Trouble in toytown
Anjana Ahuja
Times Online (UK)
December 20, 2007
There is something about the range of toys sold under
the brand Brainy Baby that leaves me cold. They include
My Left Brain Book, and My Right Brain Book and the
123’s DVD. That last item, in particular, strikes me as
£17.99 down the drain, given that most babies have ten
fingers and ten toes, love having them wiggled and revel
in the personal attention of a carer.
And don’t get me started on the left-brain, right-brain
thing: neuroscientists reject the idea that we must
bisect our children’s heads to make them cleverer. Yet,
according to a survey published last week, 91 per cent
of parents believe that educational toys will propel
their progeny to the top of the class.
It’s reassuring to have my cynicism endorsed by the
psychologists Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick
Golinkoff, the authors of Einstein Never Used Flash
Cards (Rodale). “Research out this year showed that
babies who watch videos that are supposed to teach them
language have smaller vocabularies than kids who don’t
watch them,” says Hirsh-Pasek, who runs the Infant
Laboratory at Temple University, Philadelphia. “We
already know how children learn language – it’s by
talking to their parents.” Golinkoff runs the Infant
Language Project at the University of Delaware.
They say that there are certain toy-buying principles
that can steer parents towards enjoyable, stimulating
and cheap choices for their children. The commonsense
guidelines include such nuggets as buying a toy that is
10 per cent toy and 90 per cent child (ie, is not too
prescriptive in how a child should play with it) and
something that can be enjoyed by two children at once to
promote social interaction.
And the great news – if you are panicking over your
failure to join the throng of harassed parents in
toyshops – is that you don’t have to fork out for some
of this year’s expected bestsellers, which The Times
asked a panel of children, parents, Hirsh-Pasek and
Golinkoff to review. Despite being labelled the Dream
Dozen – the 12 toys most likely to top children’s
Christmas lists, as predicted by the Toy Retailers
Association in October – many appear to be the stuff of
parents’ nightmares. One toy, the GR8 Art Bindeez Super
Deluxe Studio Centre, is the subject of a safety recall.
Ten of the remaining 11 are included in our review.
(Golden Balls, a board game based on the TV show, was
dropped on the grounds that the parent/child testers
found it too boring to bother with.)
These playthings are not modestly priced: the cheapest
is £19.99, and the costliest £49.99. Many have already
sold out. One parent’s verdict of one toy was: “I would
weep if this was all Santa gave me.”
Our table, as well as containing comments by children
and parents (plus a parental star rating out of six),
also includes our experts’ rating – this shows how many
of Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff’s six toy-buying principles
it adheres to. Choosing the right toy is about more than
making a child happy at Christmas, says Hirsh-Pasek: “In
Britain and the US, we need to think about how we train
our children for the future through toys and books. Do
we want kids who sit and do what they are told, or
creative thinkers? If the latter, we need to look at the
toys we are selling.”
Parents think that “structured play” – where play is
directed, such as a pretend mobile phone that teaches an
infant phonics, or a child’s lap-top – is just as valid
as “unstructured play”, in which the child dreams up
things to do with the aid of props, such as crayons or
building blocks.
“Fifty per cent of mums think structured play is just as
valuable as unstructured play,” says Hirsh-Pasek.
Researchers in child development don’t agree. The
passivity induced by toys “telling” children what to do
doesn’t compare with the opportunities offered by blocks
and paints. Building blocks, she says, expand spatial
awareness, while art materials encourage symbolic
representation and language skills. “How many parents
have heard their child say, ‘I’m bored’? If kids are
bored, it may be because we have fed them with toys that
tell them what to do all the time. Unstructured play
encourages them to think for themselves.”
And techno toys, even those of an educational nature,
are not a panacea. Hirsh-Pasek notes that recent
research at the University of Washington shows that some
electronic toys appear to induce aspects of attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young children.
As for all that left brain-right brain stuff, she notes
that the first journal in the field of the application
of brain science to education was inaugurated in March,
a lag of several years behind the establishment of the
Brainy Baby brand.
“How is it that toy manufacturers can be ahead of the
science?” she asks. There is no hard evidence for the
Mozart effect, the popular idea that playing classical
music to tots, even while baby is in the womb, turns
infants into child prodigies.
Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff make an impassioned case for
the value of “retro toys” – traditional playthings that
charm generation after generation, such as colouring
pencils, a dressing-up box, train sets and building
blocks (see box). Puzzles and board games rate highly
too – even though kids need guidance to use them, the
benefits include social and logic skills. While there is
nothing wrong with indulging in a child’s whim for a
trashy toy, parents who want their children to learn
through toys could do a lot worse than rummage through a
grandparent’s attic.
“We need to help parents see the amazing value in
retro-toys,” Hirsh Pasek says. When she meets successful
business people, she asks them what they used to play
with. “If you say, did you build things, such as castles
made out of sofas and sheets, or did they read with
their parents, they raise their hands. But ask how many
of them did worksheets and no one raises a hand. Why do
we give kids electronic worksheets in the form of toys
that teach them phonics?
“This is the Google generation, kids have facts at their
fingertips. Futurists and business people say that
tomorrow will belong to those who can socially network,
those who can work in teams, think flexibly and come up
with creative solutions. Is the world we are giving
them, in terms of play, going to build those skills? We
have reason to believe not.
“We have created a generation of toys that are unsocial,
inflexible and tell our kids what to do. Kids become
unable to manage their own time and space. We’ve done
exactly the opposite of what we need to do.”
Everyone these days, Hirsh-Pasek says, is suffering from
“manic compression”, in which our rushed lives prompt us
to outsource play opportunities. We find a toy, or put
on a video, to take over parental duties while we
prepare dinner or catch up on work. “What we should be
doing is including our children in making dinner. It’s
harder, but think what they are learning: measurement of
ingredients, chemistry in the cooking, plus you’re
talking with your child.” The same principle, she says,
makes a trip to the supermarket “the best liberal arts
education for preschoolers”. It involves reading labels,
looking at aisle numbers, seeing how the cans are
stacked, weighing skills, plus conversation while
shopping.
Hirsh-Pasek says: “There’s not a toy out there that
compares with that and, even better, it’s free. We’ve
been made to feel inadequate by toy manufacturers. There
is a culture of fear that our children are going to be
bottom of the heap. But we forget our own childhood,
which prepared us so well. There’s also this belief
that, in a generation, evolution has transformed
children into techno toddlers, who are happier in a
virtual world. It isn’t true. Children haven’t changed,
just the marketing hype.”
Those among you who have held out against the marketing
muscle of Mattel and Hasbro et al might have the upper
hand this Christmas. You will not have to face your
children’s disappointment as they realise that the board
game they craved turns out to be overpriced, badly
thought-out tat. If you have stumped up already, I hope
you kept the receipt.
The psychologists’ six toy-buying principles
— Look for a toy that is 10 per cent toy and 90 per cent
child. A lot of toys direct the play activity by talking
to children or asking them to press buttons. Find a toy
that doesn’t command the child.
— Toys are meant to be platforms for play – they should
be props not directing play.
— If it’s a toy that asks your child to supply one thing
– such as fill in the blank or give one right answer –
it is not allowing the child to express creativity.
— Look for something that can be taken apart and remade
– to build imagination.
— See if the toy promises brain growth. If it’s telling
you that your child is going to be smarter or bilingual
it’s a red flag.
— Does the toy encourage social interaction? It is fine
for your child to have alone time, but it is great for
them to be with others.