Shop by Topic
Shop by Product
ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues
<< Previous Issue
| View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> 
Hall of Fame Stick
May 5, 2010
Play is the foundation of learning, creativity, self-expression, and constructive problem-solving. It’s how children wrestle with life to make it meaningful.
-Susan Linn, American psychiatrist
-Susan Linn, American psychiatrist
"The stick may be the world’s oldest toy. Animals play with sticks, and we use them to play fetch with our dogs. Children find sticks an endless source of make-believe fun. Sticks can turn into swords, magic wands, majorette batons, fishing poles, and light sabers. When children pretend with sticks, they cultivate their creativity and develop their imagination. They explore as they search outdoors for just the right one. Children build with sticks, bat balls with them, and walk with them. They are the original building blocks for creative play. Sticks also promote free play — the freedom to invent and discover. They encourage playing outside instead of inside. Sticks are all around us; they are natural and free. And playing with sticks isn’t just for children and animals. Adult artists, crafters, decorators, and architects all make use of sticks in sculptures, wreaths, furniture, and building design. Few adults or children can resist simple play with sticks — from drawing in the sand on the beach, to building a campfire and then toasting marshmallows. Sticks are not only possibly the oldest toy, they’re possibly the best!"
If we are looking only at the preschool years, what do you see as the classic toys? Share your recommendations in this week's Exchange Insta Poll, "Classic Toys for Young Children."
That's right, Exchange's Value of Play CD Book includes over 100 articles from Exchange and the HighScope Foundation. And the updated version includes the latest "Infant Toddler Toy Guide" by Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment. Issues addressed by the 100+ articles include...- The Purpose of Play
- HighScope Perspectives on Play
- Advocating for the Value of Play
- Play in Practice
- Taking Play Outdoors
- Play Materials
ExchangeEveryDay
Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
What is ExchangeEveryDay?
ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
Why manage 40 separate bottles of sunscreen every day? Save time and money with Rocky Mountain Sunscreen’s quart and gallon pump dispensers.
Specialty insurance for your childcare center. NSI, West Bend’s specialty division can help.
Visit TheSilverLining.com for more information.
Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 CommentsPaul K. Kennedy Child Care Center
North Chicago, IL, United States
Last fall, I presented a workshop to early childhood educators entitled "Branching
Out Into the Environment." I began with a discussion
about sticks, since I had seen a newspaper article stating the stick was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. I gave the participants a "pop quiz" and asked
them to write down in three minutes, the uses for a
stick! The winner (a prize was awarded) had a list of
21 uses. It was a fun "icebreaker," and it led to a disucssion on branches, twigs,
trunks, children's books about trees (A Tree is Nice, my
favorite.) We planted wheat berry seeds to take home
and have them sprout to indoor grass, and overall,
this was a wonderful awakening on the need to "unplug"
our children and have them think about the environment!
Charlene Ackerman, M.Ed.
Mt. Whitney Preschool
Lone Pine, CA, United States
Obviously never been around 10-15 preschoolers all "armed" with sticks. Even 2 preschoolers with one stick each. Individually, I am all for sticks. Collectively, no way.
Post a Comment