Benjamin A. Gorman
Almost everyone has had a special toy as a child, and tucked away in a corner of the memory is a special feeling for that toy. For a certain time in one’s life, a toy was the key to a private world of innocent play, of mystery or adventure, and of pleasure. It was a time when the player controlled the world, making the rules, determining the results, playing at being grown up. As adults, we can step back into our childhood by once again holding, feeling, and seeing a favorite plaything. The mind can recall the moments of excitement and concentration, the power of control, and sometimes a disassociation with reality that the toys of childhood once provided for us at that young age, Sometimes broken or worn, boxed and tucked away, they still remain as tangible evidence of our own past.
As teachers, we sometimes forget that students are children, and that the main activity enjoyed by young children is play. Even within the structured environment of the classroom, we often see students at play with pencils, with bits of paper, with erasers—the very tools of a student’s work—as well as assorted playthings brought from home. It is amazing how many ways a paper clip can be refashioned, or how much interest is created when a
Smurf
appears from a jacket pocket. Since our students are a few steps from early childhood, it should not surprise us that games, toys, and the urge to play are not left at home when the child enters his student role at school. School is work; nobody has ever said that learning was easy, but at the same time learning can be fun.
Play is an important ingredient in life, and toys are a part of our culture. In fact, toys might be considered the tools of play. This unit proposes to capitalize on our students’ natural urge to play with things by having students look at and think about toys. Adopting the viewpoint that toys are cultural objects, the general purpose of this unit is to make students aware that toys reflect the interests and values of a society. Antique toys, as part of our human heritage, provide us with objects that allow us to reach across time and learn about our past. An examination of toys that are part of the students’ life experience allows them to learn their society’s values and perhaps to discover more about themselves. With students thinking about toys as products of a culture period, they may realize that “toys are us.”
In this unit, students will:
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1.
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Understand the function of toys in growth and development.
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2.
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Learn that toys are universal and have served as tools of play for centuries.
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3.
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Realize that toys are products of an historical period and reflect that time.
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4.
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Examine toys to detect values of current society.
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Toys Are Us can be used with middle school students in social studies classes. What has gone before, even in our recent past, often seems remote to our thirteen to fifteen year old students. Thus, part of this unit deals with the chronology of toys; it may establish toys’ universality and allow students to connect with objects that they are familiar with or have had a common experience with in play. By raising a curiosity in students about toys, the importance of toys may be understood, and the cultural values of the society that produced them may be realized. Besides the history of toys, toys exist as cultural objects that are a part of our human past; they allow us to reach across time and to learn about our past, about people and their beliefs.
Through the story of toys, one can trace many scientific discoveries, historical events, and the whims of society; the toys of children can relate the story of people advancing and developing in mind and body. The focus of the unit will be on playthings of our American experience, and generally will exclude games, puzzles, and dolls which have a distinctive history. The unit should have a general appeal to all students and should be taught with fun in mind. Thus, I recommend using it for lessons on shorter school days, before vacations, or as a break between topics; we know that “all work and no play. . . .”
