Whole Life Times: Toys to Inspire Wonder

December 2004

Toys to Inspire Wonder

Holiday shoppers seeking a gift that a beloved child will enjoy for more than a week would do well to look beyond the retail chains

by Cheryl Scott

A straight-haired 8-year-old girl gazes out of the car across the tumbleweeds at distant mountains, huge, lavender and silent under an empty sky. “You know what those are?” asks a grayed gent in a three-piece seersucker suit, turning slightly in his seat in the front of the car. “They’re sleeping elephants,” he says. “They’ve been sleeping there since the start of time. Maybe one day they’ll wake up.” The girl squints at the distant behemoths and wonders.

The same straight-haired girl is 15 now, and this time she travels with her father, an aerospace engineer. “The mountains look like elephants sleeping,” she says. “Actually,” her father responds, “they are layers of granite, worn smooth by the wind and sand over millions of years. Eventually they developed a coating of silt, just fertile enough to allow the growth of small plant life...” The girl squints, shrugs wistfully. “I like the elephant story better,” she says. “But the scientific explanation is true and the story of how the mountains came to be here is more interesting than a fairy tale,” he replies, turning from his chore at the wheel of the car. “It doesn’t matter,” she thinks. “I’d rather wonder.”

The struggle between reality and imagination is as old as the mountains of the Arizona desert, and parents across the ages have taken different approaches to instill in their children appreciation for Earth’s wonders. With the nearly unlimited choices of toys and games available in stores, over the Internet and from catalogues, today’s parents would seem to have a greater tool set for completing this task. Still, the array of options can be bewildering.

Psychologist and child development specialist Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. offers information and advice about playthings that are more likely to help children reach their full potential. “There is so much of everything today that it’s overwhelming,” she said. “And if it’s overwhelming to the parents, imagine how overwhelming it is to the children.”

But instinct is a powerful implement in the development of children. Why not just let instinct take its course?

“Because there are so many strategies and agendas affecting every aspect of our lives, they have a profound effect on our children,” she replied in the staccato tones of one who has discussed the subject many times. “Kids lead very busy lives these days. They watch television, play video and computer games, play outdoors with others, participate in planned activities — and it’s all done at an accelerated pace. It’s up to a parent to put it all in perspective and guide the growing child, channeling all that energy and imagination into experiences that will enrich without stifling.”

Auerbach believes parents should create play experiences that will foster emotional growth for their children. “Children learn best through play,” she said. “Smart toys encourage children to maximum advantage.

“Many people think play is trivial, but it isn’t,” Auerbach continued. “Play is vital for developing in children the ability to extend their imagination, resourcefulness, social interaction, problem solving and resilience.” Dr. Toy, as she is called, believes in creating a play environment that will foster the development of self-esteem, problem solving skills and the ability to make friends.

Psychologist Frank Lieberman, an Orange County child counselor and founder of the annual Children’s Creative Festival in Mission Viejo, echoed many of those thoughts. “Toys can either do harm or do good,” he added, “so it’s imperative that parents devote some time and attention to the child’s needs and talents and create ways to encourage them.”

But every parent has experienced the disappointment when a brand new toy with the latest features doesn’t quite capture their child’s imagination. Either the child ignores its complex design and intimidating gadgets or gives the toy a half-hearted try before dumping it unceremoniously in favor of the tried and true wooden spoons and bowls. The parent often can’t see it, but for a child, the simple will win out every time. And when the choice is between the familiar and the strange, familiar is a hands-down winner.

You might not find this information new. Every child psychologist seems to agree, and bookstores across the county contain volumes of their professional insights. Most agree that the beloved old toys best nurture a child’s creativity and awareness. And — although it may not be good advertising for the toy industry — most agree that the best toys are often not toys at all, but items in the natural world or around the house that a child designates as an implement of creative play.

Still the Greatest

Dr. Toy’s Web site features a plethora of toys and games, replete with information on which abilities each toy will foster. But perhaps the site’s most engaging feature is its examination of the history of toys.

The first incarnation of chess began in 6000 B.C.; glass marbles replaced small stones; and slingshots began as sized-down versions of a cave dad’s hunting tools. From the time the first man or woman picked up a stick and toyed with it, threw it, pried something loose or drew a line in the dirt, people have created toys and games from the environments in which they live.

The toys that have been around for centuries have one thing in common: They require imagination and creativity to function as toys.

And the toys that have evolved from the most primitive beginnings retain those same requirements. In 1914, Charles Pajeau, inspired by watching children poking sticks through holes in thread spools, invented Tinker Toys. Two years later, John Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, invented Lincoln Logs, which still hold their own nearly a century later.

The stacking rings that capture the attention of the playpen set were invented in 1930. Today’s version plays music and lights up, but it still performs the age-old function of improving hand-eye coordination.

Creativity is the common denominator between the toys that survive and evolve through the ages, a point Lieberman made repeatedly in the dulcet tones of a patient listener who has pondered these ideas forever. The further back in time you go, the more basic the playthings are — and many of them simply cannot be topped by today’s mechanical, articulated, dancing Elmos and overdressed Barbies (which are sold at a rate of two every two seconds).

For sheer exhilaration and joy, you would have to go a long way to find anything to top a soaring kite. Kites, which began captivating children long before recorded history, first appeared in China in 1000 B.C. Today’s versions are made of plastic and painted with Spider Man or Sponge Bob, but they can still be made out of tissue and balsa wood and a few tied rags that flutter in the wind. Perhaps a kite’s value is its hands-on demonstration of aerodynamic principles. Or maybe it is the kite’s ability to focus a child’s eye on the vast and open sky where angels might be found in clouds or sleeping elephants in distant mountains.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. Children see more than paper and wood at the end of a kite string. They might see their future — full of fun, spiced with adventure and soaring with endless imagination.

“I know that art and creativity are extremely important for growing children,” Liberman said. “They are important to everyone, really. I’ve seen people who are absolutely bereft of joy in their lives find a reason for living through their own creativity.

“It’s a way for children to express their deepest feelings and thoughts. And it’s a way for them to feel satisfaction and pride from something they have done.”

Cheryl Scott’s freelance articles appear regularly in Orange County community newspapers and in regional publications. An inveterate lover of toys, she is known for her meticulous research and hands-on experimentation into the subject through consulting with experts — her 11 grandkids.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: