Toys that Inspire a Child's Imagination
Inexpensive Toys Can Help Children Think Creatively
Nov 12, 2008
The importance of play in early childhood and beyond cannot be emphasized enough. Nevertheless, according to a survey by market research firm In-Stat, in 2006 46 percent of consumers purchased a high-tech gadget for a child 3 to 5 years of age. Consider giving children the gift of true play this holiday season.
Creative Play Develops Thinking
“Play starts with a box, with the discovery of pots and pans. If everything has bells and whistles and does everything for them from the time a child is very young, [his] own imagination is not going to be very stimulated," says Stevanne Auerbach, a.k.a. Dr. Toy and author of Smart Play, Smart Toys: How to raise a child with a high PQ [Christian Science Monitor 2-16-2006].
Sharna Olfman, a psychology professor at Pittsburgh's Point Park University who has studied children's imaginative play, noted that thousands of studies have established "incontrovertibly" that it is a catalyst for all kinds of healthy child development, including intellectually and emotionally. "Many of our greatest thinkers locate their capacity for original and profound thought in their imaginative abilities, first developed through creative play in early childhood,' she says [Pittsburgh Post Gazette Aug. 2004].
For example, when asked how she came to discover properties of genes through her research with maize, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Barbara McLintock told of her capacity to imagine herself inside the chromosomes she was studying, says Olfman.
Simple Toys Stimulate Brains
The simplest, most traditional toys are usually the most brain stimulating. For instance, simple building blocks allow children to experiment with logic, physics and problem-solving.
When children play dress up and pretend, it helps them to think abstractly and to take the perspectives of others. Pretend play is related to early literacy, problem solving and mathematical thinking.
Playing with dolls allows children to use their narrative abilities which in turn form the foundation for reading comprehension and coherent writing. Boys, too, can play with dolls, in the form of firemen figures or knights and pirates.
Parents desiring to inspire imagination this holiday season, should consider traditional toys – dress-up clothes, child-size furniture, dolls and stuffed animals, and building blocks or logs. Older children can be inspired with more advanced building and construction sets or board games that challenge the imagination. Of course, books that allow children to imagine another world or perspective, are always wonderful gifts.
Open-Ended Toys
Consider purchasing inexpensive, open-ended toys this holiday season. Open-ended toys are those that can be more than one thing, that allow a child to use his imagination. Some open-ended and inexpensive toys are gemstones and smooth stones that can become play food or currency for children. A large drawing pad or a little blackboard could stimulate the artist in a child. A square of blue cotton fabric could be a lake for dolls, a cape for a prince; the possibilities are endless.
More Imaginative Toy Lists
Dr. Toy keeps a list of new toys that inspire imagination. Truce (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Childhood Entertainment) also offers a 2008-2009 Toy Guide, that includes current toys on the market as well as some inexpensive and creative ideas for gifts.
Toys that inspire a child's imagination are the simplest toys and can often be inexpensive. They can help children develop creative thinking skills that are so important for academic and life success. Giving a child a gift that allows her to use her imagination is truly the best gift of all this season, or anytime.
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