Gifts of toys including traditional type toys, can be be more effective at developing creativity and enhancing imagination in children. Developmental psychologists report that traditional toys outweigh modern electronic ones because they offer children more control.

“Old-fashioned retro toys, such as wooden puzzles, rubber balls, building blocks, clay and crayons are usually much healthier for children than the electronic educational toys that have fancier boxes, a higher cost and lower life expectancy, not including the continuing cost of batteries.

“The irony is that the real educational toys are not the flashy gadgets and gismos with big promises, but the staples that have built creative thinkers for decades.” Traditional toys make for healthy play.

How Retro Toys Develop Creativity in Children.

Children learn through active play, not passive exposure to flashing lights and blinking numbers. Modern electronic toys that ask questions don’t teach kids how to explore or be creative. Traditional toys enhance healthy play because they're more likely to require interaction and involvement. That is, they require children to manipulate them – not passively answer a series of questions. Children need to play more and memorise less. The majority of the larning experience with computerised modern electronic toys is memoriseing how to use/operate the device or program.

Don’t waste all your money on high-tech toys, and computer programs designed to teach your child how to read, write, and add. Traditional toys, with some parental interaction, will do more to help your child grow up happy, healthy and smart than anything you can buy in an educational toy store.

Vintage Toys for Healthy Play.

If you’re buying a birthday or holiday gift for kids, don’t discount the old-fashioned presents. Vintage or retro gifts include puppets, puzzles, mazes, lacing sets crayons, balls, and building blocks.

• Be wary of false promises. Look carefully at the pictures and promises on the box, if the toy is promising that your child is going to be smarter, it’s a red flag. If it is promising that your child is going to be bilingual or learn calculus by playing with it, the chances are high that this is not going to happen – even with a tremendous amount of parental intervention. Vintage toys for healthy play don't usually come with false promises.
• Look for toys that kids play with together. Playing with blocks, trains, or other vintage toys with another child or two improves socialization skills. Kids learn how to negotiate, which comes in handy later in life. Old-fashioned gifts may be less expensive, too.
• Buy “construction, or science toys.” Toys that allow kids to experiment, discover or build with creative materials to enhance their imagination. For instance, puzzles and big storybooks with beautiful illustrations are retro toys that allow kids to explore and grow.