Stuffed Animal Safety and Information

The following is an excerpt from the CPSC document referenced in Part 1.  This excerpt discusses recommended dolls and stuffed animals for children 4 through 5 years old.
 4 Through 5 Years
 

These children enjoy moderately to highly detailed, familiar, realistic dolls and stuffed toys to incorporate into their moderately to highly complex pretend play. Dolls and stuffed animals designed for moderately to highly complex cause-and-effect appear to promote more complex and longer periods of pretend play. Since they have moderate problem-solving abilities and have developed richer symbolic meanings in their toys, 4- and 5-year-olds prefer fashion, military, and other thematic dolls (for example, 1:6 scale dolls with various outfits or accessories), action figures about 4 to 8 inches in length, and stuffed toys that become the major characters for enacting diverse, often extended, stories during pretend or role play.
 

The dolls and stuffed toys that offer the greatest degree of interest to these children are often based on licensed characters and on themes from various experiences at home, school, and through the media (television, videos, computer games, movies, and books). They are attracted more to dolls and stuffed animals that are collectible, as well as larger or oversized ones. They enjoy well-defined facial features, dressing dolls and stuffed toys with simple outfits, and choosing among many loose parts like grooming supplies. Such toys may also have moderately to highly complex cause-and-effect, such as multi-directional rotation of body parts, multiple functions, or multiple voice, light, sound, movement responses to buttons pushed, or smart-chip accessories that are plugged-in. They also are attracted to smart, robotic dolls and stuffed toys that feature various reactions to different stimuli or a lack of stimuli, and begin to master these toys.
 

Next time we will see what stuffed animals and dolls that CPSC suggests for children 6 through 8 years old.