Educational Toys To Get The Brain Going
2011
Given the name, one could be forgiven for assuming that products marketed as so-called educational toys would be based on some theory of cognitive development or other.
In relation to such matters, the name of Jean Piaget is one of those which spring most promptly to the mind of an informed observer.
A Swiss developmental psychologist, he made his mark by emphasizing the significance of education on children.
His work has many implications for fields as diverse as philosophy, evolutionary biology, and even artificial intelligence in computers.
So how may someone who subscribed to these theories view the educational toys accessible on today’s market?
Piaget proposed four stages of childhood development.
These are the sensorimotor stage, lasting from birth to about toddlerhood.
Then comes the peroperational stage that extends to about seven years of age.
The third is the concrete operational stage that lasts until about eleven, and lastly there is the formal operational stage leading to adulthood.
As can be dreamed, good educational toys should take appropriate account of the details of each stage.
Do they?
The first period of development, the sensorimotor, involves hand-eye coordination, favoring toys that can be grabbed and pulled.
This would manage to make just about any object in the world a “toy!”
And actually, the vast majority offerings labeled as “educational” are only most valuable for this first stage, for example dolls and building blocks.
Next up, the preoperational stage, demands toys – and now, games and puzzles as well – that allow for a certain amount of role playing as well – conceptual matters, in other words.
In the concrete operational stage, those so inclined may be amused by such things as robot kits and stuff like that.
Needless to say, only a child in the formal operational stage should be given a full-fledged programmable robot – unless you have a prodigy on your hands!