Empowered by Play » Infants and toddlers

Thankful for blankets!

Geralyn — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:18:45 +0000

All hail the humble blanket! It is perhaps one of the best, all time classic playthings. Besides being a welcomed, cozy comfort for children of all ages, a blanket can be played with about a gazillion different ways. It is such the perfect toy that this year it has been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame^® at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. Yippee! I was thrilled to hear this news recently. It was a much-needed bit of sanity in the current not-so-sane world of children’s toys.

There are so many annoying toy lists out there – such as Yahoo’s Hot Holiday Toys for 2011 offering expensive and unnecessary gems like Sesame Street’s Let’s Rock Elmo ($60.00 for the Elmo doll, plus about 15 – 20 bucks each for his keyboard, drums and microphone! And I am guessing batteries are not included. ) Your toddler/preschooler will find many more things to do with a cozy blanket than with this single-purpose Elmo toy which they will soon grow bored of and will most assuredly grow out of. And then there is Common Sense Media’s 70+ Gift Ideas For Every Kid on Your List. This list is chock-full of electronic entertainment designed to keep our kids plugged-in. Apps, DVDs, websites to join – even the games they recommend are video games. There are no board games to help families play together without a screen involved. What happens when the power goes out ?! (And where I live, that’s been happening a lot lately.) Thankfully, Common Sense Media does recommend some actual books for children.

In the midst of all the schlock being marketed to families and kids this holiday season, three cheers and a big thank you to the Strong National Museum of Play for recognizing the blanket as a toy worthy of honor. As they so aptly describe:

“In imaginative play and make-believe, kids have discovered the many playful uses for the blanket. It fills in for a king’s robe, a bride’s veil, a superhero’s cape, a Roman soldier’s cloak, a princess’s flowing gown, and a wizard’s flying carpet. Thrown over a table, it forms a tent; draped around two chairs, it becomes a fort; on top of the carpet, it serves as a safe island surrounded by sea monsters. In puppet shows, the blanket substitutes for theater curtains; for a magician, the blanket conceals the secrets of the show. And in tug-of-war, the blanket gets top billing. It is also suitable for tossing toys in the air or for parachuting them back to earth.” (photo credit to the National Toy Hall of Fame website, also! )

As a child I used a blanket for just about all of those ideas listed above. I even remember using a blanket for impromptu winter picnics on the kitchen floor. What do you remember I wonder? Did you have imaginative adventures with your blanket? How do your children play with blankets today?

The blanket also joins the stick, inducted in 2008, and the cardboard box, inducted in 2005. Nice!

For more info on this season’s most terrible toys, check out Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood’s TOADY Awards.

“Each year, the Toy Industry Association gathers to present its TOTY (Toy Of The Year) Awards. In honor of the industry that has led the way in commercializing childhood, CCFC will present its TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) Award for the worst toy of the year. From thousands of toys that promote violence and/or precocious sexuality to children and push branded entertainment at the expense of children’s play, CCFC has selected five exceptional finalists. “

Voting for the TOADY award is open until November 28th!

And if you are looking for toy buying advice, you may want to check out TRUCE’s Toys, Play & Young Children Action Guide or TRUCE’s Infant – Toddler Play, Toys and Media Action Guide.

For a related posts see:

A Real Toy Story

Good and Bad Toy Ideas

Doing More With Less This Holiday Season

Find us at NAEYC’s Annual Conference!

Geralyn — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:17:38 +0000

Today I am packing for Anaheim, CA, where I will be joining friends and colleagues at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Annual Conference. I’ll be there with other members of TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) and we will be sharing our resources Media and Young Children Action Guide and Toy, Play & Young Children Action Guide, as well as our recently released Infant-Toddler Play, Toys & Media Action Guide. These fantastic guides help parents and teachers find ways to foster quality play, healthy development and positive relationships- all of which are threatened by companies who are more concerned about making money than about what is best for our children and families. This year, although I am looking forward to re-connecting with advocates for young children, I am not thrilled about the “Disneyfication” of the event. In the pre-conference mailing, I spy a session focused on Walt Disney’s contributions to early childhood education and an evening event to celebrate imagination at Disney’s California Adventure Park. What else will we encounter upon arrival? I am bracing myself.

As a young child I visited Disneyland and watched the Mickey Mouse Club on TV. These were fun times, no doubt. However, Disney has taken advantage of the trust that parents have in the Disney name. As an adult, I now worry about the vast influence that Disney has on our children and on us. Disney encourages young children to play online with websites such as Club Penguin and World of Cars. Disney confuses parents about how babies learn by selling Baby Einstein videos. Check out this list of companies owned by Disney, complied by Lisa Ray. (Her family is documenting their Year Without Disney!) Disney controls so much information – that just cannot be good. They also market heavily and directly to children – including the brilliant move to market all the Disney Princesses together in a way that has appealed to girls the world over. But what messages do the Disney Princesses send our girls? Check out this short video about the Princess Effect from the Empowering Girls to Fly High.

