Tag Archives: Child Development

How Parents Encourage Children’s Development

In my article on Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of the imagination in children and it’s crucial role our ability to be a force for change.  I then talked about the role of toys in this development.  In this article I want to focus on the important role that parents play.

Imagination is a child’s way of practicing what they see and learn around them.  We are constantly picking up on individual behavior patterns, social structures, etc. And as the child is piecing all of these complex things together the imagination gives them a place to put themselves in different situations and guess how the world would respond accordingly.  Children are also getting a feel for the meaning of an hour, a day, week day, weekend, year, and so on.

Parents are often the child’s first example of human behavior, an example of routine in life and a source of security.  Dancy puts great emphasis on the importance of parents being active in the home, for the child to see, and also setting rhythms which I will talk about further.

Movement & Security

Have you ever seen a child run to get their toy vacuum with the desire to “vacuum” alongside Mom or Dad? Or the toy lawn mower? (or something that they pretend is a vacuum or lawn mower?).  This is a perfect example of a child imitating life.  Rahima Dancy expresses the following concern in You Are Your Child’s First Teacher:

“A second factor in the difficulty of being home with young children is our focus on the child instead of on the ‘work’ of homemaking, hich has largely disappeared through prepackaged foods and all our labor-saving devices.  Modern life simply doesn’t support what young children need, which is to see us doing work that involves movement.  What they actually see us doing isn’t satisfying to them.  As a result, they seem to demand more attention, when in fact they are asking to ovserve us doing ‘real work’ that involves movement and transformation of materials – something they can both share in and then imitate in their play.” (Dancy pg. 29)

According to Dancy, it is best to focus on movement and “work”, allowing the child to play while being present for the child when needed.  This creates a sense of security and trust without being overbearing and being too controlling on the parents or caretakers side.  Dancy gives the following advice:

“The first is that we’re doing these activities with awareness and with love.  I am reminded of Mother Teresa’s suggestion that we do little things with great love.  So, when we put a vase with flowers on the table or sweep the kitchen floor, we can try to do it with an awareness of the quality of our movements, with an awareness of their beneficial effect on the young child, and with care.” (Dancy, pg. 31)

Establishing Routine & Rhythm

Having a routine established not only helps children understand the concept of time (days, years, hours, seasons), but also let’s them know what to expect which results in less opposition.  There are many ways to establish routine and rhythm, and each home will have to decide which is best for their family.  Having a schedule takes persistence and discipline on the side of the parents, but can be great for children – consider having dinner at a certain time, or bedtime, etc.  Holidays are also a great way to introduce the seasons, and many traditions.  But incorporating small traditions in everyday life can be fun.  Dancy gives some fun ideas in her book such as lighting a candle while reading a bedtime story, then blowing it out.  You could also establish days of the week for household chores/projects such as doing the laundry every Monday, etc.  There is no right answer when it comes to establishing rhythm in your home, but finding what works for your individual family can create more peace and understanding for the children in it.

How Parents Encourage Children’s Development

In my article on Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of the imagination in children and it’s crucial role our ability to be a force for change.  I then talked about the role of toys in this development.  In this article I want to focus on the important role that parents play.

Imagination is a child’s way of practicing what they see and learn around them.  We are constantly picking up on individual behavior patterns, social structures, etc. And as the child is piecing all of these complex things together the imagination gives them a place to put themselves in different situations and guess how the world would respond accordingly.  Children are also getting a feel for the meaning of an hour, a day, week day, weekend, year, and so on.

Parents are often the child’s first example of human behavior, an example of routine in life and a source of security.  Dancy puts great emphasis on the importance of parents being active in the home, for the child to see, and also setting rhythms which I will talk about further.

