To this day, rocking horses are widely used by toddlers and young children with enthusiasm. But why is such a simple toy so enjoyable? Some tots can happily spend hours atop their wooden horse, rocking forward and backward without going anywhere. If you're thinking about buying a wooden rocking horse for your child, you'll want to make sure you've picked out the best one possible. And to understand which is the best, you need to get inside the mind of a toddler and rediscover your own childhood joy in rocking horses.
Imagination
All children are built with powerful imaginations. Just how long that imagination remains is up to the child and their environment, but toddlers have yet to experience enough of the world to truly lose their imaginative edge. To them, anything can be everything. A wooden rocking horse is more than just a few planks of wood expertly handcrafted and pieced together. It's a real horse they can have wild adventures on!
When a child rides a rocking horse, they can be a horse tamer, a jockey, a cowboy/cowgirl - anything they may want to be. And it doesn't have to be a horse they’re riding. They could enjoy pretending they're in a rocket ship or aboard a boat during stormy seas. There's no limit to the imagination when rocking horses are involved. A handcrafted wooden rocking horse is the perfect gift for any child with a good imagination and the need for a noble steed to join them on their adventures.
Muscle Development
Although your child may not be aware of it, rocking horses are improving their muscles as well as their imagination. Babies and toddlers are constantly in crucial stages of muscle development. Without the right tools and practices, children can fall behind on their motor skills. With a wooden rocking horse, however, toddlers can develop these skills while having fun.
The strength and coordination needed to keep the momentum of rocking help your child build their gross motor skills. The design of the rocking horse will help them keep some movement, lessening the impact they need to get the toy to work. This is the perfect balance of muscles needed to help them develop their push-pull skills without fatiguing them.
A rocking horse will also help develop a child's fine motor skills. Although the main motion is all about upper body strength, nearly every other aspect of the horse is about fine muscle movement. Children need to grip the handlebars, maneuver their legs and feet into position, and keep everything coordinated as they play.
Balance and Coordination
As with muscle development, toddlers are in the process of developing their balance and coordination. Being able to hold onto something can help them practice their balancing skills. When your toddler sits on a rocking horse and holds the handles, they're building core muscles and learning to balance. When they start to rock, that balance is being tested further and improves with each swing.
Their coordination increases as well. By building up their muscles, they're also learning the connection between their motions and the results those motions make. Children start to make connections between what they tell their body to do and how it reacts. It may take a child a while to figure out how to get a rocking horse going, but once they do, they've discovered an invaluable coordination technique that will help them grow and develop even more.
Soothing Motions
As a baby, you were probably rocked to sleep at some point or another, and you've likely rocked your own baby to sleep as well. The science behind the soothing rocking motion goes all the way back to ancient times. Before humans had houses and security measures, we were nomadic. And if you're out in the wild, it's best to be quiet. The rocking motion perfectly mimics the sensation a baby would have felt when being carried by their parents over long distances. It is ingrained in the human mind to associate the rocking motion with a need to be still and quiet; otherwise, you could alert predators and put yourself in danger.
Although there's hardly a need for such protective measures these days, the association is still alive, especially in babies and toddlers. Being rocked will soothe nearly any young child. Unfortunately, you can't always be there all the time to soothe them. As a baby starts to grow into a toddler, any parent will tell you the importance of them learning to self-soothe. Rocking horses are a great tool to help them learn this important skill.
The rocking motion of the horse is designed to closely mimic the rocking motion of being carried. This allows your child to soothe themselves without too much trouble. A child may play with their rocking horse when they're bored or excited, but they may also choose to play with it when they're feeling upset about something. Since they’re unable to fully vocalize their frustrations and concerns, a toddler can rely on their rocking horse to help them calm down and find peace. A wood rocking horse can teach your child emotional maturity and healthy coping mechanisms.
It's no surprise that kids love playing with rocking horses. Ever since they were first invented, rocking horses have been wildly popular. A wooden rocking horse allows your child to free their imagination, develop crucial motor skills, and practice healthy self-soothing techniques. If you want your child to have access to all this and more, you need to make sure you choose the best rocking horse for them. At AmishToyBox.com, we sell high-quality, handcrafted wooden rocking horses. Our toys are specially designed by Amish craftsmen and guaranteed to be sturdy, beautiful, and fun. Your child will love their new wooden rocking horse, and you'll love how much it can help them develop and enjoy life.