evans@mhuxt.UUCP (crandall) (01/07/86)
Subject: Stimulating Toys What toys stimulated me? I remember liking my Erector Set. Never could get my older kids interested in it, however. At age 12-14 I took apart old radios to see how they were made. Also took the components themselves apart. I think that not everyone is that curious. I have 5 children, ages 7 to 18. The older three are within 15 months of the same age (some of them are adopted). They were very social and never got too involved in solitary activities. My daughter did like to do science fair projects (with lots of suggestions from Dad so the projects were generally successful). Now she is an Electrical Engineering student and seems to be enjoying it. Her previous exposure made the material at school less overwhelming. My oldest son had more or less the same opportunity but was good at sports. Feedback from his peers plus his own natural inclinations made him a pretty good basketball player. He still hasn't decided on a major in college. In contrast, my youngest son has the same kind of curiousity that I remember having. I take him to the salvage yard here at Los Alamos and he picks out some chassis or whatever that looks interesting and takes it home to disassemble. When he was 4 CBS was doing a story on Los Alamos Salvage Yard. They used some footage showing him clutching a meter and some other small items. The interviewer asked what he was going to do with these things. He said, with no prompting from Dad, "I am going to take them apart to see how they are made." He also likes fantasy toys where he can set up a "world" and control it. He likes and I liked to play in a sandbox. HE also likes to find patterns in things or make patterns. I have encourage this since I read that Feynman was stimulated by a set of colored tiles that he could use to make patterns. I think that is a sign of math- ematical interests. We did our best to raise our children without a lot of sexist pressure. But we didn't belabor the point. The girls liked dolls and the boys liked trucks. But, my older daughter took shop and the boys took Home Ec. They all shared equally in the household chores and could bake cakes and cook simple meals. Well, I get the feeling I am rambling. I have tried to interest my kids in science and find that some took to it and some didn't. It's nice to stimulate an interest if there is a spark but like the old saying goes, you can't make them take a drink. Be interested in hearing what you get from others. Jim Potter jp@lanl.arpa I was always into Etch a Sketch. It was one of my favorites. In fact 2 Christmases ago, before my daughter was even 1, I "suggested" to the family how she (and mommy) would love a new Etch a Sketch. Low and behold, guess who got one (and I'm still going strong with it!) With the large variety of toys my daughter has (now she's 2 1/2) she always goes back to the old favorites -- crayons and her records. She has her records playing constantly (we all go around the house singing, "Starlite, Rainbow Brite, a little wish in the moonlight" !!) I know it may be too early to tell, but Chrisanna seems destined to become either a singer, dancer or artist -- probably all three!!!! Barb Nemeth bellcore!pyuxa!barb === Subject: Toys One unconventional female toy that I recall was a little HAM radio setup (didn't really transmit, just beeped) that my father set up for me. He was ( and still is ) an amateur radio operattor, morse code only, and on the "toy", I learned the morse code. Lynn Pfau Subject: Re: educational toys that inspired you... Although I am not a female, my fondest memories of childhood toys was of course my erector set. Endless days and many many pleasures. Wish I still had it. Second was my Lionel trains set. What wonderful accessories and imagine, no electronics to speak of. Then there was plastic and metal models. Recently I've had similiar conversations with my wife and we agree that todays toys are just junk, part of a conspiricy of saturday morning cartoons and big business. Oh I forgot my tinker toys. +++ I bought a gyroscope for a semi-girlfriend this year (although I doubt it will inspire her to a technical career). I thought everybody had had one of those, but she said, "what do you do with it?" when I gave it to her. I'm not sure if she liked it or not. Gyroscopes were lots of fun when I was a kid (they still are!) james blasius ihnp4!ihlpl!dopey === > wonderful mechanical toys, puzzles, and the like. I would like to hear > comments (particularly from women) on toys that "made a difference." My The cardboard that was stuffed in shirts when they came back from the laundry. I don't remember what I did with it; but I remember I always coveted it. -- Eric Norman UUCP: ...{allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!ejnorman Pony Express: 1210 West Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53706 Life: Detroit!Alexandria!Omaha!Indianapolis!Madison!Hyde "To err is human; to moo bovine." -- grafitti === We always had lots of puzzles of various sorts around. I built models (ship and mechanical). There were also lots of "educational" toys and games (and a microscope, too). A favorite toy was Lincoln Logs. I loved building villages. I had my share of Barbies (and Matchboxes) too, though. I think what you're doing for your nieces is fine. Kim Donnelly ihnp4!rruxg!kfd Bell Communications Research === Toys that inspired me? Some of the "toys" that I most fondly remember are: Leggo Blocks Erector Set a drafting set a chemistry kit a tray of 80 (whee!) water colors a Leo Durocher shortstop glove trashed out transistor radios boxing gloves (maroon, with gold trim) Anyway, 20 years later, I seem to have turned out all right (except for a proclivity with databases and a tendency to lead with my left :-) ) Laurie Sefton === We'll, I'm an engineer. What did I have to play with when I was a kid? Blocks (you know, the nice polished wood kind you can't get anymore), Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, Tinker Toys, Girders and Panels, ect. Talk about brain washing. :-) I have some early memories of frustration with the Erector Sets because I didn't