Somewhere in the middle of the last century, there were kits for melting soldiers from lead, modern dolls do not chew children’s fingers, but it’s too early for us to relax.
The question of how we survived in general, we ask ourselves for a reason. Just remember our toys! As a child, my grandmother forbade me to take deer glowing in the dark from the shelf: according to her, they glowed thanks to phosphorus, which could harm me.
A little later, it was time for slingshots. Dad refused to do it for me – and he did the right thing. In high school, I learned that toys can affect the psyche. If the media did not lie, Japanese children were so killed by their Tamagotchi that they even buried them in special cemeteries and fell into depression. In high school, I shied away from all the boys under 13 in case they decided to throw a bomb at their feet.
As a student, I watched all the films about Chucky and finally fell out of love with dolls.
Now I have children of my own, and I learned that the days of hazardous toys are still not over.
10th place. Kaleidoscope
Not everyone, of course, but too short. According to the norms, it should be longer than 25 cm, otherwise it slowly but inevitably harms children’s eyesight.
9th place. Whistles, tweeters, horns
Not only is it important to pay attention to the quality of the sounds when buying musical toys, but you also need to make sure that they do not exceed the comfortable 65 decibels. Otherwise, hearing may suffer.
8th place. Children’s perfume
To this we add perfumed toys, and scented stationery, and other small things with pungent odors. In a modern city, there are enough potential allergens even without them.
7th place. Hydrogel balls (aqua primer)
Beautiful polymer balls, with the help of which florists maintain the moisture level in the soil, once it gets into the water, increase tens and hundreds of times. They are often used for the early development of babies. And sometimes children swallow them. Hydrogel balls are not plastic bullets, the digestive tract will not be overcome so easily. Within a few hours, they can cause intestinal obstruction or perforation. It is difficult for doctors to understand what is wrong: the balls are not visible on the X-ray. In general, not the best way to develop fine motor skills.
6th place. Boomerangs, helicopters and spinners
If the machine on the remote control, with inept use, fits only into shoes, then with radio-controlled helicopters it is worse. They can crash into a person at full speed or fall on their head. In short, babies without dads cannot run them.
Fidget spinners are also controversial. There have already been cases that children were crippled because of a once fashionable hobby. However, we note that you can injure yourself with anything, there would be a desire.
5th place. Pistols
Even soft shells and water balls can injure the eye, and there is no need to talk about plastic cartridges. But a rare boy does not have a weapon, so there can be only one advice: to discuss safety techniques with him. When blasters can shoot at 25 meters, you cannot aim at a person. Never. And indoors, loaded weapons are taboo.
4th place. Kits for children’s experiences
It is not for nothing that they write an age limit of 10+, because a young experimenter has to deal with phosphates, acids, alkalis and other dangerous substances. The five-year-old, of course, is unlikely to drink the reagent, but she can accidentally spill it on herself.
3rd place. Too bright toys
Uncertified toys of unknown origin represent a great danger. If they are painted in a poisonous color, and even smell, this is already a reason to refuse to buy. In the production of such toys, they could well have used real poisons: lead, cadmium, arsenic. And, of course, it is categorically impossible to buy cosmetics for your daughter that do not have certificates, even if her favorite heroine is drawn on the set.
2nd place. Metal-tipped darts
Hanging such a dart board at a children’s birthday is a dubious idea. Although the current options are flowers compared to those 30-centimeter darts that were sold several decades ago for playing on the lawn (you had to get into a hoop lying on the grass). The victims of this game numbered in the thousands, and several children even died.
1st place. Neocub
This is such a toy-constructor made of neodymium magnets in the form of balls. It is generally positioned as an anti-stress toy for adults, but it is better not to keep it in the house if you have children. Kids up to three years old will gladly pull these balls into their mouths. And if you swallow several magnets, they can collect in a child’s stomach into a single foreign body. They will not be able to get out in a natural way. We’ll have to go to the surgeon.