PLAY: Serious Business for Learning

Too many parents consider play as simply a means of diverting and distracting their children. Play-things are often seen as a means of keeping children happy, quiet, rewarding them for good behavior, keeping them out of mischief, and giving parents free and quiet time.

Not often enough do parents think of play and toys as fundamental aspects of a child's (and adults, for another article) education, as a means through which children learn to understand the world around them, how things work and as the primary method by which children acquire many basic skills and coordination.

Parents can help make play time stimulating by doing three things.

Parents can adopt an attitude of conscious, deliberate planning in which play is regarded as one of the most important aspects of their children's environment.

Parents can see to it that their children are provided with the kinds of toys and play-things that will help develop the widest possible varieties of skills, imagination, coordination and abilities.

Parents can assume a direct, participating role in their children's play. Yes, actual interaction with your children!

Planning play time does not mean planning each activity for every moment of every minute of every second of the playtime. On the contrary, children should have maximum independence in choosing their own activities, within the limits of the daily routine of the home and school, a child should also choose the time for their activities, as well as the duration of each. Good planning makes sure that play is as varied and stimulating as possible.

A child should play at different times, with friends, with parents, and by themselves. This play should include but not be limited to, all or most of the following types of activities, each geared to the age level of the child.

Here are 5 suggestions:

1. Games:
Games are perhaps the most basic of all forms of play and learning, both for children and adults alike. From peek-a-boo to chess, from monopoly to baseball, games occupy a central role in the lives of most children and adults from infancy to adolescence to adulthood. Everyone loves to learn while having some fun. Games may be physical or mental or a combination of both that develops hand eye coordination in which some video games provide. In general they involve the development of skills and some lead to the acquisition of information.

2. Arts and Crafts:
Arts and crafts give children many opportunities to express their desire to create, develop and make things. Crayons, paints, clay, construction paper, scissors and paste, wood, leather, felt, and cardboard are among the materials that help children develop their creative imaginative and aesthetic abilities. Arts and crafts also develop skills in manipulation, perception, creativity, imagination and analysis.


3. Construction Play:
Construction play involves assembling objects from what are usually prefabricated parts. It is less creative than arts and crafts, but is also useful in developing many skills. Putting together a set of railroad tracks and trains is a form of construction play, as is play with erector sets, Tinker toys, blocks, Lego and the like.

4. Projective Play:
Projective play is play in which a child adds dramatic and emotional meaning to activities with representative toys like dolls, trucks, soldiers, homemaking sets, stuffed animals, and doctor kits. Its great value lies in the role-playing done by the child rather than in the development of specific skills. Adapting to new roles and taking on the responsibility of that role are extremely important in a child’s development.

5. Hobbies
Hobbies that cannot be otherwise classified will generally fall under the heading of collecting activities. Collecting stamps, coins, rocks and minerals, butterflies and insects, sea shells, comic books, baseball cards, bottle caps or even leaves are all common and popular hobbies. While some help in the development of certain skills, their greatest value is in the considerable knowledge a child can acquire in pursuing them.

Most play can be classified in one of these five groups, and, ideally, play should include all of these types. Also, as skills develop, the activities should move to a higher, more mature level.
However, a child does not automatically vary his play or develop in it. This is where the parent's planning comes in -- continually making the child aware of the broad opportunities available to them in play; initiating certain activities during play-time; making suggestions when the child needs and wants them; buying toys that will, in themselves, lead to new pursuits; stimulating new interests and ideas in any of a variety of ways.

Remember a parent should not manage the play, but should try to nudge it in the right directions.

Old-fashioned Inspiration for Your Children

Walk through any toy store these days and you will see walls and walls of toys that are loud -- toys that require batteries, have flashing lights, or that look like your child's favorite movie character.

But, what about those parents who want to raise children with imagination, inspiration and curiosity? I'll tell you what you do. You choose to fill your houses with some of the following old-fashioned items.

Books

No house can have enough books. I myself am amassing a soon to be respectable collection. Make sure your house has a representation of great Fiction Books and non-fiction books. A mix of the two is very important. Most homes have a deficit of non-fiction books, so fill your home with Science, History and Art books. Children need to learn to read and appreciate non-fiction books in order to do well in research when they reach higher levels of their course of study.

Blocks and Legos

Children can play for hours building towers, bridges, cities, creatures, and more with these toys that inspire creativity, patience, and small-motor skills. I still love to play with Legos 20 yrs later. When the masterpiece is finished, have your child pretend to be a giant or Godzilla and smash through the blocks -- or grab a few small cars and drive around the new city! Be sure to name the city and have your child tell you every detail about it that city. When I was younger I use to build my cities so that my superheroes could protect it.

Art Supplies

Give your child some crayons, scissors, junk mail, and glue. He or she will be entertained for hours if given encouragement. Please SUPERVISE closely if you don't want your child to have a self-induced bad haircut or attach the dog to their artwork!

Puppets Make

puppets out of socks, paper bags, felt, cloth, or popsicle sticks. Make a stage and tell stories. Get out the video camera and capture your child's brilliance!

Musical Instruments

Whether your musical instruments are home-made with a comb and wax paper, pots and pans or store bought, making music is a wonderful way to spend the day. Teach your child that music can be made from anything, from an old oatmeal container, to scratching two pieces of sandpaper together. Go on a walk and just listen to the sounds of the world -- music is everywhere in our lives, teach your children how to listen to it.

