Reviewing Toys

Wandering around Mothering Magazine’s website I came across an old article From War Chest to Toy Chest, written by Daphen White, former executive director of Lion & Lamb. Sad to say that Lion & Lamb is no longer up and running but their website is still life and is a good source of information about non-violent toys. Through it I came across TRUCE: Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment.

I think this is an area where allot of parents feel torn about how strict they should be. You want your kids to enjoy their toys and know that play time doesn’t always have to include intense learning games but at the same time there allot of toys out there that could be deemed harmful in many ways but still pass safety regulations.

TRUCE has a good toy guide that has some helpful points on how to filter out toys that are harmful and/or a waste of time:

Toys have limited play value when they . . .

* Can only be used in one way.
* Encourage everyone to play the same way as determined by the toy designer.
* Appeal primarily to a single age or level of development.
* Will probably sit on a shelf after the first “fun” half hour.
* Will channel children into imitating scripts they see on TV or in movies.
* Do special high-tech actions for the child instead of encouraging the child’s exploration and mastery.
* Lure children into watching the TV program or other media linked to the toy.
* Promote violence and stereotypes, which can lead to disrespectful and aggressive behavior.
* Introduce academic concepts to children too early, keeping them from the kind of play that truly prepares them for later learning.

Do I even need to introduce these toys? I think most of us can remember a time when we tried to make our own paper dolls and clothes for them and ended up wasting alot of paper, getting very frustrated and throwing it all away. Or was that just me?

I still love the more tradiational dolls that wear lace dresses like Polly Prat.

Legacy Pride has a whole range of traditional dolls, for a price.

However, since these are supposed to be for your children, they might find these modern celebrity dolls more entertaining. At StarDoll you can make your own paper Desperate Housewives, with a change of clothes, or make your own little Brad Pitt (remember it’s for your KIDS to play with!). It’s a bit odd but I would rather they be playing with these than whining to buy the latest Britney doll for more money that it’s worth.

paper dolls

Following my origami post, I went searching for more paper toys and came across Marilyn Scott Water’s site, The Toy Maker, and fell in love. The site is great for a number of reasons:

1) Her goal is “to help grownups and kids spend time together”. So she gets a star in my book.
2) All her designs are free to download.
3) Her designs work for a range of age groups.
4) The diversity of her designs is great. She has Time Out Cards, Father’s Day Badges, Otter Paper Dolls with extra clothes and more.

She also has a blog on Live Journal.

I remember around 4th grade all my friends and I turned into origami nuts. I think it started on a class trip to an art museum….Anyway, I was hooked and became an origami wizard. That being said over 15 years later, all I can remember how to do is make a swan. When Bea is older I do plan on getting reaquainted with the magic of paper folding and get her hooked.

Origami is great for kids because there is always more to learn. You can start off teaching them simple folds and eventaully, as they get older, move on to more and more complex designs. Eventually they can start following instructions themselves, and you can have five minutes to yourself to check you email and blog about how great your kids are at origami.

It’s also great for the budget. While beautiful origami paper can be very expensive, you can always use old newspapers, wrapping paper or just plain printer paper that won’t break the bank.

Here are some beginner folds that you can teach the little ones:

Easy Origami Boat

Easy Cup

Good Origami Sites:

Origami
Origami Club

Also, if you’re one of those people that does have money to burn, or fold in this case, check out Money Origami.

My little one is still a bit too litte for bath time to be an exciting play session, but I can keep her occupied for a couple of minutes simply by pouring water out of a plastic cup. She’s also just beginning to understand the relationship between her hand and the water, which means bath time is getting wetter and wetter and she learns to make bigger and bigger splashes. She still hasn’t figured out that if she tries to suck on her hand while it’s under water, she’ll get a mouthful of water.

We’ve been giving some great bath accesories for her that I can’t wait to use: bright yellow duck washcloth and an elephant head to go over the faucet. I keep seeing some other fun ones around that I might get my hands on eventually.

Alex Toys has a collection of Art in the Tub toys, that I would like to play with, let alone my baby. I vaguely remember having some of these when I was a kid.

Actually, Alex Toys has tons of bath stuff that looks great including: Saftey in the Tub, Learn in the Tub and Clean in the Tub and of course PLAY in the Tub!

Of course, alot of kids toys are waterproof and can go in the bath, so it’s not really necessary to have specific bath toys. But for kids who don’t really enjoy bath time, having toys that they only play with in the bath can be a good incentive to get them to
enjoy it more.

bath time, bath toys, Alex Toys