Well, maybe not ALL of them, but go read this article. My boss sent it to us, highlighting the importance of the development of the brain's executive functioning (self regulating one's behavior).
If you don't have time to read the whole thing, it's basically outlining how all the stimulating, educating, developmentally appropriate, (I'll add expensive and sometimes annoying) toys that we give our children can sometimes hinder this self regulation. When children play with no toys at all and are left to imagine, they use private speech to narrate their actions. This is the part that aids in the development of executive function.
The most poignant part of the article was about an experiment done with 3, 5, and 7 year-olds sixty years ago. When asked to stand still for a certain amount of time, the 3 year-olds were not able to at all, the 5 year-olds could do it for about 3 minutes, and the 7 year-olds could for just about as long as they were asked. Sadly, 60 years later, the results were grim:
"Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago," Bodrova explains.
Toys have their place, but they should not always be the main object of play - a child's imagination is a bottomless toy box.
*** Update: I still think baby toys, such as jumper-oos, are INDISPENSABLE ... but you catch my drift :) ***
4 comments:
Thanks for posting that. I was amazed how hard it was, when we were registering for baby toys and stuff, to find just a set of wooden blocks, or a plain old Toy like what i had when I was a kid. Everything has a specific function these days. And building imagination is so important to me and Kyle, we don't like the idea of having just those kinds of toys around. I learned how to read at age three without the help of any Leapfrog Educational system. My family helped me.
Anyway. I enjoyed the article. Thanks for posting it.
I've taken most of the batteries out of Bree's annoying toys, but surprisingly, she never had much interest in the toys that sing and are annoying. She liked the simple stuff that she could use her imagination with. Like baby dolls that don't make any sound, an old cell phone that doesn't work, and currently she loves books. She just sits there and flips through them, pretending to read.
I completely agree with that study though, and definitely believe it. Bree hasn't played with very many musical toys, and she has a HUGE imagination.
that was a great article! thanks 4 the link=) I absolutely agree. i love watching my kids play with random stuff using just their imaginations...priceless!
Does this mean that I can't play with the baby toys either?
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