Electronics and the Perfect Toy

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Prairie Moon limits the use of electronics in the classroom. There are no electronic toys for the children. Many of the toys are open-ended and allow for use of the children's imagination. When they are not, like dolls, trains and cars, they create vivid stories with silks, playcloths, and other open-ended objects, such as wooden blocks, playstands and knitted belts. In addition, Prairie Moon does not utilize videos at any time during the day. Music and musical instruments are always "live", and not recorded. Children and teachers sing for music, and when they want to use a musical instrument, they can play with dried gourds for shaking, a drum and a glockenshpiel.

On Decemeber 15, 2006, National Public Radio reported that one of the best toys to get for the holidays, according to early childhood experts, are toys that are not electronic, but ones that are open-ended allowing the imagination of the child to flourish. The perfect toy? Wooden blocks. We have plenty of those in our classroom. Big and small - they are played with every day, in different ways. Come and see...
To hear the report in its entirety:
Making the Season's Toys Last Longer

The New York Times too wrote a story about educational toys and the claims that they make are not back up by research. The number of media products being marketed to parents of babies, toddlers and very young children is growing exponentially. The Kaiser Family Foundation has just released results of a new study called "A Teacher in the Living Room? Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers". The report states that despite claims by marketers that media products such as "Baby Einstein" videos, "Jump Start Baby" computer programs, and the newest interactive multi-media products designed for very young children stimulate cognitive development, researchers find that there is no evidence to support such claims.

The Kaiser Report examines the claims that are made about various commercial media products regarding pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, cognitive development, critical thinking and problem-solving, and the degree to which such claims have been scientifically validated. You can find the study at the Kaiser Family Foundation site -
Kaiser Family Foundation
and read the report on NYTimes.com:
See Baby Touch Screen but Does Baby Get It?