Editor’s note: The following post was written by Professor Elkind, chief scientific advisor for Just Ask Baby. David Elkind is currently Professor Emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University. He was formerly Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Education at the University of Rochester. Just Ask Baby is a site devoted to:
providing our community of members with all the information, resources and support they need to help their children develop socially, emotionally and intellectually – and at their own pace – during the critical early years of their life…The information we provide is 100% based on decades of scientific research by some of the leading child development experts. We are also 100% un-sponsored by manufacturers and 100% un-influenced by advertisers.
Too Many Toys
A year ago last fall, I was asked by the Hasbro Toy Company to consider being a spokesperson for their line of early childhood toys. Hasbro recently bought Playskol, a well established, and well regarded, maker of playthings for young children. Before accepting, I had a meeting with the manager of the division, and with some of the designers and creators, at their offices in Pawtucket Rhode Island. I was particularly interested in seeing their current crop of toys. We met in a conference room in which the long mahogany conference table was covered with a wide variety of playthings. Among the array of toys, I was pleased to see cans of Playdoh, because I regard it as a plastic material that leaves plenty of room for children to use their imagination. That is why I bought Playdoh for my sons when they were preschoolers. It troubled me, however, to see that Hasbro now packages cookie like molds and even an “ice cream” maker along with the play dough. These add-ons would seem to constrain, rather than to encourage, imagination and creativity. I noticed similar add-ons for other classic Playskol playthings.
When I asked about this, I was assured that the add-ons left plenty of room for imagination and creativity and that such add-ons were in fact suggested by parental focus groups.
While some parents may feel their children need more direction, it should not be at the expense of limiting creative play. I then asked the question that had been troubling me since I first looked at all of the toys on the table. I said, “Playskol has a long and respected history of making creative playthings for young children, but now it seems you are including add-ons that constrain creativity just to sell more products.
How can you combine making quality playthings for children with making big profits to satisfy share holders?” I was not given a satisfactory answer, but the truth was obvious. After looking at what Hasbro was offering young children I realized that I could not, in good conscience, be an advocate for their products.
What has happened at Hasbro is characteristic of the toy industry as a whole, the needs and interests of children have become secondary to demands of shareholders. In the past, parents were the ones who bought toys and toy makers had to be sure that the toys they produced reflected parental values. Toy companies could do this because most were privately owned and were not beholden to shareholders. In addition, because producing toys was expensive, toymakers limited their production to toys that parents would buy. All that has changed, most toy companies are now publicly owned and toy makers are now responsible to shareholders not parents. In addition, thanks to mass production and cheap Chinese labor, toys are being produced in huge numbers and at low cost. Last, but not least, parent values are now shaped by skillful advertising that promotes even harmful toys as beneficial. Parents have also been persuaded that toys need to be purchased year around and not just on special occasions. The result is that children, particularly young children, have many too many toys.
Toys are not merely playthings; they are tools for learning about the self and world. If you are just learning to be a carpenter, you do not need power tools. A hammer and saw, will start you out. In the same way, if you are just learning about yourself and world, you don’ need computers, CD’s and battery operated toys. As a novice learner, a rattle and a plush toy are all an infant needs to start him or her on the journey of self and world discovery. The truth is that the majority of toys for infants and young children today have little or no developmental value and are sold primarily with the aim of making money.
When buying playthings for infants and young children, therefore, keep in mind that they will learn more with a few tools than with many. They will also learn more from playthings that allow for imagination and creativity than those of the “watch me” variety which are merely entertaining.
Image: karindalziel on Flickr under a Creative Commons License
Good point. It’s hard to fight the materialism though. Especially at the holidays. How do you convince family members and friends which toys are the right ones to buy for your children? I’m dreading the new load of plastic that will arrive on December 25.
Thanks for this excellent post. Professor Elkind is to be commended for his principles and his knowledge of children’s needs.
In our family we work hard to bring creative learning toys into our home and ignore others, but even Lego has become super-merchadized. What happened to the simple square bricks that we used have when I was young? Their vagueness invited us to dream and create. Star Wars legos encourage you to reproduce the picture on the box. It’s not the same.
I long ago noticed that low-quality, low creativity toys are very quickly ignored by children. It makes it easy for me not to buy them, but family members sometimes give them to us. I try to move them into a box in the garage asap.
What can you do to fight back against all this merchandizing? Well, we make playdough at home when we need it. Then the kids can enjoy *creating* the playdough, and then shaping it!
ClothDiaperGirl,
For years I have worked to educate our extended family, and it has worked. For the family members that have trouble with it, I make specific suggestions. I have also sent out email reminders each year that we don’t want any plastic toys, and it is helpful to use examples of how plastic toys break, etc.
I like the idea of asking relatives to participate in a non-plastic toy Christmas. It’s so simple and not too preachy. Thanks for the inspiration. I usually buy books for most people. Here’s a good reason to buy books: http://writersgroupblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/book-sales-in-this-economy.html.
My 3 yr old would much rather play with my cooking utensils than any of the toys in his toy box. When preparing dishes for our Thanksgiving meal, I had to retrieve a number of utensils from his room where he’d made off with them 🙂
Tror også børn idag har for meget legetøj som begrænser deres fantasi og lyst til at lege. Legetøj bør ses som udviklende og ikke som underholdning. Børn lærer gennem leg og oplevelse. Børn bør i højre grad være aktive i legen end pasisve se på at legetøjet kan en hel masse. det er også grundtanken bag Emmasverden.dk
Vi mærker klar en tendens blandt vores kunder, at de efterspørger legetøj, der er udført i en god kvalitet. Det begynder at betyde noget at legetøjet kan holde. Mange forældre oplever at købe billigt legetøj, hvor designet er udført i mange farver og plastic. Inden for det første år efter købet, har allerede mange forældre enten smidt det ud, pakkede det væk, solgt det eller givet bort. Store billige plastickøkkener fylder og pynter ikke på børneværelserne. Kvalitet koster lidt mere, men til gengæld så oplever vi at vores kunder lader legetøjet gå i arv, fordi de værner om det, det er nemlig godt og holdbart og udført i en flot design. Lad legetøjet gå i arv, undgå hurtige køb af billigt legetøj, men køb en god kvalitet som passer til dine børn og Jeres hjem. Vi oplever endda at legetøj som gyngeheste og dukkevogne får en fremtrædende plads i hjemmet længe efter børnene ikke leger med det mere, fordi det passer ind i hjemmet og ser smuk ud. Det er da også en skøn tanke at lade en smuk udført gyngehest stå i stuen, så når det voksne barn kommer hjem på besøg, bliver fyldt af gode barndomsminder, og kan lade sit legetøj gå i arv.