Colwyn Trevarthen, professor of developmental psychology at theUniversity of Edinburgh, said, 'Young children don't need toys. They arenaturally musical and have a wonderful control of rhythm. They createand compose with their mothers. In dramatic play they show a naturalsense of a storyline. With dance they readily recognise patterns ofmovement.'
Professor Trevarthen delivered a keynote speech at a conference inChicago last week held by the Theraplay Institute, an organisation forexperts in play. He told delegates, 'Toys are not necessarily harmful.They are just a distraction. Children lead intensely imaginative lives.Simple games and role play go a lot further in terms of deliveringenjoyment and developing learning.'
His comments come in the light of figures from the market researchcompany NPD which show that the infant and pre-school sector is thelargest segment of a 2.2billion-a-year toy market, with 350m spent by parents and carers of babies and toddlers. Market analystWendy Janssen said, 'This is the age group on which parentstraditionally spend lots of money on toys.'
But Professor Trevarthen said, 'If parents don't simply enjoy havingcrazy fun with their children, then they're missing out. There is a realsense of poverty in toys, computers or watching television compared toactivities that develop the natural creativity of their children.'
Dr Christine Stephen, a specialist in pre-school education and researchfellow at Stirling University's Institute of Education, said, 'Play is apowerful contributor towards learning. But it's not the only way tolearn. Equally, children don't just play to learn. They play forpleasure and they can get an enormous amount of pleasure from toys.'