Movement & Security

Have you ever seen a child run to get their toy vacuum with the desire to “vacuum” alongside Mom or Dad? Or the toy lawn mower? (or something that they pretend is a vacuum or lawn mower?).  This is a perfect example of a child imitating life.  Rahima Dancy expresses the following concern in You Are Your Child’s First Teacher:

“A second factor in the difficulty of being home with young children is our focus on the child instead of on the ‘work’ of homemaking, hich has largely disappeared through prepackaged foods and all our labor-saving devices.  Modern life simply doesn’t support what young children need, which is to see us doing work that involves movement.  What they actually see us doing isn’t satisfying to them.  As a result, they seem to demand more attention, when in fact they are asking to ovserve us doing ‘real work’ that involves movement and transformation of materials – something they can both share in and then imitate in their play.” (Dancy pg. 29)

According to Dancy, it is best to focus on movement and “work”, allowing the child to play while being present for the child when needed.  This creates a sense of security and trust without being overbearing and being too controlling on the parents or caretakers side.  Dancy gives the following advice:

“The first is that we’re doing these activities with awareness and with love.  I am reminded of Mother Teresa’s suggestion that we do little things with great love.  So, when we put a vase with flowers on the table or sweep the kitchen floor, we can try to do it with an awareness of the quality of our movements, with an awareness of their beneficial effect on the young child, and with care.” (Dancy, pg. 31)

Establishing Routine & Rhythm

Having a routine established not only helps children understand the concept of time (days, years, hours, seasons), but also let’s them know what to expect which results in less opposition.  There are many ways to establish routine and rhythm, and each home will have to decide which is best for their family.  Having a schedule takes persistence and discipline on the side of the parents, but can be great for children – consider having dinner at a certain time, or bedtime, etc.  Holidays are also a great way to introduce the seasons, and many traditions.  But incorporating small traditions in everyday life can be fun.  Dancy gives some fun ideas in her book such as lighting a candle while reading a bedtime story, then blowing it out.  You could also establish days of the week for household chores/projects such as doing the laundry every Monday, etc.  There is no right answer when it comes to establishing rhythm in your home, but finding what works for your individual family can create more peace and understanding for the children in it.

Imagination and Creation


Humans are constantly creating change.  It is something that makes us human.  Whether decorating and furnishing an empty room, creating political movements, starting a business, or making a piece of art – we have this ability to see something that doesn’t yet exist, and to then bring it into reality.  It’s an amazing ability, really, and something that we strive to do.  But how did we develop this ability?

The answer exists in childhood, and how “the same abilities that let children learn so much about the world also allow them to change the world” (Gopnik, pg. 21)

Counterfactuals

From a very young age we see that humans begin to develop counterfactual thinking.  Counterfactuals are other possible realities in the mind.  For example, what would have happened if… I sleep through my alarm clock and miss an appointment tomorrow?  My mind can create different ideas of challenges, or opportunities that this situation could cause.  Counterfactuals are regrets/possibilities of the past, and ideas about our future. As Allison Gopnik states in her book “The Philisophical Baby”…

We’ve found out that even very young children can already consider possibilities, distinguish them from reality, and even use them to change the world.  They can imagine different ways the world might be in the future and use them to create plans.  They can imagine different ways the world might have been in the past, and reflect on past possibilities.  And, most dramatically, they can create completely imaginary worlds, wild fictions, and striking pretenses. (Gopnik, pg. 20)

Counterfactuals are seen in children as they imagine possibilities and imaginary worlds.

Pretending and Imagination

Before 18months, a baby plays merely by moving, exercising important muscle groups for development.  Play is for development – hence the often heard phrase that play is the work of the child.  After 18 months play begins to look different, the child pretends and use their imagination.  Children are putting together casual knowledge about the world around them.  When they hit their brother, he cries.  When I eat, I grow. With these basic understandings, they can cultivate this knowledge using their imagination (counterfactuals).  Given what the child knows about the world around them, they can use their casual knowledge, paired with counterfactuals and determine what would happen if they were a princess in a far away land with purple hair, or if they were in a jungle surrounded by animals.

Imaginary Friends & Paracosms

Imaginary friends are a mystery to some.  Does the child really think that someone else is there?  Is it a ghost he/she is talking to?  A friend from a past life?  A psychologist named Marjorie Taylor studied the phenomenon of Imaginary friends and found that “many… imaginary companions had a poetic appeal”.  In reviewing Taylor’s studies, Gopnik states:

In Taylor’s studies there were a few relatively small statistical differences between the children who had imaginary companions and those who did not, but often these differences were not what we would expect.  Older and only children were more likely to have imaginary companions than younger siblings, but outgoing children were also more likely to have imaginary companions than shy children.  Children who watched a lot of television were less likely to have imaginary companions, but that was also true of children who read a lot of books – children who were immersed in someone else’s imaninary world seemed less likely to create such a world themselves.

