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at play learnnewskillsParents and children spend a lot of time in leisure activities, enjoying one another’s company, growing closer through the sharing, developing new skills through the interaction.Play is an important part of baby’s development, and according to Sara Derrick, Bowling Green State University family and child development specialist, play is critical to baby’s socialization process.“Play teaches socialization skills, social mores,” Mrs. Derrick explained. “Play is one of the first things we start, right at birth.Bombarding a child wi*h a variety of toys to “play” with does not result in better socialization skills, she cautioned.“Society encourages toys. The disadvantage of too many toys is that it can cause frustration and it takes away from the parent-child interaction. Too many inanimate objects limit the interaction between parents and the child,” she advised.Mrs. Derrick, who holds a doctorate-degree in family and child development, noted play does not have to be an expensive undertaking. Common household items are often the most accessible, and least costly, toys. All it takes is a little time and creativity.Crib liners are one of the first “toys” babies can enjoy, and parents can construct. “You can make one as long as you have cardboard and a little construction paper,” Mrs. Derrick said, holding up the brightly colored sections of a “homemade” crib liner.Coffee can scoops are fun for children “they like to put things into other things and take things out of other things,” she smiled.Plastic margarine and yogurt containers, balloons or homejnadeblocks decorated with washable paints can provide entertainment for both babies and parents. Beans in two attached plastic cups can make a noisy rattle and a bootie equipped with a happily drawn face encourages baby to reach for his foot. A mobile can be constructed from magazine pictures and lengths of string. Even a pinwheel made with a plain piece of paper and adhesive can be a favored toy.“Baby in a bag” was the highlight of the “play” portion of the three-week infant development seminar. To play the game, parents must fit their child, feet first, inside a sack. As baby moves or kicks, the bag crackles and moves. Both baby and parent are delighted.“Even if your baby is really too old for the activity, you can still do it and enjoy it,” advised Deb Bingham, county extension agent, as babies ranging in age from three months to nine months cackled happily in their bags.Dr. Brian Sutton-Smith, research constultant for Toy Manufacturers of America, advises a serious attitude toward play. He refers to it as “the second educational system.”“No list can encompass all the ways children play, or the methods parents may use to help their children progress through the play curriculum, or the variety of toys that are tools of play,” the researcher noted in a brochure The World of Children’s Play and + oys. “The playthings are vehicles for travel and the parent is the guide; you and your child should feel free to exploring interesting roads ... provided you both find such exploration fun.”• Plpasp turn tn D-2
Newspaper Details
Sandusky Sunday Register
Sandusky, Ohio, US
Sun, Mar 07, 1982
Page 24
Full Page
Clipped by
Sandusky P.
OH, USA 27 Mar 2023
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