Toys for Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is the ability to process information, reason and remember. It is reflected in the child’s ability to understand and solve problems.

Preschool children love to play. They build towers, solve puzzles, sort things and participate in make believe play. These games help build their understanding of concepts and master skills. Providing children with an environment that is stimulating is essential for cognitive development. Results of research studies have indicated that there is a direct relationship between children's environment and their developmental status. Availability of stimulating play materials is more strongly related to child developmental status than other factor.   It is therefore important that preschools provide a rich environment to their students stocked with toys and materials to encourage exploration and active participation.

A stimulating environment that supports cognitive development is made up of age appropriate toys that encourage children to manipulate, explore, count, quantify and match tangible objects. Below is a list of toys that can help teachers create a stimulating environment in their classrooms.

• Toys for sorting and matching to help children categorize and form groups based on one or multiple criteria.
• Puzzles to help children understand part-whole relationships
• Beads for stringing to help children identify, extend and create patterns; and for enhancing fine motor co-ordination
• Blocks for building and developing a conceptual understanding of shapes, size and stability
• Sand and water play toys to help children understand concepts like half, full and empty and to explore the properties of materials
• Puppets to support language development

A stimulating environment equipped with developmentally appropriate toys mediated by a teacher who encourages, supports and guides children’s play can ensure accelerated cognitive development.   

Pretending to Play

A group of children are playing in a corner of their class. Adya has draped a duppata like a sari. Rajat sits on a chair with a ring in his hand. He is using it as a steering wheel of a car. He turns the wheel and says he is off to office and will come back home late in the evening. Adya makes a face and says - you are late every day.  

As parents and teachers we have seen children participate in make believe play. They use a block to pretend that it is a car or act like a teacher. Pretend play is defined as a type of play where children adopt roles from real life situations and then act them out.

While a lay person may consider this kind of play as frivolous, research has proved that pretend play builds many skills supports development. It increases their understanding of the world they live in and helps them acquire social skills.

Dramatic play enhances development in the following domains:

Cognitive –Make-believe play supports abstract and symbolic thinking. They recall real life situations to recreate experiences. They also learn to use objects to represent other objects. 

Language –To participate in pretend play children use language to interact with others and enact their roles. This expands their vocabulary and their ability to carry out meaningful conversations

Social –Emotional – When children engage in group pretend play they decide on what situation they will recreate from their everyday life, which role each child will play and cooperate to act it out together. By recreating real life experiences they learn about norms of social interactions and group dynamics.

Physical – As children act out different adult roles they develop both gross and fine motor skills

Teachers and school owners can support pretend play by providing a proper environment for it. A dedicated area should be set aside either in a corner of the classroom or in as a separate room for pretend play.  Any pretend play area should:

• Be aesthetically appealing and inviting.
• Inspire creative and imaginative play.
• Be equipped with furniture, materials and props that stimulate role play
• Help children recreate real life situations by acting as a stage setting to act these out
• Be changed periodically by adding or replacing furniture and props to provide variety and keep alive children’s interests

The pretend play area can include one or more of the following settings:

• Kitchen and living room
• Restaurant
• Grocery/vegetable/fruit shop
• Doctor’s clinic

Music for Intellectual Development

All of us have experienced days when we are completely stressed out- we feel our heartbeat rise, jaws clench and forehead pucker up. Now imagine yourself getting into the car feeling angry or upset and driving back home while listening to some soft, soothing music. Within a few minutes you will feel your shoulders relaxing and the frown lines on your forehead easing out. That is the incredible, mood altering power of music.

Given the importance of music for our personal social and emotional well being, it is vital that children should be introduced to music through fun filled, engaging activities from early years. Experts in developmental psychology and learning vouch for the fact that musical activities help children develop different skills that will continue to be useful throughout their lives.  Many studies conducted on influence of music in early years have concluded that it has a engaging children in musical activities has a positive impact on brain growth and memory. Integrating musical activities in preschool curriculum can also enhance:

• Motor coordination and balance
• Ability to concentrate and respond
• Cognitive skills such as recognising and extending patterns
• Language skills such as listening, learning of new words et cetera
• Aesthetic awareness
• Their willingness to recognize that different people have different preferences -different likes and dislikes.

