Artful play....

There are toys and playthings that are open-ended of which there should be many in your home.

There are toys that have specific and (pre-)directed play. For instance, Nerf shooters, make-up station dolls heads, or action figures.

• In the 1960's there was a doll that would "cry" when you spanked it. The only time the doll was "useful" was when the little mother had to discipline the "baby". Same child owned an open-ended baby doll. Which one do you think had the tender-loving, embracing moments with the little mother and which one needed to misbehave in order to activate the "selling point"?

Open-ended playthings, like blocks and construction toys, dolls which are merely representations of babies, even playing cards can be open-ended. Anything that a child can pick up and play with that doesn't have a pre-determined story line "built into it" is a good choice for a plaything.

Unfortunately, the cassette tape recorder/player is losing a foothold. They can still be had for about $25 for a modest example, but they can be hours of hilarious fun for the kids.

Simple tape recorders can be used to

• practice singing, counting, abc's, other languages
  
• to record sounds--and test family and friends if they can determine what made the sound
  
• make up "radio plays" and voice-act the parts, older children may add sound effects like the sound of horses hooves.
  
• include silly advertisements, jokes, riddles or poems
  

Or

• they can play pre-recorded stories and songs and act them out, which is more toward directed play, but the kids must listen to the story, perhaps The Gingerbread Boy, and decide who will play which part and they will decide how to act out the part. Dr. Suess stories make for a great "show" to act out. Teddy Bear Dance is great fun, too!
  

Green or Recycling play:

Pressing your children to look at something and see if it can be used for something else will astound you at what they can come up with...try one of these to show them how something might be used in an alternative way...

• Eggshells: washed, crushed, and a little food coloring become an ecological texturing material used like glitter, although it is matte and not shiny. 3-D art! White will make your clouds and your sheep jump off the page.

• Dryer lint: can be used for a papier mache base to mold beads or heads for puppets or whatever.

• Cereal box: can be transformed into a pretty tote by covering with fabric or heavy paper (like a wallpaper scrap). Handles can be made by twisting strips of plastic grocery sacks. Or scraps of ribbon recycled from a gift.

Coloring, drawing, sketching, and painting: Always keep plenty of the following on hand and encourage it's use often.

• paper: writing, drawing, sketching, artist, construction, graph paper
  
• pens, pencils, crayons, watercolor pencils, pastels, chalk, charcoal
  
• brushes, foam brushes--foam brushes are fun to "paint" the sidewalk (using only water on a warm day) to watch the water evaporate
  
• tape: scotch, double stick, masking, duct tape--available in many colors--make a wallet with it or a prom dress!
• glue sticks, white glue, tacky glue, dry glue, glue dots
  

Want to encourage your children to read and write? Help them make a book of their own imagination. Ask them to tell you what happened when they went to the park or zoo or ??, and write down the story in their own words. Some children will want to illustrate it with their own artwork. Others may choose to use photographs.

• Cameras, whether disposable or digital.
  

"This is Cherry, she is my toy poodle" + photo of the dog

"Cherry doesn't like to play in puddles" + photo of the dog in a puddle.


These concepts are so simple. There are no real inherent dangers in allowing your children to play with toys that are pre-directed, but encouraging your children to act upon their own ideas will help them in the real world of

• decision making--they must make up the world and what happens next, not follow a "script"
  
• determination--they must stick with a goal from inception to completion
  
• self confidence--if they have an idea, they can at least try it, even if it doesn't work out the way they had hoped
  
• working with others to achieve a goal--like a puppet show or a radio program or a series of jokes and riddles or a book.

Recommended Reading:
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
There are actually 3 books in the series about a father as a little boy who meets an alley cat, and finds his way to rescuing a baby dragon.......very fanciful and silly and fun.