<\/p>\n

Toys. They\u2019re everywhere these days. Although their natural habitat is a well-organized chest in your child\u2019s room, they frequently migrate to places like the living room, kitchen table, the car, your bed and of course, directly under your feet in a dark hallway in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s worse, new toys threaten to encroach upon your home environment all the time, as birthdays, holidays and random visits from grandma and grandpa often bring more and more of these parasitic playthings with them.<\/p>\n

So how do parents like us know which of the thousands of toys out there are actually worth keeping (or buying in the first place)? Which ones will maintain our children\u2019s interest, help them learn something, boost their problem-solving skills and inspire their creativity?<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t as hard as it seems.<\/p>\n

Just read our newest article on the PBS Parents website<\/a>, and you\u2019ll learn about five distinguishing characteristics that can help you spot the perfect toy in no time.<\/p>\n

The article is full of cool, research-based info about how to get the most out of your kids\u2019 playtime, including:<\/p>\n

\n

\n
• The benefits of battery-free toys<\/li>\n
• Where you should stick that new toy\u2019s instruction manual<\/li>\n
• What toys have in common with peacocks, pets and platypuses<\/li>\n
• And lots more!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n

  If you enjoy the other things we write \u2013 like this website, or our fun book of science experiments you can perform on your own kids<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 then you\u2019re going to love this article too!<\/p>\n

  So what are you waiting for? Go check it out now!<\/em><\/p>\n

  “Anatomy of the Perfect Toy” by Amber and Andy Ankowski<\/a>
  \nfor pbs.org<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Toys. They\u2019re everywhere these days. Although their natural habitat is a well-organized chest in your child\u2019s room, they frequently migrate to places like the living room, kitchen table, the car, your bed and of course, directly under your feet in a dark hallway in the middle of the night. What\u2019s worse, new toys threaten to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[153,141,16],"class_list":["post-2430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-for-rents","tag-animals","tag-guest-blogs","tag-toys"],"yoast_head":"\n