What Happened To The Old Standbys?
In my never-ending quest for appropriate therapy materials for my birth-3 population, I have been frequenting Toys R Us and Target way too often lately. This is because therapy with the little ones is not structured, but more play based. You'd be surprised how much language and communication you can get out of a child with the old standbys like a shape sorter, Mr. Potato Head, Play Doh, and building blocks.
I can use the shape sorter for receptive language and requesting by giving the child the box and keeping the shapes. I can either set a few shapes/colors in front of them and have them "put the ____ one in", or I can withhold the shapes and model requesting "I want the ____". With Mr. Potato Head, children can learn body parts, can start to learn singular versus plural nouns, and can also learn requesting and following directions. It's also interesting to see their problem solving skills when they want to put Potato Head's glasses on without having the eyes and the ears in the correct places. Play Doh is great for creating almost anything and encouraging imaginative play. Blocks are great for number concepts and teaching things like "shorter" and "taller" (when you stack them).
The frustrating thing I'm running into lately is that, while I have been able to get my hands on some old standbys, a lot of the toys simply have too many bells and whistles. They help children be entertained rather than educated. What happened to the old Playskool barn that had animals, a farmer, and a tractor? It is now replaced with the "new and improved" barn that makes animal noises and sings songs. This makes it a totally inappropriate toy for my kiddos who are Asperger's or Autistic, as the only thing they're interested in doing is pushing the damn "cluck cluck" button a gazillion times. There are many other toys that have gone through this "evolution". Even reading has taken on a different look with the invention of Leap Pad. I was sitting at one meeting where a teacher actually encouraged a parent to buy a Leap Pad to get her daughter interested in reading. She was explaining that a child could just press the wand to the written word to get the Leap Pad to produce the correct pronunciation. Inwardly, I was shaking my head and thinking "what happened to parents sitting down each night and actually reading with their child?". You don't need a Leap Pad to get kids interested in reading - you need parent involvement.
So, the old standbys have fallen to the wayside because the focus for children is different now. It's really too bad because all the bells and whistles in the world are not a substitute for simple human interaction.
I can use the shape sorter for receptive language and requesting by giving the child the box and keeping the shapes. I can either set a few shapes/colors in front of them and have them "put the ____ one in", or I can withhold the shapes and model requesting "I want the ____". With Mr. Potato Head, children can learn body parts, can start to learn singular versus plural nouns, and can also learn requesting and following directions. It's also interesting to see their problem solving skills when they want to put Potato Head's glasses on without having the eyes and the ears in the correct places. Play Doh is great for creating almost anything and encouraging imaginative play. Blocks are great for number concepts and teaching things like "shorter" and "taller" (when you stack them). The frustrating thing I'm running into lately is that, while I have been able to get my hands on some old standbys, a lot of the toys simply have too many bells and whistles. They help children be entertained rather than educated. What happened to the old Playskool barn that had animals, a farmer, and a tractor? It is now replaced with the "new and improved" barn that makes animal noises and sings songs. This makes it a totally inappropriate toy for my kiddos who are Asperger's or Autistic, as the only thing they're interested in doing is pushing the damn "cluck cluck" button a gazillion times. There are many other toys that have gone through this "evolution". Even reading has taken on a different look with the invention of Leap Pad. I was sitting at one meeting where a teacher actually encouraged a parent to buy a Leap Pad to get her daughter interested in reading. She was explaining that a child could just press the wand to the written word to get the Leap Pad to produce the correct pronunciation. Inwardly, I was shaking my head and thinking "what happened to parents sitting down each night and actually reading with their child?". You don't need a Leap Pad to get kids interested in reading - you need parent involvement.
So, the old standbys have fallen to the wayside because the focus for children is different now. It's really too bad because all the bells and whistles in the world are not a substitute for simple human interaction.
posted by Notta Wallflower at 8:28 AM
18 Comments:
As a parent I also look for toys without the bells and whistles. They are out there, but you have to look for them:
Target has a line of simpler toys, many made out of wood, called Ryan's Room, and another line I can't remember the name of. From Ryan's Room, I got the wooden beads that Nutmeg can thread onto a string. Another line of simple toys I like is called Melissa and Doug. They make a lot of wooden puzzles and the like. You can find them online and in some toy stores.
Bert, who as you know is a family therapist, gets a lot of mileage out of a dollhouse with her clients. Target has your basic dollhouses, probably in the same aisle as the Ryan's Room stuff.
Also, if you get tired of paying for playdough, I make my own and would be happy to share an easy recipe with you. I would never buy it because to Nutmeg, the making part is more fun than the playing with it.
