Toys

Toys are objects to play with. They can be simple, complicated, manufactured, handmade, realistic, natural, found, or purchased: a cardboard box, an elaborately formed plastic castle, a doll made from sticks and string, a walking and talking doll, a glass tea set, or tea cups made from acorn tops. Some toys provide likenesses of real things, some are likenesses of imagined things, and some provide the opportunity for children to create real or imagined things. Good toys encourage children to imagine, think, and do.

REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
• Children learn about their world, themselves, and others through the experience of playing with toys. Children retain only 10% of what they hear and 50% of what they see, but they retain 90% of what they experience.

• Toys provide children with opportunities to explore how things work, strengthen and coordinate their large and small muscles, expand their imaginations, solve problems, and learn to cooperate.

• Children's skill levels and interests are constantly changing. As they grow, their interest in toys changes and grows.

• Good quality, simple, basic toys:
-- Encourage many kinds of imaginary play in children because they can be used several ways.
-- Provide a variety of experiences; children may build a wall with blocks and then jump over it.
-- May be used for many years; a one-year-old will typically pile blocks in a heap, a two-year-old will stack them, a three-year-old will build a house, and a four-year-old will build a whole city.

• In eager attempts to explore and learn, children may find unusual ways to use toys: jumping on them, pounding on them, or taking them apart.

• If children have outgrown a toy, they can become bored with it. If they are not yet ready to understand it, they can become frustrated. Either reaction can lead to carelessness and misuse of the toy and make it unsafe.

• Toys are generally safe, but accidents can happen:
-- Injuries include cuts, burns, small parts becoming lodged in noses or ears, eye injuries from guns that shoot objects, and hearing damage from loud noises.
-- Toy-related deaths occur from choking, strangulation by long cords, or electrocution.
-- Younger children are attracted to older children's toys, many of which are hazardous to them.

• Children have difficulty sharing toys until at least age three or four. It is typical for one-year-olds and two-year-olds to grab toys from each other.

• Having too many toys in one place at one time can overwhelm children and actually inhibit their creativity.

• Children under age five lack the reasoning abilities and life experiences needed to understand complicated adult issues raised by certain toys: dolls that engage in war or dress provocatively. Toys like these can be confusing to children.

• Children won't care if toys are bought, borrowed, found, handed down, store-bought, or homemade, as long as they are fun and interesting. However, as they become exposed to advertisements for toys and other children's toys, their interest in and desire for specific toys is likely to increase.

• Toys are children's first belongings and provide some of their first learning experiences. If toys are fun and interesting, playing with them can help children begin a lifelong love of learning.

Excerpted with permission from THE FIELD GUIDE TO PARENTING;. Copyright © 2000 Chandler House Press. All rights reserved.