If you have a car-mad child, there’s the obvious question of what you are supposed to buy them for a special occasion like Christmas or their birthday, given that... well, they are obviously not yet old enough to drive a car. Except that they actually could be old enough to drive one...
Yes, they could get behind the wheel of an electric toy car – but why else should you particularly consider this as a potential present for your little one? Here are five compelling reasons...
Many electric toy cars are based on ‘proper’ cars
So, if there is a specific type of car your child has always felt drawn towards, you might be able to buy them that car in electric toy form.
You could start your search for that vehicle by perusing the range of kids’ electric cars available at RiiRoo. Here, you can expect to see electric toy cars from major automotive brands like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Bentley and BMW.
Kids’ electric cars come with safety mechanisms
This can put you at ease as you let your child drive their new car to their heart’s content. For example, some models come with a parental remote control, which – as you would probably expect – enables you to take control of the car remotely while your kid is still in it.
Auto Express describes this as “ideal for youngsters who aren’t yet coordinated enough to operate the typical forward and reverse gears while also thinking about steering.”
It would help them to develop various skills
That’s according to child psychologist Professor Jeffrey Goldstein, who tells The Telegraph that playing with toy cars can assist children in developing physical skills.
The sheer versatility of a toy car would also help, with your kid able to pretend that they are racing with it, crashing it or taking it to the garage. Prof Goldstein explains: “Variety sustains children’s interest, and helps them develop a broader range of skills.”
It can spur your child’s creativity
Prof Goldstein says that, when children play, this “develops their language, spatial awareness, social and communication skills and physical abilities in such a prolonged way”.
He credits this situation to “all sorts of factors”, including “the creativity of make-believe, and the intellectual development that comes from learning the names of objects, and then imagining them to be something completely different.”
“A key feature of play is that, by doing it, children enter into other worlds with a focus that is rare among adults,” author and academic Harriet Castor similarly notes.
You could make the car fully road-legal for yourself
Of course, you would never let your child take their electric toy car onto a public road – but you could still convert that car to make it legal for you to drive on the same road.
You could be particularly inspired by father-of-five James Scudder, who kitted out a toy car with indicators, headlights, sidelights and brake lights. Scudder admitted to Metro.co.uk: “People definitely do a double-take when they see me whizzing along the roads on it.”
