If you ask any kid “Do you have enough toys?”, you will always get the same negative answer. Scientists though believe there is a limit to the number of toys that are good for children’s development.
Researchers from the University of Toledo say having too many toys is bad for kids’ creativity. They have analyzed the behavior of 36 toddlers who played in a room for 30 minutes. Some of the toddlers had 4 toys, while other had 16.
The results were interesting. You would imagine that more toys motivate kids to play more and be more creative. In fact, it’s the opposite. “When provided with fewer toys in the environment, toddlers engage in longer periods of play with a single toy, allowing better focus to explore and play more creatively,” researchers said in a statement.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should now go and throw away your kids’ toys. “One recommendation may be to opt for having fewer toys available in a play environment for any one play session,” the study says. “When there is an abundance of toys, small collections can be rotated into play while the majority is stored away, providing opportunities for novelty without creating the distraction posed by having too many toys available.”
Sounds reasonable, right? This way you should also keep the novelty of toys longer. Kids will be happy to play with the toys longer and will be more interested in them.
Joshua Becker, author of “ClutterFree with Kids,” also pointed out that children thrive more when given fewer toys, the Telegraph reported. “A child will rarely learn to fully appreciate the toy in front of them when there are countless options still remaining on the shelf behind them,” Becker wrote. “Fewer toys causes children to become resourceful by solving problems with only the materials at hand. And resourcefulness is a gift with unlimited potential.”
So, it’s a good thing to keep less toys around. It will provide for more creative play which in turn will help kids be more creative as they grow up. And then switch up the toys and the toy combination to provide for even more new opportunities. This way kids will be even more creative. And creativity will be a vital part of the future society where more and more jobs will be automated. Then, the creative minds and creative jobs will be even more important. And it’s something that you have to get ready for from today.
