The Wide World of Plush Stuffed Toys

The history of plush stuffed animals dates back during the time when a seamstress named Margerete Steiff started a hobby. Being a confined in a wheelchair, Margarete had to find a way to stay productive. She started to make elephant pin cushions, which later on, as children discovered, were also cute cuddly toys.

It was not long after when Margarete started making more, not pin cushions this time, but jointed stuffed animals. Originally intended as a seamstress' tool, Margarete's creations have become adorable cute and cuddly toys for children, thus, the invention of plush stuff animals.
Today, research has shown that allowing children to play with stuffed toys can help them in many ways. Aside from being soft and hazard-free, plush stuffed animals make good "friends" to children.
A perfect guest for tea time, little girls have made their own plush stuffed animals as their companion and playmate from their playroom, to their dollhouse and even in their bed. While many people have prematurely concluded that adults who once had an "imaginary friend" during their childhood did so because of their toys, research has shown that children who have gotten used to playing with plush toys tend to be more loving, more caring and more empathetic.

Plush toys have, in fact, contributed in developing a child's social skills at an early age.
While a child is at an age where his interaction is limited to his parents or his siblings, his (or her) plush stuffed animals can represent a real person from the outside world having tea time with the child.
Toys, after all, mimic the reality to a child.

As in the case of stuffed toys that can also have names like "Sam" or "Lily" and become everyday playmates of little girls and boys, the same can be said of toy trains, toy trucks, dollhouses and miniature tea sets. These toys are popular among children because they are known to have calm and soothing effects on them.

Because of their usual soft texture, plush toys create a feeling of calmness and security.
It is not surprising why they are now widely accepted not only among preschool and school age kids, but also among teenagers and adults.

Today, plush stuffed animals come in different forms, mostly from famous cartoon characters on Disney Channel or from Japanese cartoons.

Regardless of their character, plush stuffed animals still provide the same warmth and company to little girls and little boys alike.