Stuff Kids Love: Stuffed Animals
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 
In our new series Stuff Kids Love we explore the simple joys of children. We discuss why they love it, what they gain from their play and how you can best use the stuff they love to guide them in purposeful play. This week we are giving a big hug to our favorite friends, stuffed animals.
It’s not uncommon for kids to have a favorite stuffed animal that follows them everywhere. Many kids use their fuzzy friend as a comfort object, which gives them confidence to gain independence away from their parents. Their favorite animal is a familiar face that has no other daily obligation than to keep them company. Many people give stuffed animals as gifts for birthdays and baby showers, and they are usually one of the last things a child gives up when transitioning into adulthood.
Stuffed animals are a great way to teach kids animal recognition and foster basic growth and development. Describing the animal’s features, discussing where they live in the world and having children mimic the sounds of different animals helps form a sense of geography and encourages speech and language development.
Early speech development begins simply by making a series of sounds that helps your child strengthen oral muscles needed in more complex communication. Learning how to form their mouth around a monkey’s “ooo ooo ooo,” a cow’s “moo” or a horse’s “neigh” is a fun way to get those verbal skills started.
Role playing is another reason stuffed animals are so fun. Every child learns how to take care of themselves by watching how others take care of them. At around 18 months of age, children begin to practice their care-taking skills on their baby dolls and stuffed animals.
In our opinion, the best stuffed animals feature great sensory for children. Jellycat of London is one of our favorite brands because they are incredibly soft, have adorable faces and can withstand the test of time.
Check back later this week when we tell a "Stuffed Animal Story."
Reader Comments (3)
I also love collecting stuffed animals. They are just so adorable.
Practically each and every property sale incorporates a few stuffed animals on the market and also the regional thrift shops have hundreds if not a huge number of them for sale.
Practically each and every property sale incorporates a few stuffed animals on the market and also the regional thrift shops have hundreds if not a huge number of them for sale.