Dress-up Clothes

Get out old prom dresses, big hats, shirts and ties, old Halloween costumes (or buy extra pieces after Halloween for year-round fun!). Bring out a box of costumes and watch the shows with your children as the stars. Keep a camera handy to capture the fun. Also, keep an eye on the pets. Cats don't always appreciate wearing a sombrero.

Doll-houses

There is much fun watching your child make up stories as the family members move around in a doll house. Plus, if it is a wooden dollhouse, there is the added benefit of decorating it with some wallpaper scraps and carpet remnants! The dollhouse could be a family heirloom if you put enough love into it.

In the Kitchen

Kids love to play Kitchen, whether it is mixing air, or getting to play with food. Give your child a great time by giving them safe kitchen utensils to play with in the bathtub. Mixing, pouring, and scooping bubbles and water entertains my children long enough for them to look pruny.

So do Old-Fashioned toys have an advantage over today’s battery operated gizmos? I think everything has a time and a place, and everything has a useful purpose. However, being of the creative mind myself, I encourage you to turn the TV off and encourage the curiosity in your children. Spark there imagination and inspiration and watch them develop into wonderfully creative young adults.

For educational toys here is a great place for you to start www.JustSmartToys.com
For creative ideas for adults check out www.Strategies4Success.blogspot.com

Enjoy.

Ritalin Use Discouraged in UK

Ritalin use for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is being questioned, and parents are being discouraged from using it at all. New psychological recommendations are being put forth. Sky News also has some other articles on ADHD worth checking at the bottom of the article.

Echo Boomer Brain Bust

I was flipping channels at about 3am trying to locate the next invention that was going to change my life and the world for $19.95.

Soon I channel-surfed my way to some obscure late night TV show that had a story on and about Echo Boomers. I watched with intrigue.

The show had some prominent journalist interviewing a fortune 500 executive that stated the thing that struck him most about the new generation of men and women coming into the workforce was their lack of long term vision and inability to get the job done.

He then went on to say that both men and women treated business like a video game, where if they didn’t see instant results and get instant gratification, then it wasn’t of interest and was not worth pursuing any further. He also commented that today's young employees could not proceed in a “step wise fashion”, and could not accomplish any task in a methodical way. As a retailer and partner of Just Smart Toys.com, I immediately started to try to place a connection.

Have these Echo Boomers been, for far too long, coddled by their parents, driven to soccer practice and told that it was OK to come in second place, provided with trophies JUST for participating and shown that mediocrity was OK?

The Fortune 500 executive went on to say what he had observed was when left to work by themselves without other adult oversight or guidance, these Echo Boomers were often lost.

For some awful reason I couldn’t help but think of the Enron scandal, where earnings were fabricated to meet the expectations of the market. Now I know those involved in Enron are mostly of an earlier generation, but are we teaching similar behavior to our young through TV, video games, cell phones, Myspace etc?

Educational toys, be they wooden or plastic, should always been a mainstay of children’s fun and games. Children should be encouraged to use their imaginations and given responsibilities to learn that life is not one big Burger King in which they can have it “their way”.

Although I do not have any children of my own at this point in my life I do observe the children around me, my nieces and nephews, friends’ children and even the children of my business partners and associates. I have been a witness to the negative effects that 12 hrs a day of brain numbing TV has on some children and adults.

I say why not use a science kit or building toys as a fun activity on a rainy day instead of TV? Encourage your children to use the creativity and imagination, which we as adults often tend to put on a shelf and never use, that your children possess an unlimited supply of.

I am not saying that it should be all education all of the time, everyone needs time to play and great educational toys feel like play. I also understand that children are still going to be impulsive, but I have seen that they are also prepared to make sacrifices for something that excites them. I know some adults that would kill for that excitement about…..well…anything!

Knowledge is power, and it is our responsibility as adults to give children the best opportunity to harness that power. To develop their minds, cultivate their thoughts and explore their imaginations. For children, nothing is impossibility, nothing is out of reach and there is no such thing as unattainable.

Educational toys may not be the solution to all the world’s problems but in my opinion I think they are a good place to start.

Organize! Lunch

School has already begun, and perhaps you've purchased your lunch gear, but for those who want an upgrade, or have held off for something just right, you must check out Laptop Lunches. Kids and adults need healthy brain food. What better way to get it than with homemade meals on the go? They have great FREE lunch ideas and tips as well.

Typical Course

Are you curious about whether you child is getting a thorough education? Some people like to check their child(ren)'s progress against the Typical Course of Study at World Book Encyclopedia. Whether in school or educating another way, it can be a good checkpoint.

10 Tips

Here's an article on how we can help kids (and ourselves!) get the most out of learning experiences and teaching opportunities. 10 Brain Tips to Teach & Learn

First

Welcome to the blog of Just Smart Toys! We're glad you found us. While our store is developing and we get new products we've decided to blog the things we find interesting, and hope you will too. You can check here for store updates, articles on child development, educational toys (naturally), the importance of play, how we learn, and related bits in the news. We hope you find some of it entertaining, and perhaps even useful.

Onward!

Educational Toys

Classic toys and games, activity tables, magnetic mazes, play cubes, pretend play furniture and wall panels all engage children in learning while doing. We want to help you find the best educational toys for your needs. Please vistit JustSmartToys.com