Surrounding Your Family: Media and Toys
Part 2: Are you Choosing Healthy Media and Toys for Your Kids?
Media is a subject I have written about before, but it is worth mentioning again, since we are bombarded with media in many forms, constantly. You can read that full post here.
Since writing that post, we have largely turned our TV off. We have enjoyed spending time outside in the sunshine, on hikes, with friends and family, at church (and church events), playing, and learning (without screens). But as fall is in the air and wet/cold weather approaches, we all need to shift focus a little and find ways to entertain our children when we can’t be outside as much.
My children are young, so we don’t allow them time on tablets or computers much. We don’t watch any mainstream TV with them. We encourage free play, reading, and engaging in day-to-day life.. We spend a lot of time together as a family or with friends and people at church.
I have worked hard to surround our family with like minded people, because who your allow around your family is very important. You can read Part 1 of this series, here.
Media doesn’t influence my kids too much, thankfully. At least not yet.
But I plan on being ever mindful about this as they grow up. However, sometimes we see things that my children are unfamiliar with, like action figures of super heroes, shirts with characters on them, and bright flashy toys. As my daughters have become more aware of the world that surrounds them, I get asked more and more questions about these things. I explain that these characters are from movies they haven’t seen, or shows other people watch. It’s not a big deal. We have our fair share of toy figures, too, and playing make believe is an important part of cognitive and social development in kids.
I wonder, kids who know who all of these characters are must have seen the blockbuster movies in which they star, yes? I have seen some of them. They are violent. You do you as a parent, but I believe I am the keeper of my young children’s innocence and I think it’s important that we shield them for as long as is healthy and possible.
Just something to think about.
Open-Ended Toys
In my home we focus a lot on open-ended toys. That means our toys are dual purpose (or more). For example, blocks can build cities, castles, ramps for racing cars, and a variety of other imaginative play. We have animal figures and stuffed animals of almost every type (I live in a zoo FYI). We have a play kitchen and a dress up bin. We have dump trucks and race cars. We have puzzles and games. We play with sticks and rocks. You don’t have to have a lot of money to get creative and you don’t have to have a lot of toys for open-ended playing.
Open-ended toys are kid-powered toys. Kids usually have to be the ones to make the play happen with these kinds of toys. Our toys don’t make their own noise. If they’re supposed to, I don’t put the batteries in and my kids haven’t figured that out yet!
Toys can also teach. Open-ended toys have the advantage of teaching our kids how the world works. A block tower falls down when built one way but not another. Puzzles teach spacial skills.
Open-ended toys also reach more kids of different ages. I still play with the blocks with my kids! They also hold up so much better than the cheap plastic, light-up, sing-song gizmo.
Other Toys
Other toys, in this context, are going to be toys that play for the child. And I can guarantee you that the toys that light up, sing, and are one-trick ponies are not going to keep your child’s interest for as long as some other open-ended toy.
This brings us full circle to action figures from movies and TV shows. I think these can be great middle ground toys. My kids love their animal figures. They use their imaginations with them, the most. They also love the Anna and Elsa dolls their grandmother sent them and play make-believe a lot with them too.
Surround Your Kids with the Right Toys
Some places that I LOVE getting toys from include:
Lakeshore Learning: They have a huge and great selection of open-ended learning toys.
Mindware: Similar to Lakeshore, but a different variety. Not all open-ended.
Amazon: for wooden toys.
Local toy stores. I have found that our local toy store has a lot of good open-ended options.
Dollar Stores: for cars, some animal figures, and kitchen things for playing in the mud.
Hand me downs! We rarely throw toys out because the toys I began purchasing when my oldest was very young have kept her interest (though in different ways) as she’s grown and my youngest likes playing with them, too!
Nature: Rocks, sticks, roots, basically whatever my kids can get their hands on!
Media vs. Play Time
You don’t need to have screens on to entertain your kids. You don’t need media all the time. Sometimes, sure, but mostly you should surround your kids with toys that will keep them engaged. If you’re struggling with a kid that isn’t good at playing solo yet, read this post. Of course an occasional movie or TV show is okay, too. But remember, the content that our kids absorb is important. Surround them with things that help them learn, grow, AND keep their innocence.