I just came across this on the net (after two years of wondering why dd doesn't play with her "millions" of toys and rather tries to wreck the house instead, always trying to touch what she knows she isn't allowed):
Montessori International
www.montessorimagazine.com
Why babies don't need toys
Educational psychologist Anita Hughes believes babies deserve something better than plastic rattles.
Babies come into this magical world wanting to find out what it is like and to share it with us. But we offer them a sea of plastic and imitation. As soon as they reach out to touch we proffer a designer plastic rattle with a handle so big that tiny hands cannot grasp it. Are we giving a baby dignity when we unbox a plastic telephone on wheels with a silly face?
Is this what a bay really wants or needs? I don't think so.
A agree with Maria Montessori's view that children are naturally active and learn by doing, for is is through effort in action that we gain satisfaction and pleasure, whether we are two months, two years, thirty two years or eighty two years old. Children also need to be trusted and treated with respect, another central ideal in Montessori education.
However, I do not believe that our undertwos are given the trust and dignity they deserve in Western society. In some cultures, children are viewed as equal to adults and their efforts are patiently appreciated. The North and South American Indians, the Kalahari bushmen and the traditional Japanese, for example, patiently allow their children time to attempt adult activities or make independent explorations without verbal encouragement or restraint and without being hurried up. Children are part of the "whole" and are expected to be so.
In our culture I feel that we deny this trust and dignity to our youngsters by severely restricting their worlds. I acknowledge that the western industrialised world is filled with dangers both at home and outside but what if the environment that we offer to our babies and toddlers? They are strapped into buggies or car seats, or placed in shopping trolleys and, when free, they wander round homes containing fitted furniture with childproofed cupboards and domestic machines which they are told not to touch. Plastic is the stuff their world is made of - plastic bottles and cups, spoons, bowls, bibs, nappies, rattles, drums, activity centres, telephones and bath toys.
From the developmental viewpoint a baby's first experiences are sensory and largely come through feeding. It makes sense that once a baby can reach out and grasp things he wants to find out what they are really like by putting them in his mouth. It is at this point that earrings, necklaces and spectacles are discovered and pulled at, and we can no longer hold the baby and have a cup of tea at the same time. By about four to six months a baby is giving very clear indications that he wants to handle and mouth things and we need to ask ourselves what we are giving him to satisfy his curiosity. A seated, immobile baby is entirely at our mercy as to the kind of playthings or environment we offer him. In spite of its different colours or design, a plastic rattle feels, smells and tastes much like any other plastic rattle from a baby's point of view. Yet all around him is a panoply of objects just waiting to be discovered.
The Treasure Basket can offer just the right kind of magical experiences to a young baby. This simple idea conceived by Elinor Goldschmied over thirty years ago has given countless babies a rich and stimulating start to their lives. The Treasure Basket is a medium, low and rigid-sided round or oval basket, into which is placed 60 to 100 natural and household objects of your choice. The objects might range from a pine cone, shell or medium-sized pebble, to a garlic press, bottle brush or leather purse. The greater the variety of texture, taste, smell and weight of objects, the better. As adults our visual sense is so dominant we forget that all the senses are important and exciting to the baby. In addition, familiar and ordinary things are all novel to a young child.
A Treasure Basket offers choice and variety and encourages independent activity. A six to ten month old baby seated beside one can demonstrate concentration and independent exploration lasting thirty minutes or more, without any adult encouragement. In fact, adults usually interfere with the baby's concentration and sensual pleasure; when interrupted the baby's play changes from exploration to social interaction. A baby needs the security of his mother's approving presence to release any innate anxiety he is experiencing about the new objects but he does not need a constant verbal monologue. Also, because a Treasure Basket is so stimulating, it is best offered to the baby for limited periods during the day and only when he is fresh and alert.