Through research we see that imaginary friends are no signifier of a child’s intelligence, they are not a sign of trauma but are just fun.  As the child has developed understanding in the world around them (counterfactuals and casual knowledge of other people) imaginary companions are an exercise in what they know about people.  “Research shows that children’s imaginary companions are linked to what they learn about other people.” (Gopnik, pg. 65)

As the child continues to understand the people around them, they often create “paracosms”.  A paracosm is a more complicated version of a single imaginary companion, and instead is an imaginary society.  Gopnik gives the example of a child who “created a planet called Rho Ticris inhabited by gigantic hounds called dune dogs, the Blue (blue-skinned humanoids), and the Dire Grim, a sinister race with seven rows of teeth.”

Imagination & the Adult

The development of the imagination is an important one for the adult in almost any circumstance.  So, the next time you have a great idea, create a beautiful painting, rearrange your living room, or petition your ideas for a better world – thank your inner child who developed the ability to ask “what if?” and discovered the possibilities.

(In my next post I’ll be discussing ways to encourage imagination in children’s domestic space)


Toys to Encourage Imagination & Development

In my last article, Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of imagination in child development.  I will create a series of short articles talking about ways to encourage this development.  Today my focus is on a child’s toys.  I’ve been reading the book “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, and will be using it as a reference because of all the wonderful information within this reading.

Children naturally know how to play, first through movement (infants), then through imagination by mimicking the world around them (pretending to vacuum, cook, etc.), and then through conversational imaginative play.  These stages do not necessarily need to be directed, they will come naturally.  But, the following are some important things to consider when providing toys for your developing child.  The presentation of toys, messages from toys and complexity of toys all have an affect on the development and imagination.

Toys to Encourage Imaginative Play

Mainstream toys today tend to be complicated, brightly colored, high tech toys – which are not really necessary.  The problem with most of these toys is that they don’t require any imagination.  This explains why so many children stand in their room filled with toys and proclaim “I’M BORED!”.  They are overstimulating, and not in the right way – the imagination is not stimulated!

In the book You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Dancy encourages parents to go through their child’s room, and get rid of any toys that aren’t leaving any room for the imagination.  Dancy encourages simple wooden toys multiple times in this read – she encourages creating toys with wood found outdoors, with boxes, etc.  Obviously, wooden toys are not your only option – but try to think about whether or not the toy is filling in for the child’s imagination, or if it leaves room for the child to do the creating.

Toys can affect how children see the world

Another thing that Dancy outlines in her book is to think about the world message that toys are giving children.  Is their toy dark, violent, sexy, angry, upset?  All of these things affect the child and their perception of themselves and the world as a whole.  The best thing would be to have neutral toys, the child will fill in the toys emotion without being told visual specifics.  Dancy has an interesting section talking about dolls, and the importance of dolls to both young boys and girls.

Through play the child familiarizes himself with the world and assimilates it, making it his own.  His senses become sharpened and he is better able to control the instrument of his body and to realate to nature and his fellow human beings.  Play with dolls is important as one of the ways the child can externalize his own inner being. ‘Through the doll the child finds its own self,’ Brits-Crecelius states…in Children at Play. (Dancy, pg. 169)

Displaying & Organizing Toys

One of my favorite recommendations in this book (You Are Your Child’s First Teacher) is when Dancy discusses how to organize and display toys for children.  It is normal to buy tubs and baskets to dump toys into – this is easy for you and the child to put away.  But, according to Dancy this is not beneficial to encourage independent play (which is important for their development).  Dancy recommends displaying the toys neatly by ending each day neatly putting away their toys and setting up “scenes” – preferably on a shelf or table where they are visible.

