Children's need to play has lead to the development of a booming toy industry.Children often know what is best for them and that we as a parent should take the trouble to observe what they really want and need.
Children's need to play has lead to the development of a booming toy industry. Today, parents are confronted with a bewildering array of toys, each more interesting and well-packaged than the other. As a result, they inevitably end up spending quite a bit of money trying to make their children happy. However, they often find, to their surprise, that the child may not be quite as enthusiastic about his new possession as they thought. After a casual glance or a bang, he may not show any interest at all.
I recently bought a little Snoopy dog for Rs .300. Although it is sturdy and attractive my one-year-old son does not admire it at all. We also bought an expensive squeeze toy, again with disappointing results, although toy manufacturers claim it helps in hand co-ordination and grasp. But, my child is really not interested in it.
My child prefers to play with old and used things
On the other hand, he is more excited by used plastic shampoo bottles, kitchen items like spoons, egg beaters, pens, soap boxes, biscuit wrappers, cello-tape roll, woolen threads, scissors and just about any thing he can get his hands on. Some of these are discarded items, which will find their way into the dustbin. I was wondering why I should waste hundreds of rupees on toys that create no interest at all. Perhaps, child psychologists could explore this topic further! I checked with a couple of other parents to know whether this is true of their children also. I found that they also had often bought expensive toys, sometimes with no encouraging results.
The practical approach
Certainly, all these toy companies must have put in lot of effort and money to create newer and newer toys every year. They will also be disheartened to hear about it. According to psychologists, toys are not just playthings but are supposed to aid mental growth and development. This is especially true for children between the ages of six months to three years. There are now toys suitable for one-day-old children to 12-year-old children in the market. However, I feel that by sheer common sense we can infer a few things from our children's behavior.
First, the child requires some thing that he can easily manipulate and handle. Soap boxes, shampoo bottles, biscuit wrappers, etc. all fall into that category. Yes, may be they are not toys in the strictest sense, but the children are quite happy playing with them. The Snoopy dog that I brought is certainly heavy.
Second, in my opinion, the children may be unable to relate to many of the toys as they are not inherently Indian, but draw their inspiration from the West.
There may be another compelling reason. When children throw or bang expensive toys on the floor or walls, we try to prevent them from doing so either because it is costly or because we want them to know that it's expensive. Some parents even lock such expensive toys inside cupboards. That is why we find so many toys intact in houses where children have grown up.
Most often I find that toys made by little known or small-scale units become favourites of our children. Anyway, this piece is not intended to discourage any discerning parent from buying toys made by multinationals or to prove that locally made toys excite children more than others do. But this is only to remind parents that children often know what is best for them and that we should take the trouble to observe what they really want and need.
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- The Indiaparenting Team
