Good toys

PINOY KASI

Good toys
By Michael Tan
Inquirer
Last updated 01:16am (Mla time) 12/13/2006

Published on Page A15 of the December 13, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

“CHILDREN are so lucky these days,” one of my friends muttered the other day as we walked through a bazaar. She was referring to the many toys -- including quite a few low-cost ones -- that have flooded the country.

But is all this really a blessing?

I’m finding it’s actually more difficult now to find good toys, “good” being so many things. For starters, we need to go back to the original purposes of toys. Yes, they’re meant for play, and for fun. But “play” itself has its social purposes: all societies have invented toys as a way of preparing children for the life ahead. The toys are there to stimulate their brains, sharpen their motor skills, develop manual dexterity. Toys and games together help the child to socialize. Why, toys even impart certain values.

I’ll explain all that in a while; all that was just a starter to impress on you the immense responsibilities that come with choosing toys.

Safety

If it has become so difficult to choose toys, it’s because so many toy manufacturers seem to have lost touch with the original uses of toys. Today, toys are big business, manufactured by huge multinationals based in the developed world but using cheap labor in Third World countries, particularly China.

Many of the toys are claimed to be educational but they are really designed to catch the attention of young kids, and their parents, with trite gimmicks. In this age of electronics, we’re being dumped with toys that offer superficial razzle and dazzle with all their blinking lights and inane sounds. Cheap they are, but their life spans are also quite short -- which, maybe, is just as well because they do little for the children.

Of even greater concern are the safety issues around many of these toys. Yesterday, the papers featured some warnings from the EcoWaste Coalition about toxic toys (e.g., those that have phthalates, chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer and kidney damage). The EcoWaste Coalition warns about PVC plastic, identifiable in some toys by a number “3” inside the recycling symbol.

The Coalition has other useful safety tips. Toys should be age-appropriate, with some toy manufacturers indicating the right age for their product. In some cases, all you need is common sense; for example, you don’t give a basketball to a 4-year-old.

Toys shouldn’t have small or loose parts that can be swallowed. Ask the emergency rooms of hospitals, and they’ll tell you about all the kinds of things they’ve had to fish out of children’s throats—from necklace beads to plastic screws.

Toys shouldn’t have excessively long cords that might get entangled around toddlers’ necks and cause strangulation. Avoid toys with sharp edges and points. Particularly important for Filipinos: avoid toys with loud sounds. I’d add here, avoid toys that suddenly play out loud sounds, especially if they come out from dolls. The problem isn’t just damage to children’s hearing but the psychological effect as well: those innocent-looking, moving Santa Clauses that go “Ho! Ho! Ho!” can actually scare very young children.

The EcoWaste Coalition also warns about the toys’ packaging: make sure to properly dispose of plastic wrappers and bags (which can suffocate a child), as well as the fillings like foam peanuts and paper strips, which they might end up eating, or aspirating.

PC toys

I’m not a fan of PC, or political correctness, precisely because it often stops at using the right language. Let’s take our principles a step further by applying them to the toys we buy. If we campaign against a toxic environment, then let’s make sure we don’t contribute to that pollution with our toys. For starters, let’s recycle the toys. It’s just so tempting now to keep buying new ones because there are so many available. When you see that cuddly stuffed animal, ask yourself if it’s really for the kid or for yourself.

EcoWaste Coalition’s guidelines on safe toys had one glaring omission: avoid toys that use batteries. Such toys contribute to environmental pollution because the batteries have small amounts of chemicals, such as mercury. Children don’t need all those flashing lights and sounds; your voice and your smiles (okay, add a few hundred facial antics) delight them more than the electronics.

But children like things that move, you might argue. Well, you’d be surprised to find there are all kinds of mechanical toys that don’t need batteries. My Yna’s favorite toy was a colorful plastic duck mounted on a stick with wheels, its wings flapping as you roll it along. They’re dirt-cheap and are sold everywhere; I got Yna’s in front of a church.

Values

Very early, too, Yna acquired a taste for “pullback” toy cars, so called because you pull them back and release them, and they zoom away like a Formula One car. She had seen a male cousin playing with one and I could tell she was totally fascinated so I got her one -- much to the horror of relatives who said cars are only for little boys.

Toys reflect our values too, and as far as I’m concerned, Yna’s going to play with cars just as her brother (yes, I have two now) gets to play with clay pots later. Maybe not dolls, but more because I just don’t like the dolls being sold these days, the way they’re all tied to TV productions. Or worse, other dolls, including Barbie, put too much emphasis on externals like fashions, even cosmetics. (Yes, there are dolls now that you put make-up on.)

The toys we get our kids send them very clear messages about what the world should be. One time in a handicraft store, I saw a kid picking up a rain stick. These are bamboo tubes filled with sand. When you turn the stick around, the sand trickles down and the sound resembles rain. It was clear he had never seen one. Then, in a flash, he had it figured out; he took it up, mounted it on his shoulder and began “firing.” The rain stick had become a bazooka. I shuddered thinking of the kind of toys and TV fare he had gotten at home.

Rain sticks were originally Brazilian musical instruments, but they do make wonderful toys. So really toys aren’t about brand names and glittery lights. Once, in preparation for a long trip, I got a fairly expensive educational toy for Yna. She took to it for three minutes, then abandoned it for another “toy” which kept her busy for the rest of the trip: a crumpled ball of aluminum foil.

Toys are us, if I might borrow from a trademark. Repairing and reusing old toys teach children about the value of recycling. Get kids to share toys, including donating toys to an orphanage, and we’re teaching them about generosity. Buying a book instead of some kiddie gizmo teaches them about priorities. Improvising on a toy creates creativity and innovation. There’s much more yet to toys and games, even a sense of fair play, like not grabbing someone’s toy or changing the rules of a game mid-way.

Who knows, maybe, behind our politicians’ antics, there are tales, too, of good toys and bad toys.