Although it may seem like extra world to clean up with your child at the end of each day, arranging toys invitingly on shelves or tables will encourage your child to be self-motivating in his [or her] play.  Arranging little scenes on tables or shelves will invite the child to “live into” the scene and start to play with it the next day. (Dancy, pg. 174)

I love this idea of setting up scenes!  How fun for a child to do this with their parent, stimulate their imagination by having their toy dinosaur and doll sitting next to a campfire awaiting their next day of play.

 

Through being conscious of the effect that toys can have on children, parents can ensure that their children’s toys are encouraging the imagination, create more comfort and peace, while supporting independent play.  For more information on this I recommend reading “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher”, and also looking at my article on Children and Physical Space.

 

 

 

 

Toys to Encourage Imagination & Development

In my last article, Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of imagination in child development.  I will create a series of short articles talking about ways to encourage this development.  Today my focus is on a child’s toys.  I’ve been reading the book “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, and will be using it as a reference because of all the wonderful information within this reading.

Children naturally know how to play, first through movement (infants), then through imagination by mimicking the world around them (pretending to vacuum, cook, etc.), and then through conversational imaginative play.  These stages do not necessarily need to be directed, they will come naturally.  But, the following are some important things to consider when providing toys for your developing child.  The presentation of toys, messages from toys and complexity of toys all have an affect on the development and imagination.

Toys to Encourage Imaginative Play

Mainstream toys today tend to be complicated, brightly colored, high tech toys – which are not really necessary.  The problem with most of these toys is that they don’t require any imagination.  This explains why so many children stand in their room filled with toys and proclaim “I’M BORED!”.  They are overstimulating, and not in the right way – the imagination is not stimulated!

In the book You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Dancy encourages parents to go through their child’s room, and get rid of any toys that aren’t leaving any room for the imagination.  Dancy encourages simple wooden toys multiple times in this read – she encourages creating toys with wood found outdoors, with boxes, etc.  Obviously, wooden toys are not your only option – but try to think about whether or not the toy is filling in for the child’s imagination, or if it leaves room for the child to do the creating.

Toys can affect how children see the world

Another thing that Dancy outlines in her book is to think about the world message that toys are giving children.  Is their toy dark, violent, sexy, angry, upset?  All of these things affect the child and their perception of themselves and the world as a whole.  The best thing would be to have neutral toys, the child will fill in the toys emotion without being told visual specifics.  Dancy has an interesting section talking about dolls, and the importance of dolls to both young boys and girls.

Through play the child familiarizes himself with the world and assimilates it, making it his own.  His senses become sharpened and he is better able to control the instrument of his body and to realate to nature and his fellow human beings.  Play with dolls is important as one of the ways the child can externalize his own inner being. ‘Through the doll the child finds its own self,’ Brits-Crecelius states…in Children at Play. (Dancy, pg. 169)

Displaying & Organizing Toys

One of my favorite recommendations in this book (You Are Your Child’s First Teacher) is when Dancy discusses how to organize and display toys for children.  It is normal to buy tubs and baskets to dump toys into – this is easy for you and the child to put away.  But, according to Dancy this is not beneficial to encourage independent play (which is important for their development).  Dancy recommends displaying the toys neatly by ending each day neatly putting away their toys and setting up “scenes” – preferably on a shelf or table where they are visible.

Although it may seem like extra world to clean up with your child at the end of each day, arranging toys invitingly on shelves or tables will encourage your child to be self-motivating in his [or her] play.  Arranging little scenes on tables or shelves will invite the child to “live into” the scene and start to play with it the next day. (Dancy, pg. 174)

I love this idea of setting up scenes!  How fun for a child to do this with their parent, stimulate their imagination by having their toy dinosaur and doll sitting next to a campfire awaiting their next day of play.

 

Through being conscious of the effect that toys can have on children, parents can ensure that their children’s toys are encouraging the imagination, create more comfort and peace, while supporting independent play.  For more information on this I recommend reading “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher”, and also looking at my article on Children and Physical Space.

 

 

 

 

Toys to Encourage Imagination & Development

In my last article, Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of imagination in child development.  I will create a series of short articles talking about ways to encourage this development.  Today my focus is on a child’s toys.  I’ve been reading the book “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, and will be using it as a reference because of all the wonderful information within this reading.

