SO - Do children need toys? - Page 2

[Jenlaana]

rotating toy stashes is a GREAT way to get the most out of your toys. If you see something that your child has not picked up in a day or two, put it in a box. Get a box or two boxes full of things that are not interesting, and take them away until your child starts loosing interest in the things in front of them, and then swap a box for a box. You'd be amazed at how interesting an old toy is when its been MIA for a month or two.

The biggest part of my toy 'stash' is stuffed animals, because they all get passed on from person to person. I have to go through them and put some up, but I cant find words to express how much joy I got yesterday from seeing my daughter love on the cabbage patch kid doll that was my prize possession when I was 6 yrs old. Those kinds of toys are important, IMO. They give us a connection to our children and to our own childhoods (and remind our kids that we were kids too once) .

I think its important to think of quality instead of quantity with toys. I would rather buy my son 1 "big" gift that he will use (like a bike or a pool), than a bunch of junk that will get lost in the bottom of the toybox.

[ando2]

a stick is a toy!

anything is a toy to a kid.

I love toys. we have too many toys.

my kids play with their toys.

then they play outside in mud and with sticks, that is a toy.

the world is their toy.

[karina5]

Of course they don't "need" them. We probably don't need pillows either, but they make life nicer.

I don't think the problem is that a kid has toys. IMO the problem is when the kid gets every single toy out there.

Why would you deprive a child of having *some* toys???

[daekini]

No, they don't need them, but they can facilitate learning. My children aren't given a toy and then left alone with it. I interact with them - I play with them! It takes a lot of energy and time.

That said - most of our toys are small versions of household objects. My kids' favorites are small brooms and mops, feather dusters, their toy kitchen. They dress their 'babies', wash them, wash the clothes and dry them on the line. They cook for me then clean up after themselves. I don't spend all my time cleaning the toys up (now that I'm reorganizing ) because part of their playtime is putting things away - sorting according to type, size, color, etc.

I don't care for plastic, noisy, frivolous (to me) fluff. Their toys are made from natural materials whenever possible.

But what toys they have is irrelevant - it's the amount of time we spend together - having fun! My sister is a Montessori teacher so obviously this is a strong influence for me. I think pretend play is an important developmental step, and stimulating the imagination also stimulates cognitive development. My kids reason out the order in which each activity takes place and how it should be accomplished - it's really amazing to see! The toys are... props?... used to stimulate their minds!

I love toys - but my idea of toys may not be what others think of when they thing of toys. Pots and pans? Dishrags? Brooms?



The difference between a broom and a noisy Little People Zoo complete with singing bird, roaring lion, automobile, and lights... is gargantuan. My dd was given one and it scared her! We left it at Grandmas house!

[eviesingleton]

I don't think they need "toys" in terms of what is commercially available, but they do need playthings, tools if you will. I think the need to play with objects is innate, but they can be almost anything.

My favorite "toys" growing up were shoe-boxes out of which I made houses for paper dolls that I made out of paper and crayons.

When I was a baby, I liked cereal bowls and stirring spoons and slippers.

[ando2]

my favorite toy was an empty kleenex box and it was a cave for my animals.

my kids are playing with pickles right now.

[bl987ue]

I think there is definately a place for toys in a child's life. I also think that there are some toys that do not belong. Anything battery powered that makes noise, for example. Good toys are those that make the child use their imagination: legos, lincoln logs, erector sets, dolls (ones that don't cry and need batteries!), play-doh, modeling clay, art supplies, etc.

[mimiharshe]

Originally Posted by greeny

Well, technically I suppose children don't need toys. Just like they don't need books or ice cream or going to the park or museum. Or a bicycle, or roller skates. Or crayons and paint. Or visiting the pool. Or playing in the sprinkler in the back yard. As long as they get food, shelter, and clothes (but nothing fancy), they will survive.

But life isn't about simply surviving. It's about enjoying things and having fun, and I think quality toys (and even non-quality ones sometimes!) do just that.

When I was a kid, I LOVED toys. I loved my parents, but I often preferred playing with my toys to playing with my parents. I think my kids feel the same now.

So while toys definitely aren't essential for survival, they are fun and can be educational and wonderful in other ways.

:

[Roar]

Originally Posted by Beppie

After all, don't we see that our children would rather "play" with real things that we use, not toys? My dd's favorite things to do are to help me make pizza dough, or wash the dishes, or water the garden. None of these things are toys, they're the real thing. And they beat out toys EVERY TIME!

