TOYING SERIOUSLY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 60, Issue 4231, 15 January 1940, Page 7

TOYING SERIOUSLY

PLAYTHINGS IN SCIENCE. AIDS FOR FATHER CHRISTMAS. Two hundred years ago the English satirist, Alexander Pope, famous for his two-line rhyming slogans, completed one with the fiat that the proper study of mankind is Man. Allowing reformers of greater antiquity to stand at ease, it is rather remarkable that only ip the latter part of a double century the proper study has extended to Man in his tenderest years, or in modem terminology—the pre-school child. Now, however, the psychologists’ sermons on the importance throughout life of our first few years are beginning to take effect. In no phase of child training has there recently been more revolutioiiary practice than in the provision of toys for toddlers. With the thoroughness that ,has characterised the work of the Free Kindergarten Union and the Infant Welfare department in Victoria, great progress has been made in the supplying of the correct play material according to a child’s age.

AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN.

Beginning with the dictim that the best way of keeping a child healthy and happily employed is to give the right kind of playthings, an educational campaign to assist devoted grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends at birthday and Christmas occasions has just been launched by infant welfare leaders. A fundamental principle of toy selection these days is to provide those which can be regarded as a tool, a toy which will enable a child to do things, and play happily without damage to himself or his surroundings, and without constant supervision from adults.

With the child, play is work, and just as one’s work has an effect on character, so toys, well chosen, provide invaluable aids in juvenile character formation. Such mental habits as a healthy self-reliance, concentration and coming to quick and sound decisions can be founded in the playing hours of the two-year-old. A point which in the past has been overlooked is that toys can contribute to aesthetic development. Imagination can be fostered and training for creative activity provided. In addition, the inculcation of such utilitarian habits as tidiness and resourcefulness and the' beginnings of muscle control and good posture can be taught in a pleasant way by judicious toy selection. On tfie other side of the ledger is the conviction that the wrong play-, things help to develop bad temperamental features, such as laziness, carelessness and extravagance, as well as causing physical deformities. The seeds of laziness are said to be implanted by the use of toys that call forth no effort on the child’s part; carelessness is encouraged if toys are poorly made and easily broken, and a sense of extravagance springs from a parental habit of constantly replacing cheap toys, whose useful lives are as ephemeral as the hours of a butterfly. DELIGHT IN SIMPLE THINGS. There may be more than accident in the fact that most children find the greatest delight in common things, such as sand, water, stones and sticks. These fundamental elements have been the basis of man’s civilised life, and perhaps the young minds feel a traditional kinship with the working tools of its ancestors. What sentimental stories have been spun round the theme of the poor little rich folk surrounded by luxury and expensive play-things modelled on adult mentality, while the street urchins shout with joy over their crude toys. Coming down to the definitely practical side, infant welfare leaders advise specific toys at certain ages. Babies graduate from bone or wooden rattles to soft animals, bright balls, toys on cords and a wooden spoon. Between one and two years toy animals and carts to push and ride on are recommended, and to cater for the urge to build and examine, posting boxes, nests of blocks, beads or cotton reels for stringing, crayons and baskets are suggested. From two to four years children need toys and materials with which to imitate, and among these are large wooden blocks, clay for modelling, paints, mosaic peg boards, tin dishes, laundry sets and a hammer, large-headed nails and soft wood. For muscle development two-year-olds also need climbing apparatus, swings and large balls. Between four and six years increased opportunity should be provided for modelling, painting, cutting out pictures, domestic activities, truck riding and building with carpentry tools, while for outdoor activities nothing is better than gardening tools, skipping ropes and tricycles. A practical contribution to the difficult problem of toy selection has been provided by a Melbourne merchant who has proved the corrective and formative values of toys. He has the assistance in toy and kindergarten equipment designing of an advisory board, which includes members of the Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria. A trained kindergarten and nursery school worker is in charge of this unique showroom of scientifically designed model toys for the pre-school-age child. The plan is to make this centre a branch of kindergarten activity, where parents and all other child lovers may get advice on the purchasd of equipment for indoor and outdoor play.—Age Melbourne.