SESAME WORKSHOP ANNOUNCES NEW CENTER

 NEW YORK – The Sesame Workshop has announced a new addition to its company – The Joan Ganz Cooney Center.  Ganz Cooney was one of the creators of Sesame Place, which was born in 1969.  When creating the show, she asked, “How can emerging media help children learn?”  Now, the Center focuses on a modern equivalent of her question.  The center will conduct research, create new properties, and encourage dialogue emphasizing how interactive technologies can play a part in how a child learns.

(Ref. The Toy Book - January 2008 Edition)

Hit Entertainment 

NEW YORK-HIT Entertainment and PBS KIDS Sprout have partnered together to bring Fifi and the Flowertots to kids in the U.S.  Chapman Entertainment produces the show, which follows Fifi and her friends in Flowertot Garden.  Beginning January 14  fifi will air every day during Sprout’s The Sunny Side Up Show morning block.  Aimed toward children ages 2-5, the show will also have an online component featuring clips, games, and printouts at www.SproutOnline.com.

(Ref.The Toy Book - January 2008 Edition)

It is Christmas time again!  There may be no more exciting and anticipated holiday for children than Christmas.  Full of colorful festivities, delicious food (with lots of yummy sweets) and, of course, plenty of presents to discover in stockings and under Christmas trees.  As parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles it is easy to get caught up in the commercial meaning of the season - buy, buy, buy and spend, spend, spend.  But often for children less can be more.  One toy that is versatile and holds a child’s interest for long periods of time is much more appropriate than several toys which may be immediately appealing because of popularity but are soon forgotten in a corner or under a bed.  Even with this goal in mind when tackling the toy store it can be hard to determine what toys are appropriate for the recipient.  To aid in your holiday toy-choosing, I have listed some general tips from the National Association for the Educations of Young Children (NAEYC) and specific toy ideas for different ages of children.

In general, consider the educational value of a toy and choose age-appropriate toys.  These will match the language skills, interests and feelings of the child and aide in development.  They are also more likely to hold the child’s interest longer.  Good toys appeal to the interests of the child and are appropriate for the child’s physical capabilities, mental and social development.  They can be played with alone or help a child learn to play with others.  Finally, careful attention should be given to the safety of the toy, especially for the age of the child, and the durability of the construction material.

The following is a specific list of age-appropriate gifts for young children:

0 to 6 months: Infants look, listen, suck and grasp.  Great toys for babies are dolls and stuffed toys, puppets, unbreakable crib mirrors, and rattle-like toys.

6 to 12 months: older infants can play with a wider variety of toys which aide their social, mental and physical development.  Floating toys for bath-time, blocks or other building materials, simple puzzles, board books and balls are always great toys for this age group.

1 to 2 years: Toddlers are on the go and learning to be independent.  Look for dressing, lacing and stringing materials, crayons (non-toxic, of course) and stacking materials for those one-year-olds and role-playing toys (like tool and kitchen appliance replicas) and large balls will be suitable for the older toddlers.  And don’t forget the picture and nursery rhyme books!

3 to 5 years: These preschool age children are entering the world of pretend play.  They are also rapidly developing their language and social skills.  There are a large variety of books appropriate for this age that will foster their imaginations and language skills.  Also, look for building blocks, dress-up clothes and role-playing toys, and simple games.

6 to 8 years: With a longer attention span, these primary-school-age children typically enjoy specific skill-development toys such as art and craft materials (simple sets of beads, paints, and clay can be played with for long periods of time).  They are also ready for games that are more complex with rules and turn-taking.  Even natural objects like rocks and shells can become special collections at this age and spark an interest in science.

Finally, in all the stress and busyness of the holiday season, don’t forget that your children/grandchildren’s favorite plaything with is still YOU!

Resources:

For more information from the National Association for the Educations of Young Children, see www.naeyc.org.

Modern parent’s ideal toy for their children might be described as fun, stimulating, educational and high quality.  Today, you might also add SAFE.  With the recent  highly publicized recall of over 20 million toys just this summer, parents are rightly concerned with the safety of the toys they have purchased over the years from trusted names like Mattel, Fischer Price and RC2.  A quick visit to the US Consumer Product and Safety Commission’s website (www.cpsc.gov) and you will find a list of the recalled toys manufactured by these companies.  The reason for these recalls: excess lead in the surface paint, parts coming loose or dangers associated with ingestion of magnets.  All the toys listed were manufactured in China, most were between five and twenty dollars. 

