There’s nothing like watching our children’s eyes light up as they tear open their holiday presents. While many toys appear innocent and harmless upon first glance, they can cause some serious damage to your home if not handled with proper care and supervision.
We’ve rounded up the top five types of toys that can damage a house so you don’t have to learn the hard way:
1. Sports Equipment
While team sports and recreation are a very important aspect of childhood, be sure to keep those outdoor games, well… outdoors!
While it may seem like a good idea on frigid days, playing with sports equipment inside your home may lead to flying tennis balls or baseball bats making a crash landing into windows, light fixtures, or even grandma’s chinaware.
When playing with sports equipment outside, it is important to keep a safe distance from windows and cars.
2. Remote Control Toys
While remote control toys are exhilarating and fun, be careful not to let your children take them on an out-of-control joyride! With their high power and speed, a collision between one of these toys and various objects throughout your house can lead to some serious damage.
Set up designated areas free of any precious or valuable objects and encourage your child only to use remote control toys in those areas. This is an important consideration both inside and outside the home.
3. Watch Out for Wheels
Bikes and scooters and roller-skates, oh my! While your child may be ready to hop on that new bike before making it out the front door, riding these toys in the house can scratch and damage floors, leading to expensive repairs down the road, not to mention lead to possible injury.
Keep the good times rolling by encouraging your children to ride wheeled toys outside, NOT inside.
4. Darts and Toy Guns
Your children may be nurturing their inner marksperson while operating popular toys like Nerf guns and darts, but in order to maximize both their safety and the safety of your home, be sure they don’t have their targets locked on anything that could be easily damaged.
While these toys can be the source of great fun, they should be used either outside or in a designated safe area that mutually benefits both the home and, most importantly, your child.
5. Gadgets Galore
In today’s technology-driven world, it’s easy for children to get hooked. While there’s no harm in letting children play with electronics, it is important to supervise them and make sure these gadgets are not connected to a power source while in use to prevent accidental short circuits and electricity-related injuries.