There's a really neat little toyshop in our hood that still has all kinds of simple educational toys of the type tessence described. You're right though, they're hard to find (granted I only look a couple times a year round xmas and key birthdays, but still). I have a hard time even finding a toy department in a department store anymore and target has mostly crap. Have you tried online? There might be more selection.
Tessence - I've seen some of the simpler toys at Target, which I really like. I'm pacing myself so I don't make us go broke buying toys. :-P I'd like your playdough recipe. I get tired of buying it because the kids go through it quickly. It just doesn't last as long as I'd like. I've seen the Melissa and Doug wooden puzzles, but I didn't know they had a whole line of toys. I need to do more shopping online, I guess.
Laura - Now that I have a "base" of toys, I"ll be shopping online. I also can try going to garage sales with a friend of mine - she can find anything. :-)
I dont know if you have Goodwills where you live or not but I have seen some of these old toys you are talking about. I am not saying they have all the parts but you know what I mean. I think. LOL.. But if nothing else trying a Good will Store or something to the likes of them. The Salvation Army stores and such. Its up to you of course. Sometimes they have great selections and then sometimes they have nothing. So its hard to say. We have a Goodwill Store here and a place St. Vincent Depauls is where I see most of the toys you are looking for. Like I said I dont know how many are actually together with all the pieces but its a start. I agree with you though. There are so many toys out there now that make noise for the fun part instead of the educational part of them.
As a parent its hard to shop for toys sometimes. I dont buy them a lot or go over board but I think they have just enough till x-mas again. Then we take the old toys out and put the new ones in. It works for us.
Dang it! I just gave all of Z's old toys like that to the Salvation Army last year.
I'm with you on all the high-tech toys of today. All of our young friends and relatives inundate their kids with all those noisy, flashing gizmos. I've noticed that toddlers get bored with these toys easily, as they're all alike.
SME's favorite toddler toy was a plastic bottle with colored balls, that came with her toy kitchen set. She loved to put the balls in the bottle and dump them out, while counting them or naming their colors.
Z loved the big legos, playdough and action figures.
Imagination is ALWAYS the best toy!
Tweety - that's the main problem I have with Goodwill. A few of the toys I bought there were missing parts, and when I finally did buy the parts, everything was as expensive as if I'd bought it new. But I still look - never know what you might find.
TSHS - I was thinking back to when K was little. Like Z, he loved Legos and played with them until just recently. Also, give him a piece of cardboard and some glue and he can make you almost anything. :-P
I forgot all about that! Z used to make wonderful castles, forts, airplanes, and race cars out of cardboard boxes.
We must have some common Norwegian ancestors, for our boys to be so much alike. ;)
TSHS - I think they're twins in spirit. :-P
I was only suggesting. I wasnt sure. But at least I know you look at least. I do agree with you though. It sounds like they would be just as expensive as buying new but these new gizmos they have out there are ridiculous. I hate buying toys for the girls really. I mean they have lego's, lincoln logs and those wooden blocks with the different shapes. Like squares,circles,triangles and such in the box. I got those at Fleet Farm here a few x-mases ago for the girls. They just love them. They make towers with them and then knock them down. But again I am glad you look. You never know what you are going to find.
Oh, wow, flashback! I just read my mom's comment about the little plastic bottle, and I seem to remember it. It was like a milk bottle, with three or four colored balls that you popped into it through a rubber opening? Gawd, I was a boring child. ;D
I was going to comment on how sad it is that the familiar old toys are mutating beyond recognition. What next - My Little Ponies with handbags and shoes? Please tell me the Little People haven't changed, that would just break my heart.
Overstimulation does seem to be a real problem with today's kids. I worry, too, about the computer games like the Sims and NeoPets...mostly token-based economies that rely on games of chance, training kids to be thoughtless little consumers and/or gambling addicts. Creepy.
SME, I KNEW you'd remember it! BTW, I think it originally had 6 colored balls. ;)
SME - I like to use the term "easily amused" - it sounds nicer than "boring". :-P At least we know how to entertain ourselves.
True. It doesn't take much at all to keep me entertained. ;D
As they say simple minds easily amused. I am not far behind.LOL.. I love looking at toys at the store though.
sorry, little people have changed. they are broader (so they're no longer choking hazards) and are noe plastic, not wood.
So Little People are fatter and faker. Bummer. :(
Notta, my favorite toys as a kid was a ball to bounce around and my brother's Tonka trucks. The last time I went into Toy's R Us I was so overwhelmed on how tech the toys were. I still like the good ol' days when I just played with neighborhood kids and rode my bike.
Angelique - I must admit that I played with dolls when I was a young girl. But like you, I really rode my bike a lot. We lived out in the country and the easiest way to get somewhere before I could drive was to ride my bike.
Post a Comment
<< Home