CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE A HANDBOOK ON TOY SELECTIONS FOR CHILDREN A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Educational Psychology, Early Childhood Education by Stacy Ann Borock August 1987 The Thesis of Stacy Ann Borock is approved: Be~ntice California State University, Northridge ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This graduate project would not have been possible without the support, guidance and affection of some very special people in my life, including: Elizabeth Brady, Janet Fish, Beatrice Prentice, my family, my friends, and all the children who have enriched my life. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • • • iii ABSTRACT . v CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM . 1 Statement of the Problem •••••. 1 Background of the Problem 1 Purpose . • • • . • • . 3 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ••• 5 Topics Concerning Toys and Play • • • • • 5 Roles of Toys and Play • • • • • • • • • • • • 5 Safety and Play • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 12 Appropriateness of Toys • • • • . • 18 Age Ranges of Children and Toys 21 3 THE HANDBOOK • • • • • • • • • 33 Content of the Handbook • • • . 33 Spending Wisely on Toys • • • • • • • 33 Toy Checklist ••••• 34 Toy Storing •••••• . 36 Broken Toys • • • • • • • • • • . 37 Too Many Toys • • • • • • • • • • • 37 List of Toys for Children •••• 38 Toy Manufacturers List • • ••• 40 REFERENCES . 45 iv ABSTRACT A HANDBOOK ON TOY SELECTIONS FOR CHILDREN by Stacy Ann Borock Master of Arts in Education This graduate project is a handbook developed to assist people in choosing toys for children up to 4 years of age. A review of the literature associated with proper toy selections for children is followed by criteria and procedures which will enable a person to make a proper toy selection. v CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM Statement of the Problem The use of toys in play is essential to the learning process and psycho-social development of the child. There is a limited amount of literature available which outlines specific requirements for proper selection of toys. In addition, the information that does exist is scattered throughout many sources. The purpose of this project is to compile the data and important considerations for toy selection into one cohesive and practical handbook. Background of the Problem Toys have been in existence since the caveman era. Prehistoric toys have been discovered along with ones from the middle ages. It is thought by some that toys had sacred purposes and were used only by adults. Hiller (1966) concurred that early toys often had their origin in religious ceremonies. Toys were made of a number of different materials. Mostly toys were made from clay, stone, bone, iron, bronze, and twigs. These toys were for the most part copies of objects used by adults. The history of toys has progressed greatly since prehistoric times. During the holiday season, toys have been said to be the most popular gift. Sutton-Smith (1986) found that 60% of toys are given to children at this time. Toys are a $12 billion industry, and 1 2 a typical middle class child will get hundreds of them before he or she is fully grown (Boehm, 1986). It is of great importance that an adult interested in buying toys becomes familiar with them. This enables the purchasing adult to select toys which will enhance the child's play and development. The impact of toy purchasing is seen in many ways. Commercial­ ism makes the biggest impact on a consumer of toys. Adults get ideas on what to buy children from advertisements seen on televi­ sion, in the newspaper, and by word of mouth. Frequently toys that are popular may not be the best for children. However, becoming knowledgeable about toy selections may help adults choose toys that are most appropriate for a child. One of the difficulties in regard to toys are the many unsafe toys available to a child and the naive adult consumer. There are 150,000 different toys out on the market today, not all of them are safe. Projectile weaponry can blind a child; small pieces on a toy could cause a child to choke to death; and flammable toys can ignite instantly. All of these toys are frequently found among those in a home or school. Each year accidents involving toys cause thousands of injuries. Many of these accidents require hospital care and a number of accidents result in death. In my opinion, as long as dangerous toys survive on the market, adults must become educated, careful consumers of toys. Therefore, it is of great importance that the toys a child receives are safe, durable, and enjoyable. Toys are a great source of pleasure for children. The enjoy­ ment of toys becomes a learning experience for the child. A basic 3 research discovery of educators and psychologists is that children are learning all the time. Children learn most from toys that are matched to their age and ability. It is essential that an adult buying toys for a child remembers that toy choices are important and should be chosen wisely. As a teacher involved in the early childhood field, I became interested in children and their toy collections. I have observed many parents buying toys for their children that were the wrong age level and perhaps unsafe. These past few years, I became an informal consultant on toys as well as a preschool teacher. Parents asked for ideas on what to buy their children. Personally as well as professionally, I would like to see adults become more involved and concerned with the types of toys available for children. Through these experiences I felt a need to arrange some type of handbook to help adults choose toys for children. Purpose Toys are very important for a young child 1 s development. In reviewing the literature, I felt a need to compile a handbook that would offer all the information needed on how to select proper toys for children. This handbook could be used to aid parents, family members, teachers, child health professionals, friends and other people who are involved with children to find age-appropriate materials for them. Toys help children work through developmental tasks such as fine motor control, finger dexterity, eye/hand coordination and 4 creativity. While playing with a toy a child has control of the surrounding world around him. A toy prepares a child for the outside world. Toys are an essential part of a child's development. It is important to find toys that can help a child play in solitude, to counterbalance the overstimulative world present today. This handbook will identify toys that respond to developmental tasks and have multiple purposes. Toys have enormous meaning in any culture, therefore, it is worthwhile examining how consumers can get their money's worth. The purpose of this handbook is to avoid random purchases of toys that have little meaning and that become an affront to adults who have invested money for something that has little to do with a young child's development and does not hold a child's attention over time. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Topics Concerning Toys and Play There are several topics relating to the use of toys and play. Each topic is of importance to isolate and discuss in understanding the impact of toys on a child's development. The literature regarding toys identifies four subject areas of concern. They are: The Roles of Toys in Play, Safety and Play, Appropriateness of Toys, and Age Ranges of Children and Toys. Roles of Toys and Play Play and learning. Play serves an extremely important function in a child's concept of learning about the world. Children play for pleasure, but play is not only recreation for them as it is for adults. Play is necessary for healthy development. Play prepares children for adult life. The playing child is occupied in learning to deal with the world around him. Play is the business of child­ hood (Read, 1971). Play is essential for children to grow and learn. Children learn many things while at play. They concentrate on how to figure how things work, pick up new words, build muscles they can control, use their imagination, solve problems, and learn to cooperate with others. Through play children gain a mastery 5 6 over their world. Many skills and abilities develop at the same time during play (Feeney &Magarick, 1984). It is through play that a child develops tactile senses. The child also explores the relationship between objects, which things will fit into one another, can be banged together and so on. The child learns through play to control movements and to gain fine manual dexterity (McConkey &Jeffree, 1983). A child's play can be used as a form of expression and communication which would aid in the child's spoken language. In play, a child can practice at his own speed all the separate skills that can later apply to work and living. The child through play has a chance to interact with other children learning about relationships and social interaction. An important byproduct of play is the feeling of power it gives a child. Play offers soothing relief from the sense of inadequacy and frustration that many children experience as junior members of a well ordered adult society. In play the child is free from environmental threats. Play reduces the stress of anticipating success or failure (Caplan & Caplan, 1983). Play can be a form of therapy in which a child can act out his own anxieties and gain mastery over his environment (McConkey & Jeffree, 1983). Read (1971) felt that it is important that children have outlets for reducing fears, anger and aggression by draining them off in play. Without such opportunities, healthy development may not happen. The child needs to be successful in his play to gain confidence that comes with its mastery (Read, 1971).