Born to shop

There always seem to be the same three groups of children in my classes.

There are the ones who get all the new toys and every item of designer clothing going; the ones who get them when they are painfully out of date; and then a third group - the ones who are blissfully unaware of these market-driven products and are happiest with a good ball or a bucket and spade.

The children in the third group come from a diverse range of social groupings, but they have one important thing in common. This is that the parents place more emphasis on family activities and on learning experiences than on material possessions.

These children also tend to be more confident and secure in themselves.

This results in them having a good range of friends, and I have observed them acting in a more confident way in new learning situations.

Today's generation of children seem to have a constant stream of new toys, clothes and gadgets. The sheer amount of possessions they have far exhausts what we parents ever owned as children. Clothes and toys have gone down in price, and I can even find myself attempting to replace time and interaction with a gift.

As a society we are increasingly label-driven. A study published in 2004, entitled Peer Pressure and poverty: Exploring fashion brands and consumption symbolism among children of the 'British poor' (see below), showed the importance of the right type of shoes. Nine-and ten-year-old children from poorer families were interviewed about their attitudes to children wearing different types of shoes. Those wearing designer brands were considered not only wealthy but better friends to have than those who wore generic shoes. Having designer shoes meant that any child could give the appearance of being well off, even if they were not.

Policy in the setting

It is a good idea to develop a policy about home toys coming to the nursery. This may involve either making an outright ban, having a policy to show an item to everyone in the setting and then send it home with the parent, or for the item to be stored in the staff room for the day. This can avoid issues such as theft, showing off or breakages. It is important that practitioners focus on positively reinforcing a child's behaviour rather than the 'coolness' of their accessories or trainers.

For practitioners, the awareness that even young children can be influenced by marketing pressures could inspire programmes and activities that develop children's understanding of what advertising is about.

Shared activities

Get children to talk about different logos for popular brands such as McDonalds, Tesco and Nike. Ask them to describe what those logos mean to them. You can then design a logo for your nursery together, as you talk about what you would like to say with your picture. Talk to them about using bold colours. You can introduce the idea of persuasive language, using 'big' words with them to describe the nursery such as exciting, entertaining and simply perfect.

Set up an art activity and provide enough equipment for several children to participate, allowing plenty of time to complete it. This encourages children to wait and share equipment, and to learn that there are sometimes limited resources, so that they cannot have their needs fulfilled immediately.

You could also devise a system where one child's great behaviour, painting or service can earn a pebble or sticker towards a group treat. This is not so much to secure better behaviour but to get the group working towards a goal. It demonstrates the concept of saving up, as children have to get a predetermined number of stickers before the group receives the treat (such as a favourite game, a short video or a puppet show).

Encourage children to help you with cleaning jobs, such as cleaning the tables after lunch, helping others and tidying up. This will promote the work ethic needed to earn money at a later date. It is also important to get a commitment from children to complete a task once it is begun. The satisfaction in completing a task can give them the motivation to work harder.

Through these activities, hopefully children will begin to learn the foundations of delayed gratification, savings and work ethics. NW