Many homeschool families are single-income house- holds. They do not have moneyto waste. Moreover,
parents are increasingly working additional part-time jobs to make ends meet,
so they need to be extremely smart about
what they buy.
All parents want happy children on
Christmas morning, but can you both
please your children and make a sound
investment? Are some toys worth buying? In this article, I present a guideline
for parents to learn how to select Christmas gifts for their children that are worth
buying; these toys have lasting value, are
practical, and have multiple uses for fun.
What comes to mind when you think
about your child playing? Howard
Chudacoff, a cultural historian at Brown
University, says, “It’s interesting to me
that when we talk about play today, the
first thing that comes to mind are toys.
Whereas when I would think of play in
the 19th century, I would think of activity
rather than an object.” 1
When you think about gifts for your
children, keep in mind how you want
your children to play, and what you want
your children to gain from playtime,
rather than the specific object.
Parents have to be on guard not to
buy toys based solely on advertisements.
Since 1955, when Mattel began advertising toys, most purchasing decisions
have been based on the toy winning the
advertising wars. Smart parents should
not fall prey to a toy’s popularity, which
is driven by advertising and designed to
entice a consumer in its packaging. These
kinds of toys often use lights, noise, or
character tie-ins to a movie or television
show; frankly, they are marketing products made by a corporation that wants to
increase its profits!
Ever since the video game Pong became popular, parents have been gravitating toward digital toys for their children. However, these toys are expensive
and do not truly promote many child
developmental skills, nor do they have
long-term usefulness for a variety of play
activities. Children who primarily play
with electronics are learning to play in
cyberspace but not in the physical (real)
world where they will eventually live and
work. Electronics are tools to use in life
and to enrich life, but not to foster play-filled child development.
This year, a few companies participated
in sending toys for our review. Let’s use
two of these products to learn how to
determine if it is a “toy worth buying.”
But first, I will explain what to look for
in worthy toys.
Lasting Value
Toys that have lasting value hold up to
rugged play and, hopefully, can be passed
down to younger children years later or
sold after your child has finished using
them. This is very important because you
want to think of toys as an investment,
not a one-time plaything.
Practical
Practical means you are actually doing
something as opposed to virtually doing
something. Something is practical when
it is based in experience, like learning
through trial and error. Practical toys
subtly teach developmentally appropriate
skills through use by building confidence
and strengthening active play.
Multiple Uses for Fun
Toys should be open-ended so that a
child can find many ways to play with
them to inspire creativity. Toys should
have multiple outcomes and the ability to be used in a variety of playtimes.
These toys should promote unstructured play and encourage self-regulation.
Toy Reviews
The first toys I received were multi-solu-tion, double-sided puzzles by P’kolino®
(Pee-ko-lee-no). They are very well
made so they had lasting value. They’re
www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
Toys should be open-ended so that a
child can find many ways to play with
them to inspire creativity.
Toys soldiers are a perfect example of a toy that is worth buying.
My boys had years of fun playing with toy soldiers for hours at a time.
