A reflection of games and toys and our attitude towards them

How many times has an adult said, while watching their child drop something while they play or make a mistake with a jigsaw piece, “They are only playing”, and then not thought any further? It has happened to us all. Yet with just a little more attention, we can actually discover something truly surprising, regardless of the age of the child. We can see their enthusiastic eyes, their concentration and their pride as they try time after time without stopping as they play, by themselves or in a group oblivious to everything around them. As they play, lots of things are happening in their brains as their neuron connections work. Yes, they are playing –nothing more and nothing less!

Gianni Rodari, the prominent writer, child psychologist and author of the classic book “The Grammar of Fantasy” (I recommend it if you have not already read it) wrote “… children have an enormous capacity to work, to try to reach a goal – you only need to watch them play”.

When do we start to play? Let’s recap a little how humans develop. We learn by playing. To play is to learn. It is the way we learn from being very young how to communicate with those around us. One day a baby discovers his or her hands and the possibilities that they offer. They begin to experiment with them and to touch objects that they find near them and it is in this way that they begin to sense textures and shapes as they touch everything around them. The results are so interesting for them that they repeat them over and over again. Then one day, trying to touch something too far away they find that they have rolled over and another new world is suddenly open to them!     

Play is a way for a baby to get closer to the world and to understand how it works.

And so we reach “the terrible twos”. Is it really that terrible? Being able to use language and symbols opens new horizons in their activities to an unlimited enrichment thanks to their overflowing imagination. Everything is possible, and from there onwards, a stone becomes “a flying car which found the princess, which is a rubber, and you are the bad guy who has to capture them both…”.

In no time at all, a few years later, come the rules in more structured games, where everyone knows what they have do and how they have to do it, where the cheaters are watched closely and they their physical and mental abilities compete quickly and skilfully.

What are the best games? Every age group has their characteristics and needs. It is good as parents to accompany our children in the different developmental stages.

For younger children, taking into consideration that nothing substitutes us as playmates with our children, our presence is really important in the first months, the best toys and games are those that allow children to manipulate, that are colourful, have a nice feel and a variety of things to touch and that make a noise. Make sure that the colours are solid and not toxic (children experiment with their hands and with their mouths!). Young children do not need a lot of toys they have plenty of things to do already to do that they can spend hours playing with a teddy bear.

Later on, games and toys which allow the development of movement and begin to interact, for example, a ball, which must be one of the best toys of all times, although it is best to begin with big soft balls first of all. Any toy that enables motor skills to be developed is excellent for a child of one or two years of age.

I recommend, especially for children under three, and just as Yolanda González says in her book “Love without being scared of spoiling”, that you choose simple toys and that you use everyday objects (cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and containers) “... the less realistic and structured toys are, the more the imagination can develop”.

Toys and games become more and more sophisticated as children reach school age. They begin to accept thinking and strategy games, puzzles and traditional table games. Children begin to enjoy watching the television where they can be exposed to its advertising methods as they try to capture young children’s minds. We need to be careful that we control the television so that its impact is not as strong offering “healthier alternatives” – us playing with them, finding places to play with their friends, playing and discovering outside in the fresh air etc.

In conclusion, I leave you with none other than A.S. Neill, the prominent educationalist from last century, “... the bad things in civilisation come from those who did not play enough when they were children”.

We need therefore, to pay attention to the toys and games that our children play with, making sure that they are fun to play with and that we are able to enjoy the magical moments with our children as they play with them.