Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9505060008
SECTION: PARENT'S PAGE: 14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
They might be exaggerating a bit, but things have certainly changed in just a few generations.
These days, most children's rooms are crammed full of toys. Mass-media advertising has become so persuasive that parents and children alike believe that life is not complete without Barbie, Nintendo and Power Rangers. There are so many choices, it's hard to know what toys will benefit a child the most.
Parents who buy the latest high-tech playthings may think they're doing what's best for their children, but when it comes to toys that develop skills and creativity, simpler is often better, said Stephanie Pratola, a Roanoke clinical psychologist.
Actually, she said, rocks and sticks "are good educational toys." They are "open-ended," and allow children to play with them in many different ways.
Often, Pratola said, "kids get bored playing with toys the way they are meant to be played with."
A set of wooden blocks is often "the best thing in the world" for a small child, she said, especially when they have been cut into mathematical units. A toddler who can see that four little blocks are equal to one big one is well on the way to learning math skills.
Blocks are so important that Pratola and Shirley Hammond, owner of the Imagination Station toy stores in Roanoke and Blacksburg, have given entire workshops on the play value of blocks.
Hammond, who has a master's degree in Early Childhood Education, opened her store 10 years ago with the idea of selling open-ended toys, such as blocks, art supplies and "old-fashioned things.
"A good toy is 90 percent child and 10 percent toy," she said, and many of the items she sells allow the child to make his own toys.
"A toy should be kid-motivated," said Jackie Green, a representative for Discovery Toys, which offers educational toys through catalog sales. "it should teach your child something."
In fact, many of Discovery Toys' products are used to teach handicapped children, she said, and they all are tested in a laboratory before they are sold.
A toy should be appropriate for the child's age so he or she is not frustrated, she said. It should have no sharp corners, it should be stimulating and visually appealing.
Many of the toys Green has can be used in more than one way and by children of different ages. Nesting locked boxes have real keys and surprises inside. Games have big, chunky dice, which can be used alone or in combination, as a child grows older. Other toys develop listening skills or muscle control.
Some of Hammond's hottest-selling toys are the old wooden standbys: re-tooled and re-named versions of the Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs children have played with for generations.
Parents really want wooden toys, she said. They cost more than plastic, but they are sturdy and they'll last forever.
A wooden train set made by Brio can be put together and played with by the smallest hands, and some sets feature a wooden version of the popular Thomas the Tank Engine character.
Many of Discovery Toys' products encourage children to experiment with shape and color, and the company has developed a brightly colored non-toxic modeling compound that smells like candy, but tastes awful. The artwork can be preserved by baking the clay in a microwave oven, Green said.
Legos are good toys, especially for older children, Hammond said. The parts are interchangeable, so kids can use their own ideas. Their only drawback is that they are rectangular, and can only be put together at 90 degree angles.
For kids who are hampered by that, Hammond has a construction toy with pliable rods that can be bent at any angle.
Another toy, K'Nex, which Hammond calls "the construction toy for the 21st century" consists of sturdy plastic rods, wheels, pulleys and connectors that can be used to construct other toys, such as an elaborate ferris wheel.
The best toys are ones that allow children "hands-on" experience, Pratola said. A battery-operated toy that a child sits and watches is not as good as one he can manipulate himself.
Computer programs can be good, Pratola said, but again, they lack the "hands-on" quality that children need. Television and toys such as Nintendo are "potentially harmful in large quantities," she said, especially if they have violent themes.
Not all technology is bad, however. For older children, interactive math and geography games can capture their attention and teach them something, too. They also enjoy high-quality puzzles and games.
Even radio-controlled cars can teach eye-hand coordination. The important thing, Pratola said, is to try to achieve "balance" in what a child plays with.
Toys also must be appropriate to a child's interest. It's all right to give a hairstyling doll to a little girl, if that's something she likes, but if it's not, Pratola said, "what kind of message are you giving her? You're telling the child what your expectations for her are."
by CNB