And check out what the updated TRUCE Action Guide says:

If you are one of the tens of thousands who will be attending the conference, please stop by and visit us in the exhibit hall. We will have copies of our free guides on hand and we’d love to talk to you. We’ll be sharing booth 1044 with TRUCE steering committee member Hugh Hanley and his Circle of Song!

Small moments

Geralyn — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:08:55 +0000

Last night after dinner, my sons begged and begged to watch a DVD. We don’t have television, and we have a “No DVD on school nights” rule. I stood firm and upheld the rule. Oh, my goodness, were there tears. “It’s okay,” I said. “You can be sad.” One son, looking outside and seeing the light still in the sky implored, “Look, it’s still so early. Why can’t we watch a DVD? We have more time now.” I tried to explain (once again) the phenomenon of daylight savings and turning the clocks ahead one hour. It’s hard for a six-year-old to grasp. His brother tried a different tactic. “You can give us yogurt treats or you can let us watch something. You have to chose one.” Actually, son: I don’t. I did, however, remind the boys of their other options.

“You can go back outside and ride bikes. Or we can play backgammon. Or you can do LEGOs.” The boys didn’t immediately jump at any of those options. They weren’t quite done sulking yet. Eventually, one went back to the LEGO car he’s been working on, and his brother took me up on the offer to play backgammon. Halfway through the game the brothers joined forces against me in the backgammon game. We laughed and strategized. We tried our best to plan ahead; to anticipate each other’s moves; to make good decisions; and roll with the luck of the dice. They beat me fair and square. And by then it was time for the night time routine of bath, books and bed.

I am happy that I stuck to my guns about our school night rule, even though it initially made the boys sad. It would be easy to slide into the habit of watching DVDs every evening, but I know that small moments, such as beating mom at backgammon, and reading together, are too precious to give up. These small moments are disappearing from our busy lives. It is sad, because the cumulative effect of these small moments are connected relationships and emotional security. Instead, we often have electronic gadgets entertaining our babies (check out this AT&T commercial) and plugged in, multi-tasking, tweens, teens (see the recent Kaiser Family Foundation report) and stressed-out grown ups (see just about any of us).

So, here’s to singing off-key on long family car trips – instead of using headphones and video screens; to talking together and sharing laughs over dinner – and leaving the TV off during the meal; and to beating mom real good at backgammon – especially on a school night.

"Boyfriend jeans" for toddler girls?!?

Geralyn — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:57:00 +0000

Wow, it has been a week since I last posted – but my time has been well spent getting the new website ready. Stay tuned because we will launch it later this week.

In the meantime, a friend sent me a link to an item on the babyGap website. He was looking for jeans for his just-turned four-year-old daughter. He wanted something that was not flowery, pink or “skinny”. He came across “boyfriend” jeans for toddler girls - as young as 12 months – for “your budding fashionista”. Whoa! What are they thinking?! Why would babyGap name them “boyfriend” jeans? The jeans are also “comfy-cool”. Why can’t they just be “comfy”? This is a great example of age-compression. Marketers use this term to describe the phenomenon of younger children doing things that older children used to do. Age-compression is an effective way to sell more products – such as expensive clothes and electronic gadgets – to younger and younger children. It’s not so great for kids who are being pushed to grow up too quickly. My friend was outraged, and worried about the future his young daughter will face. I was outraged, too, and disgusted as well. You can be sure I’ll be writing a letter to the Gap to let them know.

The babyGap “boyfriend jeans” reminded me of another friend who has a four-year-old daughter. This little girl suddenly took a strong liking to a certain pair of sparkly jeans. She wore them to preschool one day – and then wanted to wear them every day. Guess why. A little boy in her class had told her the jeans were “cool”. Her mom said to her, “You’re four. You’re cute – not cool.”

Raising daughters in today’s highly-sexualized world is a daunting task. In my post from December 28th I mentioned So Sexy So Soon; The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids Diane Levin’s book (cowritten with Jean Kilbourne) as an excellent resource for parents. Another great resource is Joe Kelly, The Dad Man, and an expert on dads and daughters. He has written a whole bunch of books on this topic. Here is the link to his 10 Tips for Dads and Stepdads with Daughters.

If you see things that outrage you as a parent, share your outrage. Let companies know when you aren’t happy. Write to me about what outrages you, and I will share your stories.

Empowered by Play update

Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin M.Ed. — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:57:00 +0000

Today I played the game “3 Foot Ninja” on the MilkRocks! website. This is the website advertised on school milk cartons in grades K-12 throughout the country. Well, I wasn’t too good at the game, and quickly died a gruesome death – with my red blood spilling out. Nice way to start the day.