Why are so many of our toys manufactured in other countries such as China?  Lower costs and less regulations: according to a July 2007 article in TDmonthly magazine, “Making it in the USA”, American toy companies can lower manufacturing costs by 50 percent or more by taking production to non-US countries.  Understandably the toy companies have to do what will benefit business.  Unfortunately, however, it is becoming clear that these large companies producing popular toys in mass quantities are having difficulty regulating or controlling the quality of the toys being produced.  Products made in the USA may be more expensive, but they are also higher quality because companies can control production directly, they are safer due to tighter regulations, and they are made by our fellow citizens (for the most part).  There are also many products made outside the USA, but produced in small quantities by specialized companies who are able to closely control quality but, again, they are likely to be more expensive.  So, as parents, we need to ask ourselves an important question: is the quality and safety of the toys we buy our children worth the extra cost?   

The next question we as parents need to ask is how do we choose the toys we buy for our kids?  Are we just buying toys for them because we can’t say no to their begging for a Thomas or Barbie toy (and besides, it only costs $5)?  Do we fill our toddler’s toy chest with inexpensive toys hoping to keep them occupied, get them off our backs and out of our way?  Do we buy the latest $20 gadget that is supposed to teach our infants 20 different skills by the time they are a year old because we feel guilty that we might be depriving them of their own development and academic success?  I am certainly guilty of all the above without consciously thinking of the reasons as such (they sound rather cold and unloving written in words).  As many other parents are doing we need to re-evaluate our toy buying habits, and maybe our attitudes towards our children’s playtime, and consider what we really find important, which takes us back to the first thought.  Toys should be fun, stimulating for the mind and/or body, educational and developmental, and high quality.  And think about it, if we stop purchasing the five to ten dollar toys just to pacify our children’s immediate wants and save those five and tens, we would be able to afford the more safe and high quality products offered by companies who hold the same standards as we as parents do. 

**.To find high quality toys, whether made in USA or by specialized companies, you can try your local specialized shops or online companies, such as www.littlefeettoys.com,  that sell toys from companies that are not mass produced.  

To find toys made in the USA your options are to inspect each toy individually for origin or go to the internet where many sites have made it easy for you by categorizing toys made in the USA (such as www.littlefeettoys.com).   

You can also check www.stillmadeinUSA.com for list of toys and products. Lisa Romero is a wife, home-maker and mother of two boys with a PhD in Biological Sciences. 

As a first-time parent of a preschooler, I am torn between wanting my three-and-a-half year-old to stay my little boy, with a carefree life of playing all day, going to the park and running around the house and yard, and wanting him to start growing up, learn his ABC’s and 123’s, and become responsible.  So I was thrilled to read an article from his teacher entitled, “Play: it’s the way young children learn”, from the Children’s Advocate newsmagazine.  It discusses how preschoolers learn through playing.  Following are a few examples of what our children are learning while they play which I have adapted from the article.

 1)     Pretend playExamples:  A child holds out his arms and pretends to fly like an airplane.  Later he uses a shoebox as a garage for his cars.When children use one thing to represent another it lays a foundation for understanding that letters represent sounds and numbers represent quantities (the basis for language and math development).  Developing their imaginations early on will help them later to visualize historical events and scientific concepts.

2)     Storytelling and pretendingExamples: A child acts out scenes in a play kitchen.  Later he has a conversation with his stuffed animals and they talk back to him.These types of play help develop a child’s oral language and storytelling skills and are the building blocks of reading and writing.

3)     Using Experimentation and logicExamples: A child tries to build stable tower with blocks.  Later she plays with sand or water and pours them into different sized containers.Playing with materials like blocks, clay, water and sand allow children to experiment with cause and effect, counting and sorting, and problem solving.  Developing these kinds of skills in logic are the basis for success in math and science as well as all higher-order thinking.

4)     Learning to enjoy learning

When children do activities they choose and are interested in they will enjoy learning and obtain a sense of competence.  According to the article, studies show that an attitude of curiosity, motivation and competence is key to a child’s success in elementary school.

Recommended resources:

The cited article can be obtained at http://www.4children.org/pdf/507playe.pdfwww.zerotothree.org – a website with brochures explaining the importance of play as well as tips for making the most of playtime.

www.naeyc.org/ece/eyly/ - this is the website of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and also has many short articles discussing “play and learning”.