Posted on 05/27/2016
While Mattel® and other toy manufacturers suffer as a result of younger and younger kids flocking to electronics instead of toys, many researchers are seeing the down sides of those trends. As parents, we don’t have to settle for an extreme reaction of either providing no limitations or no directives for electronics use nor completely resorting to low-tech everything. In the same way, we don’t have to go overboard with providing entertaining toys for our kids — or only allowing natural, found, or homemade objects to be used for play. Whether we’re shopping at an educational toy store or the dollar store or looking around our homes or yards, the main idea to keep in mind is open-ended play. These types of toys inspire creative, innovative thinking and require interaction. No batteries allowed.
The Simpler, the Better
Featured in this list of “The Five Best Toys of All Time,”sticks are some of the everyday objects that can provide open-ended play possibilities. Especially for young children or indoor play, you may be reticent to allow some of those, so we’ll look at the basic appeal and offer a few commercial options for you to consider. Don’t let the marketers fool you, though: real wood sticks found in your yard are also perfectly legitimate tools for kids to use in the hard work of play.
What can you do with sticks? You can write in the dirt or sand, make shapes or letters, and build or create with them. This playful book by Antoinette Portis would be an excellent gift, along with a yard full of sticks — or any of these homemade kits or commercial stick-inspired toys.
Stick Letters
Finding and breaking just the right sticks to form letters can be a great tactile way to encourage letter recognition, and you can encourage a little creativity by adding string to the mix and making decorative monograms or spelling out names for gifts — or to decorate your child’s room. (As an alternative, you could use wire, like this crafter did.)
Stick Shapes
Another way to use sticks is to make shapes with them. You could use organic sticks from the backyard, or you could make your creations a little more precise by using toothpicks. For vertices, you can use a variety of items you probably have around the house, or can easily secure — play dough, marshmallows, jelly beans, or even grapes.
You can provide templates for added educational value or simply let your child’s imagination — and stick creation — run wild! 3-dimensional shapes or constellations can provide an extra challenge, for older kids. Straws and pipe cleaners can be substituted, for variety.
If you really want to get serious about creating geometric shapes, check out this set available from Learning Resources!
Check out Part 2 for more variations on how to play with sticks.