Empowered by Play » Toy and Play Action Guide

A Real Toy Story

Geralyn — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:40:22 +0000

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the best toys are not toys at all. Fuzzy blankets and empty boxes rule when you are inside; wild flowers, sticks and rocks for when you are outside. A blanket becomes a cape or a tent and a box becomes just about anything. This is the stuff that makes for rich imaginative play. It is the season of garage sales where I live, and I’ve been checking them out lately. Holy cow, there is a whole lot of plastic junk out there. At least folks who have a garage sale (or who shop there) are trying to reuse these toys and extend their use a bit still… yikes!

I’ve also been reading the Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession With Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health – and a Vision For Change by Annie Leonard. It is a real wake-up call. I try to be environmentally conscious – but by reading this book I’ve realized there is so much more we as a country can – and should – be doing. Leonard reveals, “We have a problem with Stuff. With just 5 percent of the world’s population, we’re consuming 30 percent of the world’s resources and creating 30 percent of the world’s waste. If everyone consumed at U.S. rates, we would need three to five planets!” My only hope is that this horrifying oil disaster will be the rude awakening our country needs.

(It’s not a spill, by the way. A spill is what my son does with his glass of orange juice. It’s a pain to clean up the spill, but we can do it in a few minutes. What is happening in the Gulf of Mexico is a man-made disaster. Definitely not a spill.)

Do the world a favor and forgo all the thousands of Toy Story 3 plastic junk, and all the other aggressively marketed single-purpose toys, and opt for good old fashioned imagination-inducing fabric scraps, empty containers of any type, art supplies, pebbles and the like. Its not easy to break the habit of consumption – believe me, the LEGO situation in my own house is admittedly out of control. We are working on it, though, and my husband has finally agreed that there is such a thing as “too many LEGOs”. Check out this fantastic article Children, Commercialism, and Environmental Sustainability by Tim Kasser, Tom Crompton, and Susan Linn.

Reduce, Reuse and Re-imagine!

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"My daughter’s friend is obsessed with Hannah Montana. What can I do?"

Geralyn — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:58:00 +0000

“My daughter’s friend is obsessed with Hannah Montana. What can I do?” asked a mom. She was looking for advice on ways to manage her six-year-old daughter’s friendship in a way that supported her own values. The “Tween Scene” is hitting kids younger and younger, and it is no joke.

First off all, there isn’t a quick solution. It begins with conversations with your own child, about what you value and the choices you make. It includes conversations with the parents of children in your life, about the same things…your values and the choices you make. It can be awkward and difficult to have those conversations with other parents, especially when you don’t know them well. Printed materials, such as the TRUCE’s Toy Action Guide http://www.truceteachers.org/toyguides/T_Guide_web_08.pdf or Media and Young Children Action Guide http://truceteachers.org/mediaguides/%202008%20Media%20Guide.pdf can be great ice-breakers. Share a copy with grown ups you know (remember the guides are FREE) and use that as a springboard to open the conversation. Also, know that this conversation will be ongoing, over weeks, months and maybe even longer.

In the meantime, here are some other strategies to steer the play dates away from Hannah Montana, Zack and Cody, Sponge Bob, Super Mario Brothers, or whatever it is your children’s friends are excited about, that is leaving you less than excited:

~When possible, meet at a playground or park for your play dates. Without a screen around, the children will be more likely to follow their own imaginations.

~In bad weather, meet at the local library and share books.

~Have the friends over to your house where you will have more control over the environment.

~If you are going over to the friend’s house, bring a creative, open-ended toy to share…such as sidewalk chalk. It will literally draw kids away from the screen.

~Find mutual areas of interest and support those. Hunting for bugs, play dough, baking muffins …anything to steer the play and conversations toward positive influences.

~Share games from your childhood! Kids love to learn about games you played as a child. Kick-the-Can, Spud, Mother May I, Red Light Green Light, Red Rover! Think back and remember what you loved…they’ll love it, too.

~If the play date is going to be at the friends’ house, and you know that the TV will eventually be turned on, bring some of your own favorite DVD’s to watch. Explain why you and your family like them. (Maybe animal shows or space exploration, whatever it is.)

If you have other strategies to share, please post them here!

Great news!

Geralyn — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Yesterday’s post left me feeling depressed. Today I will share good news. Actually, great news!

In the midst of all that is working against children and imaginative play these days, there is an active organization called TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment). TRUCE has been around for years and has produced a number of valuable resource guides for parents and teachers. TRUCE is raising awareness about the negative effects of violent and stereotyped toys and the unhealthy impact that media has had on children’s creative play. Check out their Toy, Play & Young Children Action Guide at http://truceteachers.org/toyguides/T_Guide_web_08.pdf

This guide is FREE to download, copy and distribute. That’s right, FREE! The guide helps explain the importance of play, provides guidelines for choosing toys of value and toys to avoid. There are ideas for making alternative gifts for children (instead of purchasing manufactured gifts) and even a great recipe for good old-fashioned play dough. The guide helps parents make sense of many of the false media claims that make decision making so difficult. For example, did you know that Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby type videos do NOT help babies acquire language. There is actually evidence that babies who watch these videos have LESS language than those babies who don’t watch.

In the current climate of ceaseless marketing that takes advantage of young children, it is refreshing to know that a group such as TRUCE is working just as hard to protect children.

See their great work at http://www.truceteachers.org/