New Children's Toys

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 21 January 1939, Page 12

New Children's Toys

Constructive Wooden Blocks

rpHE secret of providing the child with a toy that will satisfy him is to study what best suits his development. An appropriate toy given at the right age will be kept for a h>ng time and the child will have no inclination to smash it. A child is best pleased with a simple toy, and can discover for himself how it works. Parents may choose a beautiful rocking horse for Tom or Mary without realising that their tastes lie in other directions. It is a good plan to allow children to make their own choice of toys. And parents can learn much of the character and tastes of their family by watching their play. A few years ago Mr. Kay Eojesen, the Danish silversmith, began to fashion toys of wood. The materal was close at hand in the beechwoods of Denmark. The smooth surface of this wood makes it an ideal material, for it does not absorb dust and dirt, and is therefore as clean as any modem nursery could desire. One of Mr. Bojesen's first models was a train composed of wood blocks. The basic elements of his toys are blocks of wood a few inches in length, some

short, some long, some round and some square, cylindrical, or conical. By putting the appropriate blocks together the child can fashion for himself a train or a motor car. There are also models of dogs with , movable heads, steamrollers, motor cars, airplanes, villages, animals, and shops, as well as blocks for building.

An English school-inspector upon returning from a visit to Copenhagen some time ago, described these toys to Mr. Paul Abbatt of London. As a result, the Danish toys were introduced to London, and step by step, Mr. and Mrs. Abbatt have developed a business for equipping nursery schools and playrooms. Their success is largely due to the fact that their toys are arranged in groups adapted to children of different ages. So well and completely is this grouping done that their work is of the greatest help to teachers and parents alike.

From a year and a half to three years of age the child spends the greater part of his time running about and climbing things. Tne nursery slide is useful to help him to master his balance. He loves to play with spade and pail or with bricks, so a sand-table or sandtray and fitting toys, such as nests of boxes and six cylinders which are made to fit into a block, are provided. The climbing frame for use in or out of doors, gives the slightly older child scope for adventure and at the same time releases him from babyish habits of dependence.

1 Imaginative play is provided by the picture trays, which are made of plywood with pictures painted direct on to the wood in bright, fast, washable colours. For children of from three to five years of age the toys are bigger. Toy carts and lorries have big strong wheels that will stand many hard knocks. Wooden animals are made sufficiently tall for the child to be able to play with easily when he is standing. For kindergarten work there are a number of alphabet trays, picture matching, button laying, and endless other toys for individual play or for the first social games. When this more social stage is reached—at the age of five and upwards—constructional toys replace the fitting toy. Desks, chairs, and tools, tricycles, dolls, and drop-side cots, working models that can be built up, little villages, jigsaw puzzles, and games with letters and numbers, are provided. The Abbatts have realised that a piece of wood may mean anything to a child, who needs to have some object around which his imagination can play. Children are not really destructive but they have an overwhelming curiosity and a desire to take things to pieces and put them together agai . Cheap toys break and encourage a sense of frustration. Toys, therefore, must be strongly made, simple and good in line, durable and encouraging.