Maybe they do for your kids, but I wouldn't generalize beyond that. Some kids don't seem to like toys that much and that can be fine, but it can also be a bad sign. Some kids are disinterested in toys because they aren't very imaginative and don't really know how to play. They can merely mimic adult actions but aren't able to really develop a rich fantasy life.

I will say that our child has had really nice toys and they have been played and played and played with. He likes toys not because he's a materialistic pig, but because they are often good intellectual stimulation or fuel for fantasy play. He has playmobile people who have been played with every day for six years!

Originally Posted by Beppie

Sure Kids love toy stores. They're being brought up in a materialistic culture. More, more, more is all they hear from friends or from grow-ups who buy fancy new cars and clothes or from TV, whatever. And look at all the colors in toy stores. Kids learn to want, want, want, more more more. And when they get the new toy home, how long do they play with it? a few minutes? many toys are junk and do not hold children's attention for very long.

So, would it be your contention if we took a group of non affluent kids from a developing country, say India, they would not enjoy going to Toys R Us because they haven't been heavily indoctrinated into consumerism?

[silver_bird123456]

I recond kids need play things but don't need toys (though they can enjoy them). When I was a kid almost all of our games were imaginary ones in our minds. When we did use plaything they were usually old clothes or branches etc.

[QUOTE=Jenlaana;8207260]
I have a 12 yr old son, who just adores his bike.

I don't recon a bike is a toy. It's a mode of transport. It functions exactly the same as an adults bike. You might as well say your car is a toy. Is it only defined as a toy becuase it belongs to a child?

If it works (like a rake) I don't see how its a toy. If it dosen't work (like those toy vaumes full of coloured balls) it is a toy.

So I recond access to objects in the world: needed, toys: not needed.

Still if your kid enjoys them, who cares!

[rzberrymom]

Originally Posted by Roar

So, would it be your contention if we took a group of non affluent kids from a developing country, say India, they would not enjoy going to Toys R Us because they haven't been heavily indoctrinated into consumerism?

That was my experience. I lived with a family in rural Kenya, and I went back to visit them a few years later. I brought TONS of typical American toys to give to their kids--frisbees, yo-yos, footballs, legos, and on and on and on. Their father said to me "you know, they will play with these and then tomorrow go back to playing with rocks and sticks." He was right--the toys were all mostly trashed and completely forgotten by the next day.

[Roar]

Originally Posted by rzberrymom

That was my experience. I lived with a family in rural Kenya, and I went back to visit them a few years later. I brought TONS of typical American toys to give to their kids--frisbees, yo-yos, footballs, legos, and on and on and on. Their father said to me "you know, they will play with these and then tomorrow go back to playing with rocks and sticks." He was right--the toys were all mostly trashed and completely forgotten by the next day.

So, the only reason kids like toys is because they've been indoctrinated into being consumers by TV and the like?

I don't buy that for a minute. If that was the case kids wouldn't make their own dolls, etc. and so many kids who'd never been exposed to big consumerism wouldn't love toys. I don't buy for a minute that kids wouldn't enjoy going into a toy store just because they hadn't been told to want toys. I'm sure these hypothetical kids wouldn't get the point of a lot of the trashy stuff there, but I don't think for a minute that all of it would be considered uninteresting or pointless.

[rzberrymom]

Originally Posted by Roar

So, the only reason kids like toys is because they've been indoctrinated into being consumers by TV and the like?

I don't buy that for a minute. If that was the case kids wouldn't make their own dolls, etc. and so many kids who'd never been exposed to big consumerism wouldn't love toys. I don't buy for a minute that kids wouldn't enjoy going into a toy store just because they hadn't been told to want toys. I'm sure these hypothetical kids wouldn't get the point of a lot of the trashy stuff there, but I don't think for a minute that all of it would be considered uninteresting or pointless.

Interesting to think about. I don't know about the only reason, but the connection between tv and consumerism is a phenomena that has been well researched.

One thing that always stood out to me is that the kids where I lived in rural Kenya didn't NEED things that western kids seem to need. They didn't need dolls and stuffed animals--there were always real babies to take care of (either within the family or among the neighbors--when I first got there, I often had trouble telling which kiddos belonged to which household). Even children as young as 3 had real responsibilities for the younger children. And there were real animals to care for. And they didn't need things like fake kitchens--they had real responsibilities in real cooking areas. These are just examples. And I know these things are relatively unheard of in western societies (3 and 4 year olds cooking or caring for babies). But perhaps it's part of what is driving this 'need' for toys.