Many parents have believed for years that traditional toys for children were more useful to a child's development than their electronic counterparts and this belief has now been bourne out in a new report by an eminent child psychologist. American child development expert Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek believes today's children are spending far too long in front of televisions and computer screens rather than playing with basic toys.

Professor Hirsh-Pasek believes that the use on non traditional toys and electronic games is gradually isolating children preventing them from learning valuable life skills as a result. In her book Einstein Never Used Flash Cards Professor Hirsh-Pasek also claims that many of the new electronic 'smart learning toys' currently appearing on the market are failing to teach children to play imaginatively. In contrast traditional toys such as stacking blocks, outdoor toys, art materials and role play toys allow children to develop essential life skills such as problem solving and perseverance. The other crucial factor is that traditional toys allow parents to participate and interact with their children whilst playing whereas electronic based toys are generally designed to be solitary games.

Professor Hirsh-Pasek of Temple University, Philadelphia also expressed concerns about so-called high tech 'learning toys' that are designed with a hidden agenda of making a child learn but are in fact more likely to do the opposite. 'They usually look for a single, correct answer to a problem because they are designed to teach pre-determined skills' claims Professor Hirsh-Pasek 'Kid's need to combine facts in innovative ways to become creative problem solvers. Well-meaning parents are simply being caught in an expensive trap.' The Professor goes on to say that replacing activities such as reading together, singing or playing together with electronic games could be damaging to the child's development'.

Hirsh-Pasek explained that children learn best when they have another person to play with them. Therefore children will derive much more from any play session by the very virtue of the parent taking part. Traditional children's toys are perfect for allowing such activity and actually gain better numerical, reading and social skills through this interactive parent and child play.

Professor Hirsh-Pasek views are echoed by a fellow expert Matthew Melmed, executive director of the Zero to Three centre in Washington, which gathers research on parenting issues from across the United States. Mr Melmed agreed that parents who subject youngsters to so-called 'educational games and software' in an attempt to 'hothouse' their toddlers could be doing more harm than good and often leave youngsters as young as three frustrated and prone to tantrums.

So it would seem that our grandparents really did know best as far as the value of play goes and that the traditional toys of days gone by may be the way ahead to create the next generation of well balanced problem solvers.