Children naturally know how to play, first through movement (infants), then through imagination by mimicking the world around them (pretending to vacuum, cook, etc.), and then through conversational imaginative play.  These stages do not necessarily need to be directed, they will come naturally.  But, the following are some important things to consider when providing toys for your developing child.  The presentation of toys, messages from toys and complexity of toys all have an affect on the development and imagination.

Toys to Encourage Imaginative Play

Mainstream toys today tend to be complicated, brightly colored, high tech toys – which are not really necessary.  The problem with most of these toys is that they don’t require any imagination.  This explains why so many children stand in their room filled with toys and proclaim “I’M BORED!”.  They are overstimulating, and not in the right way – the imagination is not stimulated!

In the book You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Dancy encourages parents to go through their child’s room, and get rid of any toys that aren’t leaving any room for the imagination.  Dancy encourages simple wooden toys multiple times in this read – she encourages creating toys with wood found outdoors, with boxes, etc.  Obviously, wooden toys are not your only option – but try to think about whether or not the toy is filling in for the child’s imagination, or if it leaves room for the child to do the creating.

Toys can affect how children see the world

Another thing that Dancy outlines in her book is to think about the world message that toys are giving children.  Is their toy dark, violent, sexy, angry, upset?  All of these things affect the child and their perception of themselves and the world as a whole.  The best thing would be to have neutral toys, the child will fill in the toys emotion without being told visual specifics.  Dancy has an interesting section talking about dolls, and the importance of dolls to both young boys and girls.

Through play the child familiarizes himself with the world and assimilates it, making it his own.  His senses become sharpened and he is better able to control the instrument of his body and to realate to nature and his fellow human beings.  Play with dolls is important as one of the ways the child can externalize his own inner being. ‘Through the doll the child finds its own self,’ Brits-Crecelius states…in Children at Play. (Dancy, pg. 169)

Displaying & Organizing Toys

One of my favorite recommendations in this book (You Are Your Child’s First Teacher) is when Dancy discusses how to organize and display toys for children.  It is normal to buy tubs and baskets to dump toys into – this is easy for you and the child to put away.  But, according to Dancy this is not beneficial to encourage independent play (which is important for their development).  Dancy recommends displaying the toys neatly by ending each day neatly putting away their toys and setting up “scenes” – preferably on a shelf or table where they are visible.

Although it may seem like extra world to clean up with your child at the end of each day, arranging toys invitingly on shelves or tables will encourage your child to be self-motivating in his [or her] play.  Arranging little scenes on tables or shelves will invite the child to “live into” the scene and start to play with it the next day. (Dancy, pg. 174)

I love this idea of setting up scenes!  How fun for a child to do this with their parent, stimulate their imagination by having their toy dinosaur and doll sitting next to a campfire awaiting their next day of play.

 

Through being conscious of the effect that toys can have on children, parents can ensure that their children’s toys are encouraging the imagination, create more comfort and peace, while supporting independent play.  For more information on this I recommend reading “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher”, and also looking at my article on Children and Physical Space.

 

 

 

 

Toys to Encourage Imagination & Development

In my last article, Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of imagination in child development.  I will create a series of short articles talking about ways to encourage this development.  Today my focus is on a child’s toys.  I’ve been reading the book “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, and will be using it as a reference because of all the wonderful information within this reading.

Children naturally know how to play, first through movement (infants), then through imagination by mimicking the world around them (pretending to vacuum, cook, etc.), and then through conversational imaginative play.  These stages do not necessarily need to be directed, they will come naturally.  But, the following are some important things to consider when providing toys for your developing child.  The presentation of toys, messages from toys and complexity of toys all have an affect on the development and imagination.

Toys to Encourage Imaginative Play

Mainstream toys today tend to be complicated, brightly colored, high tech toys – which are not really necessary.  The problem with most of these toys is that they don’t require any imagination.  This explains why so many children stand in their room filled with toys and proclaim “I’M BORED!”.  They are overstimulating, and not in the right way – the imagination is not stimulated!

