TOYs will be toys and BOYs will be boys

About letting a Toy be just that

 

Have you seen these?

A rattling drum that goes tak-tak-tak while you pull it
A leaf folded tight to become a pipi, a whistle that you could make tunes on
A paper folded in a particular way to open to raja-rani-chor-police at different times

In our drawing room yesterday a six year old got a cricket bat as a gift. He used it as a broom and as a scooter and finally as gun. His mother was totally embarrassed … and prodded her son … how does Dhoni hit? How does Sachin hold the bat? My son...he watches World Cup and IPL...she gushed...
The kid was least bothered! And continued to alternatively sweep and ride with a noisy brrrr

Wait! Finally she took away his bat saying that if he did not play ‘properly’ he would not get the toy. Huh? ‘Properly’ and ‘Toy’!! I thought terms were mutually exclusive.

Today’s kids have so many toys and yet they are bored easily. That becoz you need to play with them in just THAT way. Hand made toys like ones mentioned above are more fascinating? We played with them for weeks. Were they fostering more imagination or were we plain stupid?
Kids need room for innovation. They need more games with NO rules.

I browse through TED talks. I find this amazing teacher Arvind who combines village toys with science teaching.

 Here is the link. Watch till the very end. You will be smiling long after the video has stopped.

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Children want to make things, children want to do things
The best thing you can do with a toy is break it.
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