I urge you to contact Milk Media, the company running the “Milk Rocks! Plug in. Drink up.” campaign in schools. You can email them at info@milkmedia.com or info@milkrocks.com. They claim to be concerned about children’s health and well-being, but their motivation seems unclear. Urging kids to go online and play video games isn’t in children’s best interests. To me, Milk Media is taking advantage of the trust that kids have in their schools and pulling a fast one on parents who don’t even realize their kids are being marketed to this way.

I also contacted my local dairy, which supplies my son’s school and heard back for them today. They are “no longer participating in national campaigns promoting websites, movies or any media venue.” Now that is the type of email that makes my day.

For related posts, see

Announcing TRUCE’s Infant & Toddler Play, Toys & Media ACTION GUIDE!

Geralyn — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Wonderful news today! TRUCE’s Infant & Toddler Play, Toys & Media Action Guide is now available FREE online. We have been working incredibly hard on this important resource and I am proud of the results. (TRUCE stands for “Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment”.)

In the words of founding TRUCE member, Diane Levin, Ph.D., “We created this guide because we are very concerned about the rapid escalation in marketing high tech toys and media to infants and toddlers. We want to help parents understand the problem and help them to promote quality play for their very young children.”

The guide is available for anyone to copy and distribute – in part or in whole. The TRUCE Steering Committee has also updated our TRUCE Toy Action Guide for 2009-2010. We always aim to get it out in time to help parents and teachers deal thoughtfully with the December holiday toy/gift-buying season.

Please share these helpful resources with any and all parents and professionals who may be interested. Soon, our TRUCE website will be updated, as well, and you will be able to share stories of how and where you are using the guides. Stay tuned for more information about that!

When did Sesame Street become $esame $treet?

Geralyn — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:55:00 +0000

The love-fest for Sesame Street is all-encompassing this week, as the show marks it’s 40th anniversary. Pardon me if I sit this one out. I was a toddler when the show began; and watched it on and off as a young child; then later as an older sibling (suffering through, pretending not to like it); later as a babysitter; and eventually as a mother.

As a child I enjoyed the light-hearted skits, especially the songs, but as a mom I am utterly disappointed in the company. My sons inherited a few Sesame Street videos and they watched them occasionally as three and four-year-olds: Elmo at the Fire Station was a favorite of theirs, I’ll admit. And just a year ago I discovered a cassette tape of Sesame Street alphabet songs that my sons and I listened to over and over again for about a week last winter, enjoying the energy the songs injected into our day.

However, I truly believe that Sesame Street has completely taken advantage of parents whose trust they have earned over the decades. Sesame Street has perfected the art of cradle-to-grave marketing. Their characters adorn countless products. A Google search for “Elmo toys” alone resulted in over 1,500,000 matches. Many of these are ridiculous, expensive and unnecessary toys, such as “Elmo’s Tickle Hands – Press Elmo’s nose for tickle or dance modes”, on sale at Walmart for $27. The Sesame Street characters sell anything you can possibly imagine, from pajamas to fruit snacks, and add to our culture of consumption. I’ve come to expect it from Nickelodeon, but from Sesame Street? Come on. Enough’s enough.

What really gets me worked up, however, is the line of baby videos and DVDs under the “Sesame Street Beginnings” name, which was launched in 2006. These videos, marketed for babies (ages 6 months and up), are an underhanded way of indoctrinating our youngest citizens into Sesame Street nation. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen-time for children under two years old. There is just not enough information yet about the potential harmful effects of screen-viewing on developing brains. These videos are for parents and babies to view together, but I wonder how many people actually watch with their babies. Why couldn’t Sesame Street stick to audio tapes and CDs for families to listen to together? Why promote screen-time? It just doesn’t make sense – unless Sesame Street is actually just trying to establish a viewing habit in the upcoming generation.

Ugh. I hate to be a party-pooper, especially since Sesame Street has done some good things. I love seeing the star clips (my favorite might be James Taylor singing “Jelly-Man Kelly”) and kids of all shapes, sizes, colors and abilities. I just wish Sesame Street hadn’t cashed in on their trust in such a shameless and harmful way.

Today’s NY Times article: From Birth, Engage Your Child in Talk

Geralyn — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:40:00 +0000

There are over 1,ooo phone apps designed for kids….even infants and toddlers. These days, when you are busy running errands with your toddler, instead of talking to her, you can hand her your iPhone or Blackberry to play with. Used to be, kids were ignored while their parent/caregiver chatted away, checked email or sent a text. Now, they can become plugged-in themselves as they watch an episode of Sesame Street or play one of the 1000+ screen games available.

No… it used to be you actually talked with your baby or toddler as you went about the day’s errands. You counted oranges as you put them in the shopping cart, pointed out interesting sights such as lobsters swimming in the tank at the sea food department, or you sang a song while waited in line. Maybe you even got frustrated or angry and showed a range of emotions. The point is, you communicated with your child. Talking to babies and toddlers is how their language and social/emotional connections develop. It has been that way for thousands of years.

