Preschool children spend more than 20% of their waking hours in play. Boys play with vehicles and girls with dolls. These are examples of domestic role play and dressing up. These are some revelations derived from survey samples of play behavior of preschool boys and girls.
Children learn from play; thus toys are tools of learning. What kind of play materials have you provided your children? How are your children using them? Are the toys safe, and appropriate for the development level of your child? The answers to these questions are important. For instance, if you give a toddler toys that have small plastic pieces, he/ she is likely to swallow the pieces.
Child experts are unanimous that the growth and development of a child hinges on play. In particular, a child's creativity and imagination can be developed by construction toys. Hand-eye coordination and logical thinking are developed, too. For instance, a child who plays with racing cars is likely to experiment to find out which car moves faster, when pushed.
Some of the popular construction toys in the market include multi-color flexible foam tubes, Magnaball connectors, clips, bases, panels, and large and small storage bags that are safe and sturdy.
Kids can construct a castle or fort, build a boat, or put together a playhouse with nearly 100 pieces. Anything you can imagine comes to life. And cleaning up is easy.
Construction toys come in a range of variants, and prices. Some of them come with a limited warranty of 30 days.
When you give your child a toy, avoid older toys, and even hand-me-downs from friends and family, as these may not meet current safety standards. Also, they may be so worn from play that they can break and prove to be hazardous.
Never assume that a child who seems to be advanced in intelligence, compared to his/ her peers, should play with toys meant for older children. You need to factor the safety aspect first, when you decide whether or not a particular toy is good for your child to play with. Maturity or intelligence has little to do with this decision.
Your child's temperament, habits, and behavior are also important considerations when you buy a new toy. Playing with your kids teaches them how to play safely while having fun.
Lego toys are amongst the world's most popular construction toys. Their heritage stretches back to almost a century of innovation, starting out in Billund, Denmark in 1932. A carpenter called Ole Christiansen originally designed Lego pieces out of wooden building blocks, but expanded in 1940 to the now standard plastic mould. Lego is a conjunction of the Dutch phrase, leg godt, which means to ?Play Well?- a motto which suits the Lego ethos perfectly. Ole believed in this motto sternly and always encouraged his employees to learn and create new Lego toy designs. Sadly, most of the distributors of the time put little faith in a plastic toy, with the result being a poor record of sales and many un-opened and returned Lego Toy packs. It would only be in 1954 when business would pick eventually pick up again.
When 1954 rolled around, Christiansen's son had become the junior managing director of the Lego Toys group. Due to his familiarity with the overseas market, he formulated a plan to sell the toys as a system for true inspirational play, as he saw the immense potential in Lego. The modern day Lego brick with the interlocking stud mechanism was perfected in 1958, and these bricks believe it or not are still compatible with current modern Lego pieces.
Lego toy pieces are designed to be part of a common system of parts where variation, freedom of expression and creative thought can all combine to produce amazing contraptions. Toys such as these were a vast improvement over the current toys being produced, which stifled individual thought with set designs and movements. With Lego toys, you could and still can make whatever you desire. Lego has evolved from admirably simple blocks to Cogs, Axles, joints and electronic components which assist in radio controlled movement. And the Lego brand is widespread, crossing over into every popular genre, both film and TV. Harry Potter, SpongeBob Squarepants, Indiana Jones and Star Wars are all part of popular Lego Toy sets which Lego focus groups decide to target. This process takes upwards of six months to complete. The cycle is as follows: Identify the market trend, design and development, then the prototype Lego toy for testing purposes. Today, all Lego sets are created on computer with CAD, making it an simple task for designers to share their creative input.
Lego is the modern encapsulation of forward thinking design. An offshoot of Lego, called the Mindstorms range includes a Bluetooth Lego piece, which allows you to control your creation remotely by using your mobile phone. Robotic companies around the globe host yearly Lego robotic tournaments, with the winning design joining the ranks of a robotic soccer team! Lego has also effectively branched out into the world of videogames. The popular Lego playsets which were inspired by film or TV such as Batman, Star Wars and Bionicles [which in itself is a Lego playset] are now available as full-on digital adventures, perfectly suitable for any and every age group.
This is then the allure of Lego. Boundless possibilities and a level of fun which every age group can appreciate, even adults who practice Lego brainstorming sessions called ?Lego Serious Play?. The list of Lego related fun goes on and on. With Lego Amusement parks around the world, TV Shows and even songs available the fun and innovation never seems to end ensuring that Lego toys are here to stay.
Both Richard Runion & Robert Thomson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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