Howard Gardner in his theory of Multiple Intelligences suggests that musical intelligence is a unique intelligence that can be enhanced through age appropriate instruction and experience.

Therefore, music should be an essential component of preschool curriculum. In early years music should be included in the daily time table through a variety of activities such as singing, dancing, creating music and playing with different musical toys.

Teachers and preschool owners must make sure that apart from puzzles, beads, soft toys and lacing boards preschool classes are stocked with different musical toys such as tambourines, shakers, xylophones et cetera. Children should be encouraged to explore these musical toys and teachers should reinforce this experience by talking about quality of sound (loud-soft; fast-slow et cetera). Teachers should also try to associate emotions with music and talk about the feelings that different sounds elicit.

Such planned experiences, supported by the right environment, equipped with age appropriate musical toys, will help children develop their musical intelligence.

Play - An Innovative Approach To Learning

Work is what you are obliged to do, play is what you're not obliged to do.

                                                                                                                        –Mark Twain

Ruhi is playing with blocks. She is stacking the blocks one on top of the other. ‘I am making a Qutub Minar,’ she says, recalling the recent visit to the monument.

As she stacks the fifth block the tower wobbles. She quickly removes all the blocks and replaces the lowest block with a larger one. As she stacks five more blocks on this bigger base block, the tower appears steady. “Look Ma’am! Look at my Qutub Minar,” she says excitedly.

By playing with blocks Ruhi recalled her visit to the monument. She remembered its name and physical structure. She learnt that by putting a bigger block at the bottom she can build a stable tower. She developed self confidence and learnt that if things do not work out the first time she needs to try again.

This brings us to the importance of play. Most teachers and parents realize that play is important to keep children happy and engaged. However research has proved that play with the right kind of toys and teaching learning material can enhance development and learning in children. Smart educators know that toys can be used to make children work in guise of play.

WHY IS PLAY IMPORTANT?

Play helps children develop balance, co-ordination and dexterity: Physical play that involves running, jumping, kicking, throwing improves strength, stamina, muscle co-ordination and balance. Playing with blocks puzzles and beads can help improve eye hand co-ordination.

Play helps language and cognitive development: Play helps children learn new words and practice them in the right context. They learn names of play materials (hoopla, slide trampoline), action words (throw, give), descriptive words (full, empty) as they participate in play activities.

Play also helps in concept formation. For example, while playing with sand children learn what "full" or "empty" means. They learn that sand is coarse, dry sand can be poured but cannot be moulded whereas wet sand can be moulded into different shapes.

Play helps children acquire skills Children at play learn to pay attention and concentrate on a task.  They learn to solve problems by trying out alternatives. Children develop their imagination when they play. They learn to follow directions. All these skills will be important when children turn into grown-ups.

Play helps children learn about rules of social behavior: While playing, children learn to take turns and share. They express emotions in socially acceptable modes, listen and talk to playmates, and follow rules.

Play supports creativity and self expression: Play activities that involve music, construction drawing et cetera encourage self-expression. Children learn to enjoy the beauty of colours, the rhythm of a melody, or the action of games. Children act out their hopes and fears in creative play. When children are encouraged to tell their own stories, paint their own picture, act out their own feelings, or build their own pretend world, they learn to be creative.

Play helps children develop a positive self concept.

Children enjoy play and they learn new skills and concepts that they can use in other situations. Like adults children learn better when they are relaxed. Even when play is hard, children are excited when they discover that they can control their bodies and actions. The sense of achievement that follows —"I did it!" is translated into positive self concept.

HOW TEACHERS AND PARENTS HELP CHILDREN PLAY?

Create a welcoming play environment where children can make choices. There should be a variety of play material in sufficient quantity so that children do not have to tolerate long waits.

Provide the right toys and activities at the right stage of development.

Participate in the play activity with enthusiasm. Play time for children is not time for you to plan for the next activity or just take it easy.

Ensure safety. Check toys and creative materials for safety and control angry, destructive behaviour.

Ensure variety. Provide chances for indoor and outdoor play. Provide material for active and quiet play; group and individual players.