Claire Lerner, a child-development worker, carried out a US government-funded study into the effect of inundating children with toys. She found that too many playthings can restrict development and may harm children.

„They get overwhelmed and over-stimulated and cannot concentrate on any one thing long enough to learn from it so they just shut down. Too many toys means they are not learning to play imaginatively either,“ she says.

A study by the University of Stirling recently concluded that expensive, hi-tech toys are a waste of money – children learn just as much from playing with an old mobile phone.

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According to Dr John Richer, consultant clinical paediatric psychologist at John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford, „The mistake that many parents make when they buy a toy, especially for very young children, is they get toys that can do a lot, instead of getting toys a child can do a lot with.“ He says studies show that when a child is confronted with a new object they go through two stages: exploration then play.

In exploration, children ask: „What does this object do?“ In play it is „What can I do with this?“ When a child is confronted with too many new toys they spend too long exploring and not enough time playing. „The theory is that children who play more tend to become more creative, imaginati ve and emotionally secure.

Dalsi clanok: http://www.becomingminimalist.com/why-fewer-toys-will-actually-benefit-your-kids/

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