In the book You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Dancy encourages parents to go through their child’s room, and get rid of any toys that aren’t leaving any room for the imagination.  Dancy encourages simple wooden toys multiple times in this read – she encourages creating toys with wood found outdoors, with boxes, etc.  Obviously, wooden toys are not your only option – but try to think about whether or not the toy is filling in for the child’s imagination, or if it leaves room for the child to do the creating.

Toys can affect how children see the world

Another thing that Dancy outlines in her book is to think about the world message that toys are giving children.  Is their toy dark, violent, sexy, angry, upset?  All of these things affect the child and their perception of themselves and the world as a whole.  The best thing would be to have neutral toys, the child will fill in the toys emotion without being told visual specifics.  Dancy has an interesting section talking about dolls, and the importance of dolls to both young boys and girls.

Through play the child familiarizes himself with the world and assimilates it, making it his own.  His senses become sharpened and he is better able to control the instrument of his body and to realate to nature and his fellow human beings.  Play with dolls is important as one of the ways the child can externalize his own inner being. ‘Through the doll the child finds its own self,’ Brits-Crecelius states…in Children at Play. (Dancy, pg. 169)

Displaying & Organizing Toys

One of my favorite recommendations in this book (You Are Your Child’s First Teacher) is when Dancy discusses how to organize and display toys for children.  It is normal to buy tubs and baskets to dump toys into – this is easy for you and the child to put away.  But, according to Dancy this is not beneficial to encourage independent play (which is important for their development).  Dancy recommends displaying the toys neatly by ending each day neatly putting away their toys and setting up “scenes” – preferably on a shelf or table where they are visible.

Although it may seem like extra world to clean up with your child at the end of each day, arranging toys invitingly on shelves or tables will encourage your child to be self-motivating in his [or her] play.  Arranging little scenes on tables or shelves will invite the child to “live into” the scene and start to play with it the next day. (Dancy, pg. 174)

I love this idea of setting up scenes!  How fun for a child to do this with their parent, stimulate their imagination by having their toy dinosaur and doll sitting next to a campfire awaiting their next day of play.

 

Through being conscious of the effect that toys can have on children, parents can ensure that their children’s toys are encouraging the imagination, create more comfort and peace, while supporting independent play.  For more information on this I recommend reading “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher”, and also looking at my article on Children and Physical Space.

 

 

 

 

Toys to Encourage Imagination & Development

In my last article, Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of imagination in child development.  I will create a series of short articles talking about ways to encourage this development.  Today my focus is on a child’s toys.  I’ve been reading the book “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, and will be using it as a reference because of all the wonderful information within this reading.

Children naturally know how to play, first through movement (infants), then through imagination by mimicking the world around them (pretending to vacuum, cook, etc.), and then through conversational imaginative play.  These stages do not necessarily need to be directed, they will come naturally.  But, the following are some important things to consider when providing toys for your developing child.  The presentation of toys, messages from toys and complexity of toys all have an affect on the development and imagination.

Toys to Encourage Imaginative Play

Mainstream toys today tend to be complicated, brightly colored, high tech toys – which are not really necessary.  The problem with most of these toys is that they don’t require any imagination.  This explains why so many children stand in their room filled with toys and proclaim “I’M BORED!”.  They are overstimulating, and not in the right way – the imagination is not stimulated!

In the book You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Dancy encourages parents to go through their child’s room, and get rid of any toys that aren’t leaving any room for the imagination.  Dancy encourages simple wooden toys multiple times in this read – she encourages creating toys with wood found outdoors, with boxes, etc.  Obviously, wooden toys are not your only option – but try to think about whether or not the toy is filling in for the child’s imagination, or if it leaves room for the child to do the creating.

Toys can affect how children see the world

Another thing that Dancy outlines in her book is to think about the world message that toys are giving children.  Is their toy dark, violent, sexy, angry, upset?  All of these things affect the child and their perception of themselves and the world as a whole.  The best thing would be to have neutral toys, the child will fill in the toys emotion without being told visual specifics.  Dancy has an interesting section talking about dolls, and the importance of dolls to both young boys and girls.

