Parents​—What Is Your Child Playing With?

“ALL work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” So goes an old saying. Play has always been an important part of the lives of children. It is by means of play activities that children stretch their minds and their muscles and develop important skills.

Today’s Toys​—What Do They Teach Our Children?

CHILDREN have a natural urge to play. According to the book Choosing Toys for Children, healthy children “spontaneously create their own worlds of exploration and fantasy.” This was true even in ancient times. Back then it was common to see children ‘playing in the public squares.’ (Zechariah 8:5) Such play often involved creative, imaginative games.​—Compare Matthew 11:16, 17.

Appropriately, then, play has been called a child’s work, and if that is true, then toys can be said to be a child’s tools. Says Parents magazine: “Play is the way children learn about the world. . . . Playing with toys reduces the world to child-​size proportions, a world that a child can handle and control. Play develops muscles and coordination, fosters socialization, tests the barriers between reality and fantasy, and helps children learn to communicate with one another, to take turns, to share. Play stimulates the imagination and gives experience in problem-​solving skills.”

Toys were also important to children in Bible times. Excavations in Israel have unearthed a small treasure trove of children’s toys, such as rattles, whistles, and miniature pots and chariots. The World Book Encyclopedia states: “In ancient Africa, children enjoyed balls, toy animals, and pull toys. Children of ancient Greece and Rome had fun with boats, carts, hoops, and tops. During the Middle Ages in Europe, popular toys included clay marbles, rattles, and puppets.”

Toys that are stimulating, interesting, and educational still play an important role today.