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Show Parenthood Guidebook By NANCY MOORE THURMOND THUR-MOND Play is to a child what work is to an adult. Toys are the teaching tools a child uses to learn about himself and his own world. A toy helps a child understand what is happening to him and around him. THE CLASSIC educational value of a toy is to give a child a sense of being in control of some small part of his life. A good toy can challenge the mind, help coordinate the body, tease the imagination, and teach the how-to-do of things. Today's toys can be highly sophisicated and complex, com-plex, or they can be quite simple sim-ple like the timeless wheel or ball. THE WORKING, mechanical mecha-nical toys, even though they leave little to (he imagination, give a child a sense of control and management as he manipulates man-ipulates them at will. Toys are miniature realistic models paralleling the real things adults use. Thus, we have the toy car, the scaled-down scaled-down tea set, and so on. WHEN A child masters the use of a toy, he gains confidence. confi-dence. Toys are a child's first introduction to the adult world for which he is preparing. The toys that are best for one child may not be best for another. To be right, a toy must fit the particular child's interest, size, age and stage of development. |