Through play the child familiarizes himself with the world and assimilates it, making it his own.  His senses become sharpened and he is better able to control the instrument of his body and to realate to nature and his fellow human beings.  Play with dolls is important as one of the ways the child can externalize his own inner being. ‘Through the doll the child finds its own self,’ Brits-Crecelius states…in Children at Play. (Dancy, pg. 169)

Displaying & Organizing Toys

One of my favorite recommendations in this book (You Are Your Child’s First Teacher) is when Dancy discusses how to organize and display toys for children.  It is normal to buy tubs and baskets to dump toys into – this is easy for you and the child to put away.  But, according to Dancy this is not beneficial to encourage independent play (which is important for their development).  Dancy recommends displaying the toys neatly by ending each day neatly putting away their toys and setting up “scenes” – preferably on a shelf or table where they are visible.

Although it may seem like extra world to clean up with your child at the end of each day, arranging toys invitingly on shelves or tables will encourage your child to be self-motivating in his [or her] play.  Arranging little scenes on tables or shelves will invite the child to “live into” the scene and start to play with it the next day. (Dancy, pg. 174)

I love this idea of setting up scenes!  How fun for a child to do this with their parent, stimulate their imagination by having their toy dinosaur and doll sitting next to a campfire awaiting their next day of play.

 

Through being conscious of the effect that toys can have on children, parents can ensure that their children’s toys are encouraging the imagination, create more comfort and peace, while supporting independent play.  For more information on this I recommend reading “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher”, and also looking at my article on Children and Physical Space.

 

 

 

 

Toys to Encourage Imagination & Development

In my last article, Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of imagination in child development.  I will create a series of short articles talking about ways to encourage this development.  Today my focus is on a child’s toys.  I’ve been reading the book “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, and will be using it as a reference because of all the wonderful information within this reading.

Children naturally know how to play, first through movement (infants), then through imagination by mimicking the world around them (pretending to vacuum, cook, etc.), and then through conversational imaginative play.  These stages do not necessarily need to be directed, they will come naturally.  But, the following are some important things to consider when providing toys for your developing child.  The presentation of toys, messages from toys and complexity of toys all have an affect on the development and imagination.

Toys to Encourage Imaginative Play

Mainstream toys today tend to be complicated, brightly colored, high tech toys – which are not really necessary.  The problem with most of these toys is that they don’t require any imagination.  This explains why so many children stand in their room filled with toys and proclaim “I’M BORED!”.  They are overstimulating, and not in the right way – the imagination is not stimulated!

In the book You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Dancy encourages parents to go through their child’s room, and get rid of any toys that aren’t leaving any room for the imagination.  Dancy encourages simple wooden toys multiple times in this read – she encourages creating toys with wood found outdoors, with boxes, etc.  Obviously, wooden toys are not your only option – but try to think about whether or not the toy is filling in for the child’s imagination, or if it leaves room for the child to do the creating.

Toys can affect how children see the world

Another thing that Dancy outlines in her book is to think about the world message that toys are giving children.  Is their toy dark, violent, sexy, angry, upset?  All of these things affect the child and their perception of themselves and the world as a whole.  The best thing would be to have neutral toys, the child will fill in the toys emotion without being told visual specifics.  Dancy has an interesting section talking about dolls, and the importance of dolls to both young boys and girls.

Through play the child familiarizes himself with the world and assimilates it, making it his own.  His senses become sharpened and he is better able to control the instrument of his body and to realate to nature and his fellow human beings.  Play with dolls is important as one of the ways the child can externalize his own inner being. ‘Through the doll the child finds its own self,’ Brits-Crecelius states…in Children at Play. (Dancy, pg. 169)

Displaying & Organizing Toys

One of my favorite recommendations in this book (You Are Your Child’s First Teacher) is when Dancy discusses how to organize and display toys for children.  It is normal to buy tubs and baskets to dump toys into – this is easy for you and the child to put away.  But, according to Dancy this is not beneficial to encourage independent play (which is important for their development).  Dancy recommends displaying the toys neatly by ending each day neatly putting away their toys and setting up “scenes” – preferably on a shelf or table where they are visible.

