Simple Toys, Best Toys

Ambler, Pennsylvania. December 6, 2007 (WPVI) -- With so many toys in the stores these days, parents & grandparents can be confused about what's best to buy for kids this holiday season.

With so many toys in the stores these days, parents & grandparents can be confused about what's best to buy for kids this holiday season.

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a Temple University child development expert, says- when it comes to helping kids learn, it's time to go back to the basics.

She says parents should think back to their best childhood playtime memories.

"They're going to remember building forts, and they're going to remember telling stories to one another," Hirsh-Pasek says.

She believes simpler toys are actually more educational, because a child uses his or her imagination.

So instead of going all electronic, she suggests some "out of the box" basics.

She starts with blocks, "When you have to put the blocks together and take them apart, you're doing physics, you're learning about color, you're mastering shape."

Other options include balls or various sizes, arts & crafts kits, and musical instruments.

Even with the most basic flute, Hirsh-Pasek says kids can be amazingly creative.

In picking a toy, she says consider this:

It should be a platform for play, allowing the child to be creative.

The toy should be 90 per cent child, and 10 per cent toy.

And it should be suitable for either one child, or a group.

She says, "Does it leave room for playing with other people? Because one of the things we have to learn for the present and future is how to get along with other people."

Hirsh-Pasek says another plus to simple toys - they usually cost a lot less than the high-tech stuff. The average cost of the toys on this year's Top 10 list by the toy industry is $50.

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