To a baby, blocks aren't just toys. They're appetizers.
Eight-month-old Anna Swanwink doesn't just stack her soft cloth blocks. She chews them, inspects them, rolls them across the carpet. She shakes them, listening for the hidden rattle or jingle bell inside. Best of all, she coos with surprise and lifts both arms in the air, all smiles, when her mom uses a block to tickle her back.
At the holidays, many parents are tempted to empty their wallets on toys that are marketed as educational. But playing with simple blocks can teach kids far more than videos, mini-laptops and products that claim to turn babies into Einsteins, says Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at the University of Washington in Seattle.
In some ways, the choice of toys -- and how children are left to play with them -- can shape how their young brains develop. A newborn's brain triples in size in the first two years of life, Christakis says. A child's intelligence, in terms of his or her IQ, is largely determined by age 4.
"The newborn brain and the preschool brain are very much a work in progress," Christakis says. "For older kids, it's more about skill building and not about capacity."
Christakis says he hoped this research would encourage the growth of high-quality preschools for kids. Instead, it has spawned a "build a brainier baby" industry.
The parent trap
Makers of educational toys say they aim to help parents take advantage of those crucial developmental windows. But marketers also "prey on your concern that your child is going to be behind, that they are missing some enrichment," says Karen Coltrane, president and CEO of the Children's Museum of Richmond in Virginia. "We know those first few years are critical. But that can make parents even more nervous."
Though the claims on toy packages are seldom backed by real research, Christakis says, science does provide insights about toys that spark creativity and curiosity.
Christakis' research has shown that babies who watch educational videos learn no extra vocabulary. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV or screen time for children under age 2, because there's no evidence it benefits them and it may even harm their development.
Blocks, however, can build vocabulary. In a 2007 study, Christakis found that toddlers who played with blocks had more language skills than other kids, partly because of close interaction with parents.
"Blocks have been around for millenia," he says. "Before kids had blocks, they probably stacked rocks."
Christakis worries about kids losing out on real play as children and parents are seduced by technology. "Kids in the car used to pass the time by singing, talking, telling stories to keep themselves entertained. There is a real benefit to that," he says. "We don't know if there is a benefit to apps."
Play is necessary
Even blocks are changing, says Susan Niebur, an astrophysicist and mother from the Washington, D.C., area. She has discovered that a basic set of Lego bricks -- one of her favorite toys for encouraging creativity -- is getting "incredibly tough to find."
More and more, stores are replacing the basic blocks with elaborate sets based on movies, which encourage kids to follow instructions rather than create their own designs, says Susan Linn of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. Yet studies show that kids play more creatively with "generic" toys than with those linked to movies and TV shows, Linn says. A child given a generic astronaut doll may make up her own story. Give her a Buzz Lightyear doll, and she may simply copy the dialogue from Toy Story.
"The best toy is 10% toy and 90% child," Linn says.
Kids learn about the world through play.
"Play is a really big part of a child's development," says Steve Snyder of The Franklin Institute, an interactive science museum in Philadelphia. "We don't play by accident."
Any toy can be a learning tool, he says. "Ask 'What would happen if we did this? Why might this happen?' At some point, kids stop asking questions. We want them to always ask questions."
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