Characteristic of Wooden Toy for Infants

유아용 목재완구의 특성분석

On the ground of that toy as for infants is an important tool for education as well as play and furthermore it has a great influences on their growth and development, the present study intends to analyze the characteristics of the infant-oriented toys made of wood, the environment-friendly material. Object of the study includes the infants aged 2 to 7, and the wooden toy not only in domestic also international cases are investigated and analyzed from the point of function and design in particular, and the infant-oriented wooden toy is finally characterized. The wooden toys are classified in 5 items according to functions. There are toy helping a physical development like small muscles, toy improving the creativity, toy assisting language learning like Korean & English, toy contributing to number understanding and counting, and toy for imitation of social roles. The characteristics of the wooden toy are that the natural color & grain of wood are shown first, and also the natural texture & aroma of wood are felt secondly, and geometric design and shape are often presented thirdly, and recycling is available fourthly, and it is expensive finally. In order to revitalize the wooden toys lagging behind the cheap and diverse toys made of plastic, it is highly needed that development of the environment-friendly painting, unique design, marketing strategy of enterprises and use of domestic wood material.