Although it may seem like extra world to clean up with your child at the end of each day, arranging toys invitingly on shelves or tables will encourage your child to be self-motivating in his [or her] play.  Arranging little scenes on tables or shelves will invite the child to “live into” the scene and start to play with it the next day. (Dancy, pg. 174)

I love this idea of setting up scenes!  How fun for a child to do this with their parent, stimulate their imagination by having their toy dinosaur and doll sitting next to a campfire awaiting their next day of play.

 

Through being conscious of the effect that toys can have on children, parents can ensure that their children’s toys are encouraging the imagination, create more comfort and peace, while supporting independent play.  For more information on this I recommend reading “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher”, and also looking at my article on Children and Physical Space.

 

 

 

 

Toys to Encourage Imagination & Development

In my last article, Imagination & Creation, I talked about the importance of imagination in child development.  I will create a series of short articles talking about ways to encourage this development.  Today my focus is on a child’s toys.  I’ve been reading the book “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, and will be using it as a reference because of all the wonderful information within this reading.

Children naturally know how to play, first through movement (infants), then through imagination by mimicking the world around them (pretending to vacuum, cook, etc.), and then through conversational imaginative play.  These stages do not necessarily need to be directed, they will come naturally.  But, the following are some important things to consider when providing toys for your developing child.  The presentation of toys, messages from toys and complexity of toys all have an affect on the development and imagination.

Toys to Encourage Imaginative Play

Mainstream toys today tend to be complicated, brightly colored, high tech toys – which are not really necessary.  The problem with most of these toys is that they don’t require any imagination.  This explains why so many children stand in their room filled with toys and proclaim “I’M BORED!”.  They are overstimulating, and not in the right way – the imagination is not stimulated!

In the book You Are Your Child’s First Teacher Dancy encourages parents to go through their child’s room, and get rid of any toys that aren’t leaving any room for the imagination.  Dancy encourages simple wooden toys multiple times in this read – she encourages creating toys with wood found outdoors, with boxes, etc.  Obviously, wooden toys are not your only option – but try to think about whether or not the toy is filling in for the child’s imagination, or if it leaves room for the child to do the creating.

Toys can affect how children see the world

Another thing that Dancy outlines in her book is to think about the world message that toys are giving children.  Is their toy dark, violent, sexy, angry, upset?  All of these things affect the child and their perception of themselves and the world as a whole.  The best thing would be to have neutral toys, the child will fill in the toys emotion without being told visual specifics.  Dancy has an interesting section talking about dolls, and the importance of dolls to both young boys and girls.

Through play the child familiarizes himself with the world and assimilates it, making it his own.  His senses become sharpened and he is better able to control the instrument of his body and to realate to nature and his fellow human beings.  Play with dolls is important as one of the ways the child can externalize his own inner being. ‘Through the doll the child finds its own self,’ Brits-Crecelius states…in Children at Play. (Dancy, pg. 169)

Displaying & Organizing Toys

One of my favorite recommendations in this book (You Are Your Child’s First Teacher) is when Dancy discusses how to organize and display toys for children.  It is normal to buy tubs and baskets to dump toys into – this is easy for you and the child to put away.  But, according to Dancy this is not beneficial to encourage independent play (which is important for their development).  Dancy recommends displaying the toys neatly by ending each day neatly putting away their toys and setting up “scenes” – preferably on a shelf or table where they are visible.

Although it may seem like extra world to clean up with your child at the end of each day, arranging toys invitingly on shelves or tables will encourage your child to be self-motivating in his [or her] play.  Arranging little scenes on tables or shelves will invite the child to “live into” the scene and start to play with it the next day. (Dancy, pg. 174)

I love this idea of setting up scenes!  How fun for a child to do this with their parent, stimulate their imagination by having their toy dinosaur and doll sitting next to a campfire awaiting their next day of play.

 

Through being conscious of the effect that toys can have on children, parents can ensure that their children’s toys are encouraging the imagination, create more comfort and peace, while supporting independent play.  For more information on this I recommend reading “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher”, and also looking at my article on Children and Physical Space.