With the advent of mobile technology, however, some things have changed for the worse. In today’s NY Times Health section there is a fine article by Jane Brody (From Birth, Engage Your Child in Talk) reminding parents and caregivers of the incredible importance of talking and listening, playing and singing, and, yes, even looking at your young child. What seems so natural to many of us, is now a critical skill to teach many new parents. As a teacher, I met wonderful kids who lacked the basic understanding of how to look at another person and interpret their feelings. Spending your formative years in front of a screen – and surrounded by grown ups who themselves are dedicated to screen time – does not help you to develop this fundamental and necessary skill.

I’m saddened when I think about the harmful effects technology is having on our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, though it is heartening to read this excellent article in such a widely read mainstream newspaper.

Baby Einstein…shame on you once again!

Geralyn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The folks at Baby Einstein are at it again – manipulating parents into buying products that are downright bad for babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended no screen time for children under two years of age. And a well publicized study out of the University of Washington established that babies who spend time watching Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby videos actually have LESS language (fewer words) than babies who do not. In fact, in 2008, following a complaint filed by the CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood), the Federal Trade Commission told Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby to change their unfounded advertising claims. Despite all of this, the baby video craze continues.

Babies learn language from interacting with humans. They learn how to make their caregivers smile and they learn how to ask for what they need. They can even have conversations with people around them. When my sons were babies, I encouraged their babbling by pretending I knew what they were saying. “Really?” I’d reply. “Tell me more?” Followed with, “Oh my goodness! Then what happened?”…and their babbling would continue. This modeling and give-and-take can not and does not happen with videos. Some infant/toddler videos will “talk back” to the viewing audience, but this artificial conversation does not offer the rich social, emotional and intellectual advantages of true human interactions.

This is why the current Baby Einstein ad really got me upset. There is a mixed message being used to confuse and manipulate parents. Notice what the mom is doing. She is having a wonderful interactive moment with her baby. The emotions are genuine. The puppet is delightful and the baby is fully engaged – playing and learning in a natural way. However, the ad is selling videos which offer none of the genuine human interaction that babies thrive on. Shame on these marketers for once again putting their bottom line ahead what is actually good for babies.

Zero to Three and other good ideas about your baby and play

Geralyn — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:51:00 +0000

A friend of mine, who is a fantastic middle school teacher recently became a dad for the first time. He emailed me looking for ideas and recommendations about play for infants and toddlers -an age group he is a little less familiar with, but learning about everyday! It’s a great question, and one that all new parents should be thinking about. After all, play is how infants and toddlers learn about the world and begin to build happy and healthy relationships.

The first resource that comes to mind is the Zero to Three website. As the site describes, ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization that informs, trains and supports professionals, policymakers and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers. For parents, they are an invaluable resource. They have downloadable guides for parents – even slide shows you can watch. The advice is excellent. Here is the link to their section on play http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=key_play Many companies have their own websites to “guide” new parents, but their aim is to sell their multitude of baby products, many of which you don’t actually need. Be warned, and steer clear.

Basically, the simpler the toy, the better it is. Toys that do all the work (through batteries, micro chips, etc) are no good – unsatisfying after the first few dazzling and dizzying moments. Babies, toddlers and kids are best off with toys they can act upon and be in charge of. For babies, think of nesting/stacking cups. They are a GREAT toy. Babies hold them, mouth them and bang them. Older babies love to knock over a tower you build. Over weeks and months, through trial and error they learn how to manipulate the cups to build their own tower. Toddlers and preschoolers fill the cups with water and pour – experimenting in their own way and following their natural curiosities. My sons are five years old and still use their stacking cups at the beach to make different size sand castles. So, look for simple toys with lots of potential that can grow with your daughter.

And you, as a primary caregiver, are also a delightful first toy. Sing to your baby, talk to your baby and tickle your baby. Watch what she likes and notice how she reacts. And, remember that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time before two years old. And those claims you’ve heard from Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby that their videos are good for your baby were debunked in 2007 when researchers reported finding infants who watched actually had LESS language than babies who didn’t. Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood even filed a complaint to the FCC about the false claims these companies were making. Find out more about the study here: http://commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/babylanguagestudy.htm and read CCFC’s complaint to the FCC here http://commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/babyvideoftccomplaint.htm

I know that TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) is currently working on an infant and toddler play guide. It promises to be another valuable resource for parents and teachers working to promote healthy play development in our youngest generation. I’ll post an update as soon as the new guide is ready!

Click on the video below and see my boys having fun with nesting/stacking cups. (Please pardon the low-tech conversion as I try to find the correct firewire to match my new computer!)