The treasure basket is one of the many innovations introduced by Elinor Goldschmied, a pioneer of early years practice (see Nursery World, 21 July).
When Elinor began her work back in the 1930s there was little interest in the first year of life. It was thought that the only thing babies needed was good physical care. Now scientific research has shown that during the first few months, all-important connections are being set up in the brain that help to determine what sort of person the child will grow up to be, and set a pattern for their future development.
That knowledge has been slow to filter through into practice. The commercial playthings that are offered to babies usually provide very limited interest for them.
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