What Are Really the Best Toys for Your Children to Play With
Eyes wide and beaming with ear-to-ear smiles, a two year old boy and his five year old sister ripped open their Christmas presents one by one. A battery-powered doll that "sings", a new bike complete with flashers, siren and lights, a battery-powered set of race cars that pits two vehicles against each other around a closed track. Battery-powered lights flash, wheels whirl and engines "roar" while an overhead banner counts laps with colored lights and finally, declares a winner. It was a scene of utter joy on the part of the children and parents alike. But wait. I was becoming a bit leery of the scene unfolding before me.
"Does everything use batteries", I asked.
Apparently getting my point, the father nodded sheepishly in the affirmative before laughing out loud. How much value are such toys in the education of children and in helping to mold young, eager minds?
The two year old began to illustrate my point. He didn't want to simply watch the red and black cars race around the tiered track. He wanted to play with the cars. Snatching the red one up, he rolled it back and forth on the floor in front of him ignoring the flashing lights and sound effects behind him.
"R-r-r-r-r-r", "R-r-r-r-r-r-r", "R-r-r-r-r-r-r", he trilled, imitating a car engine.
"No, no son", father responded, showing the boy how to turn on the battery-powered car sounds. The child watched and listened, fascinated for a few moments. Then, he'd have none of it.
"R-r-r-r-r-r", "R-r-r-r-r-r-r", "R-r-r-r-r-r-r", he sounded again, the car back in his hand whirring across the cool tile floor.
What is a Toy?
Webster's New World Dictionary defines "toy" as "an article to play with; especially a plaything for children." The key point I want to make is that children play with or use the toy. They are not passive observers. Toys should NOT be the kind that a child just sits and watches. They MUST be "interactive" tools for children to have any true development.
What Toys Do
Toys can provide numerous aspects and functions. Some of the more important of these include:
• Stimulate role play and modeling of cultural behaviors
• Help to develop critical perceptive skills
• Help to develop and fine tune motor skills
• Directly stimulate right brain development of visual-spatial aspects and color
• Aid in development of critical thinking
• Provide a channel for development of emotional intelligence
• Educate children in a variety of ways (which can be positive or negative)
• Entertain young, developing minds
In considering what toys to provide for their children, parents should allow for a variety of toy types and kinds. Modern toys as well as traditional toys need to be available to permit a full range of emotional and intellectual growth. Which toys are really "best"? This actually depends on several factors such as the culture, practicalities and the child himself or herself.
Traditional vs. Modern Toys
Traditional toys are still available in quantity because they not only provide vital outlets for child development, but have survived the test of time itself. Tops, Yo-yos, rag dolls, carved case and trucks, bicycles, skates, rubber and other balls of every size and material, and the classic, age-old wagon are examples of traditional toys. "homemade" noise-makers are also included as traditional toys. "Have you ever watched - and listened to a tot bang on pots, pans, bottles, furniture and even the floor for, gasp!, hours on end?" These need no batteries, sound effects or automatically-provided motions to be highly effective, absorbing to the maximum a child's full attention span. They work on some of the best power imaginable - the child's own mind. In Mexico, wooden traditional toys have been all the rage for decades. Better-made, less expensive and longer-lasting than most "electronic-based" and battery-operated toys, they will likely continue to be so.
This is not to say that modern toys have no place. They do, and can be highly effective as well - if judiciously selected based on the needs, temperament, personality, mental development and desires of the child. Games, dolls (with "active" elements) and scenarios like train or race car sets can be welcomed and effective developmental toys for children when combined with other types which stimulate play, imagination and aid in aspects of the child's mental development. What are the best toys for your children to play with? Know the personality, character and developmental needs of your child and you'll be much better prepared to make successful choices.
Please feel free to e-mail me at the address below with any questions, feedback or concerns you might have. For ideas on homemade toys for your children you might like my article, "Fun but Simple Creative Toys You or Your Kids Can Make" online at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Fun-but-Simple-Creative-Toys-You-and-Your-Kids-Can-Make&id=137418
Related Tags: education, child, emotional intelligence, play, brain development, traditional toys
Larry M. Lynch is an Intellectual Development Specialist, ELT Teacher Trainer, author / photographer and experienced world traveler who teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. He helps teachers improve their bilingual education skills and develop dynamic language classroom teaching techniques. His writing has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape from America, Mexico News and Brazzil magazines, in addition to hundreds of online websites. For your free report, "Quick Tricks for Learning a Language" and no-obligation information on his astonishing new E-book, "How to Travel to Exotic Locations for Free, Have the Time of Your Life, Get Paid and Get Published THIS YEAR", send an e-mail request to: lynchlarrym@gmail.com After today your life may never be the same.
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