Toy bricks, clay, other basic play items important to kids’ development – experts

By TRICIA ZAFRA, GMA News

Published May 17, 2015 4:22pm

Ask child development experts and they will tell you that children can effectively acquire life skills through playing, and the toys you choose for your kids matter significantly.

In 2013, a group of six professors from the Family Life and Child Development Center of the University of the Philippines, Diliman were surprised to discover that basic play items such as toy blocks and clay are still the best for your kids to play with amid the proliferation of electronic gadgets.

"Ayaw naming makalimutan yung mga magagandang materials gaya ng blocks, clay, sand at saka water. Ayaw namin na matabunan sila sa panahon ng iPads, computers at saka iba pang gadgets na kinahihiligan ng mga bata ngayon. Gusto namin na matatak pa rin sa generation na ito ang halaga ng laro at para saan ba talaga ito," said Lois Flores-Jamero, one of the researchers.

Over the course of a year, the researchers observed 72 indoor and outdoor play sessions among 16 three-year-olds, 17 four-year-olds, and 22 five-year-olds in their classes at the UP Diliman Child Development Center.

They found out that playing with unstructured materials—toys that do not have playing instructions and are not geared towards a particular objective—not only stimulates creativity and resourcefulness, but greatly contributes to the development in the child's motor, cognitive, and socio-emotional domains.

"Some toys, kung ano lang ang dapat mong gawin, 'yun lang ang gagawin mo. With unstructured materials, nae-expand kasi na-wa-widen yung creativity mo and imagination," said Lulu Quijano, another member of the research team.

While playing, the children usually describe their play and tell stories, the researchers said.

"'Yung ibang bata simple lang ung description ng ginawa nila tapos habang tumatagal, humahaba na ang kwento nila. sabi nga namin hindi namin siya naisip dati na talagang nakakatulong siya on the language development." Quijano said.

Exploration and pattern-making

Three-year-olds, the researchers also observed, are also more exploratory in their play, while four- and five-year-olds use the unstructured materials to create patterns.

Flores-Jamero added: "'Pag sa blocks halimbawa, andoon yung pattern-making nila for math skills, early math skills. Andoon din yung pag-imitate nila ng models."

In some play sessions, the researchers removed certain toys from the classroom and left the children with clay and blocks only. This forced the children to be more resourceful, said team member Jico Santos.

Santos noted that when they took away a rolling pin from among the children's playthings, the kids discovered that the clay could be flattened and formed using other items.

Santos added, "Mayroon din ibang bata na nage-explore sila sa properties ng play-doh [clay], such as using the blocks para gamiting pang imprint sa clay."

Getting dirty during play

Obsessing over cleanliness in children's play, which is typical among many parents, may also not be of much help, said the child development experts.

"'Yung mga magulang, pag tinatanong namin, 'Pinapayagan niyo bang maglaro ng buhangin, lupa, tubig [ang mga anak ninyo]?' Ang sinasabi nila madalas ay hindi dahil ito ay makalat, magpuputik lang sa loob ng bahay, mahihirapan kami magligpit. 'Yun yung mga madalas nilang sagot," Flores-Jamero said.

The experts, however, urge that children be allowed to play with water, sand or soil, because these offer a different learning experience.

"Isa sa pinakamahalaga naming nakita sa sandplay at waterplay ay observation of movement," said Flores-Jamero.

"Paano ba gumagalaw ang tubig gamit ang iba't ibang materyales? May mga nagsasabi, 'Ito, ulan.' Kapag binuhos nila kapag malakas, malakas na ulan, waterfalls. May iba naman gumawa ng alon. Yung iba naman ginamit nilang panggalaw yung tubig para umabot yung isang toy sa isang lugar."

No age limit when it comes to unstructured toys

There is no age limit when it comes to playing with unstructured materials, say the experts.

During the grand opening of the country's first Lego Certified Store last week, there were as many adults as there were kids lining up to buy the bricks, said retail manager Sharlene Ortiga, a self-confessed collector of construction toys since childhood.

"For me, I found [that with] Lego I can unleash my creativity, because with basic bricks you can build a lot of different things," she said.

Encouragement

Parents should also play with their children, encouraging them and taking care not to criticize their creations, the research team said.

Instead, the team suggested that as a way to stimulate self-expression among the children, parents can ask them to describe their creations, and to explain how they created them and why.

"E kung hindi naman ganon ang itsura ng bahay na naiisip niya, bakit natin siya pipilitin na palitan yun?" said Santos.

"Dapat mas maingat tayong mga adults kung paano sinasabi yung mga bagay sa mga bata kasi may mga times na dadalhin pa rin nila yun. Magiging dahilan sa kanila yun para hindi nila gagawin yung mga gusto nila sanang gawin." — BM/JDS, GMA News@gmail.com>

Tags: children, playing, lego, childdevelopment