Toys Are Not Us

There seems to be rancor between adults who care for and about children. The battle lines are drawn about whether to play or not and what toys are helpful, harmful, unnecessary and or a must have. Elkind has written an interesting book about the Power of Play. He was concerned about toys long before the recent recall due to lead paint coatings. Children have always learned something from the toys with which they play. The lessons today are different. Toys use to teach manners, morals and social roles. Today toys are automated, micro chip or battery run. Industry analysts estimate that at least 75% of toys arriving for holiday consumption will have embedded computer chips. These are not toys that can be taken a part to comprehend the inner workings. Many are not toys with which a child does something. These toys seem to have lives of their own. Standord Univeristy students are equired to play with erector sets to learn how things work and are connected.

Toy play can encourage imaginative and fantasy play. I remember a cardboard box a fine teacher used in her classroom. One day the box was a train. Later in the week it morphed into an ocean liner. Children eagerly entered the classroom to discover what had happened to the large cardboard box over night. Wonderful interactions took place inside the ever-changing box. Today children have so many toys they barely have time to figure out the possibilities. Why so many? Toys use to arrive at holdays and on birthdays. The rest of the year was about playing with the toys one had and thinking about toys that might arrive under the tree months away. Now toys are everywhere. Museums, drugstores, grocery stores, restaurants, zoos, parks and convenience stores have a thriving toy section. Toys are part of movie and food promotion. Seems to me toys today are teaching consumerism and children are the target audience. Toys accompany films and fast food. What the characters do often determines what the child can do. I wonder about young children's plastic heroes. Do they know about picnics? Do they go to the library? What about family dinner? What are they teaching little ones about what to do with time?
Fantasy and imaginative play occurs in the early childhood years. Since children spend so much time in front of screens of some sort, there is little time for exercising their predisposition for fantasy, imagination, and creativity. These are the mental tools later required for higher levels of math and science.

A Parent Education Newsletter said it best!
Remember that play should:
Be controlled by the child
Paced by the child
Emphasize process rather than product
Be messy at times
Use mostly toys, which require 90% input from the child and 10% input from the toy.

The large cardboard box prepared children for physics, calculus and algebra. Children are learning all of the time. I think there is value in choosing toys that are not battery run or need a power source. Children learn about themselves and the world through their interactions with people and things. What lessons are you teaching with your toy puchase dollars?

Animal Truths Make Good Sense

People who dislike cats have told me that cats will come directly to them in a crowded room. Cats seem to know.

As a child, I rode a horse on a trail ride. I had read every book there ever was about horses. I had loved King of the Wind, Black Beauty, and Star. As I was on my first horse fulfilling every dream I had had as a child, I realized I was terrified. The horse broke free from the orderly horse line, and bounded across an empty field. I hung on swamped in my personal fear. The horse knew.

One day, I returned home quite late. I had left at 7:00 AM and managed to fill my day with complex job expectations. I finally got home weary and tired. Sam, our golden retriever, and I had a regular routine. Usually, I came home at an ok time, strapped on my running shoes and Sam and I would take off. We would lope through the neighborhoods. On the evening I returned home so late, Sam had not eaten dinner. He had pushed open the hall closet, and removed one of my running shoes and placed in the middle of the dining room floor. He had taken my second running shoe and placed in downstairs in the middle of the family room floor. In order to do this, he had selected from tennis shoes, boots, and other running shoes that belong to other family members. He chose mine to make a point. The dog knew.

Why is it if animals are so smart we believe that children don’t get it? Why do we not recognize they can and will thrive if assured that we as adults believe in them? Believe that they can think, be competent, and can be instrumental to determining the course of their lives. We need to start trusting them early. When it comes to brains and ability I never met a kid that wasn’t smarter then any dog. I have never met a child who wasn’t more in need of attention than any cat. I have never met a child who isn’t smart enough to sense there is something right or wrong here. Children are capable. Why do we continue to discount them? Children thrive when they are trusted, encouraged to make decisions, and reassured with a consistent structure of rules and limits. Children thrive when they are respected and valued as individuals. Too often adults focus on filling toy chests. Taking time to refuel the spirit provides energy and hope for the adventure of growing up.