Right now, my son is going through a big truck and train phase. Our car rides are peppered with joyful exclamations of “Truck!” and “Bus!” from the backseat as we drive.
I’m sure this scenario sounds familiar to a lot of parents out there, and you’ll be glad to know that this interest in trucks is actually a positive development phase.
An interest in trucks, tractors, and trains is extremely common in toddlers.
Every toddler seems to hit a point where they become obsessed with anything that has wheels.
Three researchers from The Univeristy of Virgina, Yale Univeristy School of Medicine, and the University of Queensland have authored a report on the surprising benefits of having an interest in trucks at a young age.
According to experts, an obsession with trucks is one of many “Extremely Intense Interests” (EII) documented in young children.
A few others that can come to mind are dinosaurs, balls, and playing dress-up.
Developing these EIIs might not happen with every child, but it shows their emerging personalities and preferences.
Parents can also use EII to encourage children to explore other areas of learning.
For example, a child with an EII in trucks might prefer books about trucks, and parents can encourage literacy by using these materials.
As toys, trucks also offer a number of growth benefits for young children.
Toy trucks encourage the development of gross motor skills as children push them and watch them roll.
As children get older, they can develop a number of other spatial skills by building courses for their trucks, or figuring out the best way to organize small objects inside a truck for transportation.
