As parents, you just want to give your child all the things you didn’t have. Because of this, it’s easy for parents to feel guilty when they can’t afford to shower their children with gifts, but this study suggests that they shouldn’t.

It’s easy to think that the more toys you buy for your kids, the happier their life will be. However, some experts suggest that this may be far from the truth…

According to some experts, children showered with more toys actually ended up playing less

We all remember being kids, how as an adolescent you would see toys and think “I want that.” When you’re a child, it feels like if you have more toys you’ll always be happy but studies now suggest that more toys may have the opposite effect.

It’s already hard enough to focus as a child, and not being able to can bring up feelings of anxiety and confusion. This is the idea behind these studies. It seems that more toys make it harder for kids to focus when they’re playing with them.

Researchers at the University Toledo in Ohio found that toddlers who had fewer toys played more

In the study, Dr. Alexia Metz and her team of graduate researchers observed 36 toddlers between the ages of 18-30 months. On one visit kids were given 4 toys to play with, while on the other visit the toddlers were given 16 toys.

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The researchers focused on how long they would engage the toys, how many different ways they would play, and how many times the toddlers picked the toys up.

What the researchers at UT found was that the toddlers with fewer toys were at play for longer, and in more creative ways than the kids with more toys

Dr. Metz and the team of graduate researchers found that:

“In the 16-toy environment, many of the children played with 10 or more toys in the 15 minutes soon after they entered the room. By flitting from toy to toy, they didn’t take the time to explore the ways they could use each toy.”

“This increased exploration may support the development of motor and cognitive skills.”

In conclusion, the toddlers who were given 4 toys seemed to have “higher quality play” than the children who were given 16 toys. Dr. Metz suggests:

“If your child receives an abundance of toys, you don’t need to introduce them all at once. Save some for later and swap them out. If they have a chance to explore a few toys at a time, they might have a richer experience.”

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So what does this tell us? It seems to suggest that toddlers with too many toys get distracted and overwhelmed by the abundance of toys, leading to them playing less and not exploring all the different ways they can use the toys.

A study done by Oxford suggests that spending time with your children is much more valuable for their growth than an abundance of toys

In the Oxford research, they studied 3000 kids ages 3-5 and found that the kids who had fewer toys and electronics, but more quality time with their parents did better in school and had better social development.

If you’re not sold yet, Cornel University psychology professor, Thomas Gilovich, did studies that spanned decades and concluded that the happiness of children is derived from experience, not material items.

To learn more on this subject, just watch the video below!

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Source: I Intelligence, Psychology Today, University of Toledo, YouTube – CBS New York, emerald insight