Know Your Toys
Know Your Toys
Toys made
from Waste Material or Scrap
Estimating
the Developmental Level of Toys
Providing
Toys for a Toy Library
Further
Information
KNOW
YOUR TOYS
It is often said that “Play is a
child’s work” and that “Children learn
through play”.
What we hear less often is that
“Toys and games are the Tools of Playful Learning”.
What
can be a toy?
A
child can turn any object into a toy.
Things from nature – a baby plays
with it’s own toes or with mom’s fingers, stones can
become pretend food, a large feathery leaf can become a
horse’s tail as the child gallops
around madly! This type of play
stimulates a child’s creativity and problem-solving skills.
Waste
materials – parents often say that the child enjoys the box
more than the expensive
toy inside
it. Depending on the size of the box it can become a car, a house, a
boat and so on.
This type of
play also stimulates a child’s creativity and problem-solving
skills.
Then
there are the toys made by adults to support children’s
imaginative, social, physical and cognitive development. These can be commercially
bought toys, toys made from bought materials such as wooden or knitted
toys etc. or toys made from waste materials.
Knowing
your toys has got to do with understanding
what
“play actions” are used when playing with a
particular toy
what skills
are being stimulated/practised by each play action within a toy
the level of
development for each play action. This helps the adult to choose toys
that are
age/level
appropriate. Toys that are level appropriate help to build a
child’s self-confidence.
Toys that
are too difficult cause frustration and may lead to too much dependence
on adult
intervention.
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TOYS
MADE FROM WASTE MATERIAL OR SCRAP
The
most wonderful toys can be made from waste materials when resources are
limited. Sometimes, the only way to obtain certain toys and games is to
make them. They may not be considered to be commercially viable by
manufacturers. This is especially true when toys are needed that
provide small developmental steps in certain areas of a
child’s development.
ALL-SA encourages the making
of toys that reflect African and South African life and culture.
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Shoes made from the base of a
plastic milk bottle.
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The main play action involved is lacing
– this practices the small muscles and hand/eye
co-ordination. The string used for the lace is very flexible and has a
frayed end making the task fairly difficult – perhaps for 5
year olds – Level 6. The other play action – tying a bow –
would be more difficult – perhaps Level 6+.
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A kika
–
a
utensil traditionally used for stamping mielies / corn.
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It has been made from paper mache. The main purpose of this toy is to stimulate make
believe play reflecting a traditional culture of Africa – the
play action is pretending. The
other main play action is stamping – practising small
and large muscle skills from quite a young age
- perhaps Level 3+ (about 2½
years)
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More
examples of toys made from waste and from bought materials. All these
items can be seen at the ALL-SA Toy
Library Training, Resource and Developmental Play Centre.
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Watering can made from a
plastic bottle with Africa type artwork painted on it
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Dolls in Kraal made for a
competition organised by ALL-SA. The
theme was Making Toys that Reflect South African Life &
Culture. These items were made from bought and natural materials
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ESTIMATING THE
DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL OF TOYS PRACTISING SPECIFIC PLAY ACTIONS AND SKILLS
There
has been no specific research conducted in this area. ALL-SA
supports the ideas developed by Cynthia Morrison
about play actions and levels of development. Our training helps to
develop the skills of toy analysis necessary to use the “Play
Actions” approach to using toys. Estimated age levels for the
various play actions are based on when we think the child will manage
the activity on his own according to general patterns of development
rather than when he will be able to do it with the help of an adult.
Developmentally graded toys that develop
geometrical shape perception leading to the development of geometrical
shape concept including knowledge of the names of the shapes
A.
Loose shapes that a baby
plays with once active grasping has developed
Play
actions:
Holding
– small muscle
skills/hand function Level 1+
from 6 months
Exploring
and experimenting
–
sensory motor
experience of geometrical shapes Level
1+
B.
4
shapes must be placed into the correct holes
Play actions:
Holding
–
small muscle skills/hand function
Level
1+ from
6 months
Matching
the shape to the correct hole
– visual discrimination of geometrical
shapes. This leads to the development of geometrical shape concept.
This discrimination is also a useful step in the development of letter
discrimination for reading. Level –
Although a child may begin to match a circle to the correct hole from
about 16 months (Level 2), we estimate that the correct level for this
action should be Level 3, from 2 years because of
the small differences between the square and the rectangle.
Turning
the shape to the correct angle –
This practices the perceptual motor integration of spatial orientation,
an essential skill in being able to see the differences between
the
letters b / d.
Level
for
turning the triangle shape to correct angle to fit into the triangle
hole – Level 3+ from 2½ years
Therefore,
we feel that this is a Level 3+ toy. Only children from the age of
2½ years will be able to manage all the play actions
involved in this toy simultaneously.
C.
All
the shapes must be fitted into the correct holes on the flat shapes
board
Play
actions:
They
are the same as for toy B. However, the matching of shapes is much more
difficult because there are several shapes that are very similar. The
level for matching the shapes and therefore the level for the toy is
Level
4 from
3 years
D.
All
the shapes must be fitted into the round ball.
Play
actions:
They
are the same as for toy C. However, because of the curved surface, the
placing of the shapes is more difficult. The level for the matching and
fitting in of the shapes is Level 4+ from 3½ years. However, it
is quite difficult to open the ball so this part might need adult
assistance until the child is about 4 - 4½ years –
Level 5.
We have given you an example of the
play actions/developmental levels approach to toys.
If a child of 5 years old has
difficulty with toy D
(L4+), you would give him toy C or even toy A to start him
off with activities that would help to build the skill and his
self-confidence. This approach is particularly useful for children with
special needs. If, on the other hand, a child of 2 years finds toy B (L3+)
much too easy you could challenge him by giving him toy C , which is an
L4 toy.
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PROVIDING TOYS FOR A TOY
LIBRARY
Decide
on the goals of your toy library. If one of the goals is to encourage
development then
Choose
the skill areas, knowledge, values and attitudes that the toys in your
library will
promote
Find out which play
actions will support the areas you want to develop
Choose toys
that make use of those play actions
Choose easier and more difficult variations of
those play actions to encourage gradual
development
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YOU
CAN FIND OUT MORE BY:
Attending the Skills
Development through Play Actions 4-day Training
Course
click
here for the latest training information.
Ordering “A Guide to
Toys, Games and Activities for the Developing Child”.
This book provides definitions
of all the skill areas and photos of toys covering all the play
actions
and levels of development. Contact ALL-SA
for more information.
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