Toys and Games – Reviews and News

Dolls houses that are intended for children are very different from those that are intended for adult dolls house enthusiasts.

Dolls houses for girls and boys are generally much simpler than those designed for the collector. They are often made from wood, sturdy and robust with no small, removable parts.

Dolls houses for adult enthusiasts can often have small, detailed decorative parts that could easily be broken off by a child. These clearly present a choke hazard making this type of dolls house completely unsuitable for children.

Dolls houses are fantastic learning toys for boys and girls. They encourage imaginative play and provide a way for children to interact with one another and with adults.

There are some strong opinions held by many parents regarding whether it is acceptable to allow or encourage boys to play with dolls.

Playing with dolls has been shown to have no effect upon a boy’s masculinity. In fact, playing with dolls actually encourages imaginative role play in which children, both boys and girls, act out various scenarios that they have witnessed. This type of play helps children to develop their sense of the world around them.

The following video shows an interesting discussion on the topic of gender-specific play:
[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6vNM-qt6sNk&feature=related]

Solutions Through Fun is an initiative started by the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) as part of their ongoing campaign to highlight the value of play in child development. In the words of Oscar Wilde: ‘The best way to make children good is to make them happy’.

The BTHA have produced an immensely useful and informative booklet that is intended to provide parents and carers with help in improving the quality of the time that they spend with their children. Interestingly, all of the tips and suggestions in the booklet come from children themselves. (Download ‘Solutions Through Fun‘ PDF 982kb)

As noted in the booklet, in 1980 less than a third of mothers of young children worked whereas in 2004 around 55% of mothers of children aged between 1 and 5 were working. The amount of time that working parents can spare to spend playing with their children has fallen significantly and many parents and carers wish that they had more time to spare. The little time that is available is often eaten up by domestic chores, DIY and restng after a hard day at work.

The booklet provides some genuinely useful, practical ideas that can be used to make family life more fun. Even if you only have ten minutes to spare this valuable time can be put to good use in playing with your children by telling jokes, doing puzzles together, playing short games, reading together and even doing the housework!

Children learn a lot through playing with their parents or carers. Footballs, board games, puzzles and traditional childrens toys will all be familiar playthings that most parents will recall having played with when they were young. Sharing their experience with their youngsters can fulfill the childrens desire to interact and have fun together.

I recently re-read this interesting article: Bringing up Brainy: A look at the educational toy market, in which Dr. Dimitri Christakis details some of the results of his research into attention problems in children. He has found that letting a baby watch television may actually cause them harm.

His study involved almost 1,300 children and found that TV may simply be too much for developing brains to handle. He states that:

“Our minds are conditioned to immediately stop paying attention to what we’re currently focusing on if we hear or see something that seems strange. Television actually explicitly exploits that, in the case of young children.”

Reading this I was prompted to reflect upon the way in which I have seen very young children sit in an almost mesmerised state whilst staring at cartoons on the television. The rapidly changing images and sounds exploit the brains inclination to pay attention to things that appear strange or out of the ordinary. In the wild this natural pre-disposition would have kept us from being eaten!

Dr. Christakis has found that a child’s risk of developing attention related problems increases significantly the more TV they are exposed to. He goees on to look at Disney’s Baby Einstein series of DVDs and videos which are aimed at infants. He found that Disney had carried out little or no research into the way in which the pace of the editing in the programmes and the rapidly changing imagery actually affects the development of a babies brain.

Child development specialists are pretty much agreed that too much TV is bad for children. Dr. Christakis recommends that children under two years old should not be exposed to any televsion whatsoever.

Developing infants need stimulation and interest. They need things to touch, manipulate, look at, shake, rattle and roll. Parents and carers of young babies will know how fascinating they can find things like packaging, kitchen utensils and everyday household objects. If you are looking for suitable toys for a baby or infant, maybe a gift for Christmas, try sticking to the more traditional toys and games that you will have probably played with as a youngster. Building blocks, dolls, crayons and simple games are all learning toys that will encourage investigation, support psycho-motor skills development and foster imagination and creative play. What’s more, they are unlikely to contribute towards your child developing attention related problems.

This story from the BBC (No Outdoor Play Hurts Children) reports a worrying trend wherein parental anxiety coupled with increasingly popular sedentary activities, such as watching TV and playing computer games, are adversely affecting children’s health.

Play England is a project that has been established to promote play activities, to raise awareness of the importance of play and the provision of suitable play facilities and strategies. The fact that this project exists is indicative of how important this issue has become.

Outdoor play activities can make a significant contribution to a childs development. Children will begin to climb even before they can walk. Providing infants with safe outdoor play equipment which encourages them to climb and to discover their own physical capabilities aids the development of their psycho-motor and cognitive skills. When toddlers begin to walk they benefit from opportunities to develop their walking skills through balancing. Ladders, climbing frames, treehouses and other forms of outdoor play equipment can help them to develop their physical confidence.

As toddlers grow they need to encounter increasingly demanding challenges which will stretch their capabilities and help them to develop their physical skills. Slides, swings, ladders, trampolines and other garden and park play equipment can make a powerful contribution towards this development. Variety is crucial in ensuring that a child does not become bored by a challenge which is either too easy or too hard.

When children are very young they will need fairly close supervision from an adult. But as a child grows this requirement quickly diminishes and it becomes increasingly important that children are given the freedom to explore their capabilities in relation to the physical world around them. It is also important that they get the opportunity to interact with other youngsters of the same age. Appropriate outdoor play facilities can provide an ideal environment for children to learn through exploration and discovery and for them to share their experiences. It is up to the parent or guardian to facilitate their creative play by providing a safe environment for them to play in along with adequately stimulating and challenging props and outdoor play equipment.