Empty boxes top high-tech toys on doctor-recommended list
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/12/2018 (2852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Skip the costly electronic games and flashy digital gizmos. Pediatricians say the best toys for tots are old-fashioned hands-on playthings that young children can enjoy with parents — things like blocks, puzzles — even throwaway cardboard boxes — that spark imagination and creativity.
“A cardboard box can be used to draw on, or made into a house,” said Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, co-author of a new report on selecting toys for young children, up to around age 5.
Many parents feel pressured by ads promoting tablet-based toys and games as educational and brain-stimulating but there’s not much science to back up those claims, Mendelsohn said. Their main misconception: “The toy that is best is the one that is the most expensive or has the most bells and whistles or is the most technologically sophisticated.”
Simpler hands-on toys that parents and young children can play with together are preferable for healthy development, said Mendelsohn, a pediatrician at NYU Langone Health in New York.
The report published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics cites studies suggesting that heavy use of electronic media may interfere with children’s speech and language development, replace important playtime with parents and lead to obesity.
Studies also have found that more than 90 per cent of U.S. kids have used mobile devices and most started using them before age 1.
The pediatricians’ group recommends no screen time for children up to age 2, and says total screen time including TV and computer use should be less than one hour daily for ages 2 and older.
“A little bit of screen time here and there is unlikely to have much harm if a child otherwise has other activity,” Mendelsohn said. But he added that screen time can overwhelm young children and is difficult to limit and control.
The academy’s website offers suggestions on ideal toys for young children, including balls, puzzles, coloring books and card games.
Shopping recently at Dancing Bear Toys in Asheville, N.C., a store that doesn’t sell electronic toys, Leah Graham Stewart said she supports the academy’s advice even if avoiding digital toys and games is tough.
She said she’s noticed her two young boys tend to misbehave after playing on an iPad she typically reserves for long airplane rides.
“We try to keep it as minimal as possible,” Graham Stewart said. “I just tell them to go outside and play.”
Erika Evers, Dancing Bear’s co-owner, said the store’s mission is to give kids an alternative to tech toys.
“Not that video games and electronic toys don’t have their place — in moderation, in our opinion,” she said. “But we feel like kids really need opportunities to socialize and interact with their environment in a way that is hands-on and tangible.”
___
Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner on Twitter: @LindseyTanner
___
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