As the baby moves into the second year of life, two significant changes occur; one is mobility, and the other is the subtle change from wanting to discover what objects are like (that is, mouthing and holding) to wanting to discover what objects will will do. At this stage many objects have no functional meaning to children, and are not yet played with symbolically. Children simply enjoy seeing whether objects will slide, bang, bounce or squeeze in. They watch adults around constantly putting things into things and want to do the same kinds of activity. We all know of keys disappearing into rubbish bins, toast being placed in the video recorder and bricks being put in the washing machine. However, if we provide enough of the right kind of materials, a small child will become fully absorbed and occupied without resorting to inappropriate experimentation.
Perhaps the most important start is to provide plenty of containers; tins, tubes, yoghurt pots, flower pots, strawberry baskets, boxes, purses and wide-necked plastic bottles. A range of playthings might include fine chains, curtain rings and bracelets, pine cones, hair rollers, dolly pegs, brushes, balls of all types, corks, shells, keys, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Many commercial toys for children under three may look exciting and colourful and be described as educational, but are either too limiting of too difficult for young children. A kitchen roll rod and twenty cheap bracelets can be far more satisfying than a plastic 'rings on a peg' toy, where the chunky, graded rings will only go in a single order. Posting boxes are intended to meet the curiosity of a small child but they are often so difficult that a child can only succeed when he is past the posting stage. A mother recently told me she was worried because her 12 month old son who was not "doing the house-shaped posting box properly". It was supposed to be an educational toy, so how could she teach him? In fact her son had been extremely intelligent in the way he explored the situation and solved the problem for himself. The house posting box had complex shaped holes in the roof (far too difficult for a 12 month old) but the roof lifted off and the baby gave himself endless pleasure filling and emptying the roofless house with the various shaped bricks. His mother, concerned for "correctness", then Sellotaped the roof onto the house. He was not to be defeated and spent over half an hour in deep concentration pulling this strange sticky stuff off. His face lit up - not only had he discovered something of the nature of Sellotape, but he had once again got the roof of his house off, and was busily placing shapes in and out once again. Such is the wonderful perseverance of the under twos.
In summary then, we need to trust our children to guide us into providing them with what they need to develop their skills. Instead of providing undignified plastic toys which have no place in our adult world, we can offer our babies a basket of treasure which will stimulate their physical and spiritual development. Watching the complete pleasure and concentration of an infant engrossed in playing with these materials convinces even the most sceptical advocates of modern baby toys that real objects have an essential place in our children's lives.
Every Treasure Basket has its own unique collection of objects but the purpose is the same - to offer experiences which use all five senses.
Touch - texture, shape, weight and temperament
Smell - variety of scents
Taste - through mouthing and chewing
Sound - ringing, tinkling, banging, scrunching and rattling
Sight - colour, form, length, shininess, size
Suggested items
Fir cones, pumice stone, loofah, shells, dried gourds, a lemon, large pebbles, avocado pear stones, a natural sponge, large walnuts. Woollen balls, large corks, small glass bottle, wooden nail brush, small raffia mat, toothbrush, bone shoe horn, shaving brush, housepaint brush, clothes peg, large curtain rings, small turned bowl, large beads on a string, wooden egg cup. Bunch of keys, lids, small egg whisk, metal beaker, lengths of chain, brass curtain rings, tea strainer, A purse, velvet powder puff, a bead embroidered purse, small teddy, bean bag, coloured ribbons, bag of herbs, leather specs case, leather key holder, small flannel. Various rubber balls, tennis ball, puppy 'bone', fur fabric, rubber tube, bath plug with chain, hair rollers and spoons.
For heuristic play for older babies add a wide range of containers - tins, yoghurt pots, ice cream tubs, baskets, wooden boxes, slide boxes, egg boxes, flower pots, handbags, wide-necked bottles, plus a wide variety of balls of different weight and feel and objects which roll like cardboard tubes, cotton reels, electric cable spools, men in a wooden boat or car, plastic or metal bracelets.
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