toys on the verbal skills of babies. They found that these flashy, noise-producing, vibrant-colored devices have the ability to capture the child's attention, yet they tend to take away valuable parent-child interaction time, which has been proven to enhance and increase a baby's communication skills.
According to Bradford Wiles, assistant professor at Kansas State University, "What you want are things that can be shared that involve a dialogue back and forth with peers and especially with adults." Babies, toddlers, and young children alike need human interaction in order to improve their communication skills.
A child development specialist from K-State Research and Extension said that when a child plays with these high-tech noisy devices, they get to play alone, which has a detrimental effect on their overall development.
Wiles said that, "Research results are starting to indicate that when children isolate themselves through the use of these tablets, they are not able to regulate their emotions as well, and they're not able to get along as well with their peers."
Further elaborating on these effects, Wiles added, "We're teaching children how to use a tablet, but the information that's on the tablet, the children aren't really retaining," He also said, "So we think we're teaching them things like letters and numbers, but what we're really teaching them well is how to use a touch screen." With this in mind, the communication skills of babies are not being developed but are stagnated.
Wiles is advising parents to carefully choose the toys that are being given to the child. Not because a toy is being marketed as one that can help babies become smarter does not mean that it will. Positive interaction is still the most essential tool that can help in developing babies' communication skills.
