Discovery Time Blog
Toy Story
Kids have more toys than ever before, but what do they really need? Ran the headline in Saturday's Dominion Post
Gill Connell is a child development expert and the founder of Moving Smart, which offers programmes based on the understanding that movement is fundamental to children's intellectual and emotional growth. She also lends her expertise as an international consultant to Hasbro's toy development programme.
Connell is also a grandmother, and says she was struck by the sheer quantity of toys and other paraphernalia one of her daughters received before the birth of her child. "A lot of parents think their kids need to have toys in order to play: they don't. We've lost sight of what a child actually needs, which is the collaboration stuff. You get a few rocks, some water and sand, and the children are playing together, or you are playing with your child. There's language use, co-operation, persistence and resilience going on in that scenario, all those wonderful skills that prepare kids for later life and which are born in play. A toy can be the facilitator for that, but it shouldn't be the centre of it."
A toy, she adds, is nothing until you turn it into play. The difficulty is that many of today's toys aren't as open- ended as they once were; robotic or digital, in many cases, they come programmed with a script that demands a particular response, a very different scenario to one in which a child uses a toy as a prop with which to create an entire imaginative world.
When presenting workshops we are often asked about equipment. What would a school need to buy to get the programme underway? As Gill says "what kids need is the collaborative stuff... the open-ended toy that the child uses as a prop with which to create an entire imaginative world." These things frequently costs very little and can be sourced from op shops.
Hats, bags, walking sticks, umbrellas, - for the drama box
Sheets, curtains - for making huts, dark spaces etc
Pipes, planks, guttering, hose - for the sand pit or water tray
Cardboard boxes and tubes, junk of all sorts - for construction
Local businesses can frequently provide offcuts of fabric, paper, card, timber - for construction.
In one school Rotary sponsers the cooking session for each Discovery Time session.
Sometimes when you source a large quantity of one item you get some imaginative responses as with these cups.
 How high can we go!If you are planning to buy some equipment, choose carefully. Select equipment that is open-ended with many different ways of being used. The Groovy Dolls fit into this category, as do building blocks, farm & zoo animals, tea sets, play dough, water/ sand trays, microscopes, magnets, magnifying glasses,
Posted by Brenda on 3rd April, 2011 | Comments | Trackbacks
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