Tips For Toys

Make sure that Chanukah wish list works hard for bothyou and your children.

With family budgets a little tighter
this year, many parents may be taking a
closer look at their children's Chanukah
toy lists. You still want to put smiles on
their faces and build holiday memories,
but you also want to make wise choices
with lasting value.
Play is important to your child's
development. Toys add magic and
excitement to learning — about life,
about how things work and about
how to get along with others. And, of
course, as children grow, their skills and

needs are continually changing.
Take a closer look at the toys your
child has requested or that you are
considering for Chanukah gift giv-
ing. Will the toy allow your child to
experience long-lasting playtime or a
more complete play experience? Are
there toys on the list that your kids will
enjoy coming back to again and again
— or will they lose interest after the
first time they play with them? If you
have several children, can the toys be
enjoyed by siblings — or even by the

With Splatster, children can

create mess-free virtual

masterpieces on

their TV.

whole family?
Child development expert Dr.
Kathleen Alfano has several sugges-
tions. Alfano is senior director of
Child Research at Fisher-Price. "Toys
don't have to be expensive to benefit
a child," she says. "But playtime is an
opportunity to promote every aspect of
development, fostering physical, social,
emotional, language, cognitive and
imaginative skills. Some toys develop
all of these in an integrated way, while
others focus on one or a few."
Dr. Alfano suggests looking for toys
that enhance skills in different areas:

• SOLO PLAY — helps children

imaginative play as they can cus-
tomize their doll and transform it
right before their eyes.

• PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND
MOTOR SKILLS — promotes

movement, improving eye-hand
coordination and balance while
increasing strength and agility. The
Smart Cycle Extreme does just that.
As children pedal on this station-
ary bike, they discover fun learning
adventures right on the TV, building
eye-hand coordination while learn-
ing.

• LEARNING — introduces basic

academics, from letters, numbers
and words to more advanced school-
ready concepts. A great example is
the Laugh and Learn Learning Farm,
which builds upon a baby's natural
curiosity and encourages learning
through fun and familiar everyday
play while introducing the basics.

learn about themselves, fostering
self-esteem, self-direction and val-
ues. With Splatster, a new plug and
play from Fisher-Price, children can
explore their creative sides on their
own by creating mess-free virtual
masterpieces on their TV.

TEAMWORK — helps them

practice social skills such as sharing,
negotiating and cooperating with
others. For instance, Trio, a unique
new building system that includes
bricks, sticks and panels, provides an
easy way for children to build their
creativity while playing together.

• IMAGINATION — stimu-
lates and enhances creativity and
imagination, providing a rich
resource for language development
and social competence. Through
exciting innovation in computer-
connected play, Dora Links enables
girls to explore and solve online
mysteries with their favorite bilin-
gual character and her new friends
to help make their community a
better place. And as they play with
Dora online, there's no limit to

P 1°6 • D'ECEMBER zo os •

IN platirium r

.

Before you head out to toy stores or
surf Web sites to do your holiday shop-
ping, here are three other important
factors worth keeping in mind, accord-
ing to Alfano. Toys should:

• Fit the age and stage of your child's
development;

•

Suit their play interests;

• Have multiple ways to play, or pro-
vide content that is both entertain-
ing and engaging once the toys are
out of the box.

To learn more about the products
above, or for help selecting age-appro-
priate toys that can help your little ones
grow through play, go to www.fisher-
price.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent