Toy and Safety

What is a toy?

Toys are all kinds of products, games, tools and equipment designed or manufactured for use in children’s games under the age of 14.

What is CE Marking on Toy?

This mark means the guarantee made by the toy manufacturer that the toy complies with the common EU rules on safety and standards.

– All toys must bear the CE mark.
– Do not buy toys that do not have a CE mark on them.
– These are of poor quality and can be dangerous for your child.

Recommendations Regarding Toys

• The child should be able to handle and grasp the toy easily.
• It should support the child’s manual skills, thought, memory and imagination.
• The toy should be sturdy and easy to clean.
• Babies and young children should not share their toys. Young children often put their toys in their mouths. For this reason, toys should be thoroughly washed and cleaned before using another child.
• After playing with your child’s toys, take them in a box that you set aside for dirty toys and put them out of reach of children. After cleaning, transfer it to the other box where the clean toys are kept.
• Do not leave children alone in water games and in the kitchen.
• Teach your children to put their toys back after the game is over.
• Do not buy cheap and very simple toys. Pay special attention if you buy toys from places other than toy stores.
• Soft animals and babies should be washed. In such toys, eyes, nose, buttons and other details must be sewn or glued in a way that does not break off. If the child puts them in mouth, such parts may break off and block the child’s windpipe.
• Some toys such as rattles, compressible toys and teethers should be too large to pass through the newborn child’s throat. The toys that children who are not sitting on their own take rattle, tooth scratching rings and similar to their mouths should have protruding parts or glued parts. Do not forget that such parts may break off and block the child’s windpipe if the child puts them in mouth.
• Take the toys in your hands and check them thoroughly. Soft filling materials in the toy should not contain any hard or pointed foreign material such as metal particles, needles and splinters.
• Do not buy toys made of thin, fragile plastic. Children under three years old toys must be made of very hard material.
• Throw away the thin plastic packages and broken toys before they reach the child.
• Cut away the plastic tags and the like attached to the toy. Such little things can break off and enter the child’s mouth, pose a danger.
• Check whether the seams of the toy have been removed or not by pulling.
• Do not buy toys made of soft plastic that smell bad.
• Be careful with the small toys inside the chocolate eggs. These can be dangerous by running into the child’s throat.
• Expanding toys (toys that expand when thrown into water-like liquid) should not expand more than 50%.
• Chalk, crayons, markers, and the like should be specially made for young children.
• Toys with long strings, cords and ribbons can also pose a danger to young children. These ties and cords can wrap around the child’s neck and prevent breathing.
• When the child is about 6 months old and can get up on her hands or knees, remove the toys laid on her bed.
• Keep the loud toys away from children.
• Since furry toys may cause some problems in terms of allergies, they should be kept away from allergic children. In addition, such toys can harbor germs more quickly and are very difficult to clean.
• Slides with a beam attached, suspended swings and rings, trapezes, ropes and similar toys must be intact. It must be able to carry safely a child so that it does not cause an accident. Their maintenance and control should be done continuously.
• Functional toys designed mostly for adults should be played under the supervision of adults by children.
• Toy phones, remote control cars, toy repair tools, and many electronic toys often make loud and long noises. Be very careful with toys that the child keeps close to ear, such as a toy cell phone. Do not buy the toy if it makes a loud and irritating sound when you hold it near your own ear.
• Always use quality batteries in battery operated toys. In particular, make sure that the battery holder of the toy is screwed and securely closed.
• When purchasing bicycles for children of all ages, buy a helmet also and make sure the child is wearing it.
• It must bear the name or brand of the toy manufacturer or importer. Untitled toys can be dangerous.