have enough manual dexterity to deal with the small screws; don't really remember how old I was, but I would guess that by 8 I could certainly handle them fine. I think the modern-day alternative to most of these is Legos. I think they're wonderful. I visited a friend of mine recently who has 3 boys, something like 4, 6, and 8. They've got zillions of Legos and I had a hell of a good time building stuff with them; they like them too. I think the youngest (3, maybe?) wasn't really old enough yet, but with "help" from his brothers, he managed. BTW, I'm 26 -- like they say, "for ages 4 and up". I think they have a larger-sized set for even younger kids as well. One of the nice things about them is they are easy to handle for young hands (no small parts requiring lot's of coordination). I suppose you could eat the smaller pieces but by and large the seem fairly safe; no sharp edges and fairly indestrucable. I would stay away from the highly-structured kits of them; stick to the basic assortments of shapes with a generous allowance of wheels and the other random moveable parts and the kids will figure out what to do with them without benefit of any "instructions". When I was about 12 or so, my dad bought me a chemistry set. My mom didn't think I was old enough for it then, so it got hidden away in the closet; I think I was finally allowed to have it a year later. Didn't learn much chemistry, but I did manage to ruin the top on her table. I remember an assortment of junky microscopes (I guess I didn't know they were junky then). I would shy away from these I think. Mostly I remember frustration because we could never really see anything. I don't know if the 'scopes were just so bad as to be worthless, or if we didn't have the skill or equipment to make slides (probably best off buying ready-made slide sets). I suspect to get a microscope worth having might be more than most people are willing to pay. I had an assortment of plastic and balsa models. I would stay away from the balsa planes and ships for young kids. I built (if you could call it that) a couple of planes and a ship, none of which ever got completed. Probably no younger than 14 is a good age for balsa planes, if you expect them to ever fly. Gas-powered engines of these seem a needless (and dangerous) way to go at any rate for kids of all ages. One thing I never had was guns. My mother was pretty adament about that; no cap guns, no water pistols, no any-guns. I grew up to be a pacifist. More brainwashing? Remembering what I had, and seeing what kids have today, I'm a bit in a state of shock. My family wasn't poor, but we certainly weren't rich either, so maybe there just wasn't much money to spend on toys. I had to get lots of mileage out of what I had, which isn't too hard if you stick to basic make-em-think type stuff. I really feel like puking when I see the media-hyped crap they sell now. BTW, one of the cleverest things on the market today are the Transformers. There are also Gobots and probably a few other ripoffs on the same theme. These are ingeniously hinged metal (and plastic?) toys which depending on how you fold them turn into different things. Imagine a F-111 looking fighter plane; flip around the wings, engines, gear, etc and in a few minutes you have a robot that you could never guess was ever a plane. I'm convinced that a bunch of MIT grads sit around stoned and design these things. Roy Smith <allegra!phri!roy> System Administrator, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 === your question was very interesting to me. i was/am the 4th of 5 daughters. there were ne brothers in my family. consequently there were no little boy type toys. we were given dolls and games and books. the toy i most remember though was a toy microscope that had belonged to some boy cousin and got handed down to us. i spent alot of time trying to make it work. i grew up to be a microbiologist. my sisters all grew up to be wife/mother types with english degrees. it must mean something. my husband and i also try to give unusual gifts to my nieces and nephews. we get mixed reveiws. my nephews love them. my nieces show little or no interest. i should of course add that both of my nieces (i have 10 nephews and 2 nieces) are dressed up in pink frills and treated like little princesses (sp?). they are about as much fun to be around as the barbie dolls they love. yoddy ...!decvax!allegra!umcp-cs!elsie!yoddy === Subject: Re: educational toys that inspired you... In-Reply-To: your article <1330@mhuxt.UUCP> I'd say as long as the gifts are not so delicate that they will be easily broken the first day, your ideas on gift-giving are right on. My sons (ages 5 and 2) go crazy over that sort of thing. The latest such wonder we came across was a very cheap microscope with built-in flashlight that illuminates the object from Radio Shack. If your relatives bitch, shame on them. - Greg Paley/Olivetti ATC === The toys I remember playing with most at the age of 6-8 are Lincoln Logs and Bricks. There was also an Erector Set. Most of the toys belonged to my brother, who was a year younger. I was also very impressed with wiring a lamp during a Scout meeting. -- +-------------------------------------------------------+ | General Disclaimer: The above opinions are my own and | | do not necessarily reflect the opinions | | of McDonnell Douglas Corporation. | +-------------------------------------------------------+ === Subject: Re: educational toys that inspired you... I'd say as long as the gifts are not so delicate that they will be easily broken the first day, your ideas on gift-giving are right on. My sons (ages 5 and 2) go crazy over that sort of thing. The latest such wonder we came across was a very cheap microscope with built-in flashlight that illuminates the object from Radio Shack. If your relatives bitch, shame on them. - Greg Paley/Olivetti ATC === I saw your posting in net.kids concerning educational toys. Though I grew up in a pretty traditional household and mostly had dolls and tea sets for toys, now and then my family had group toys. The ones I recall deriving the most fun from were jigsaw puzzles and Lincoln logs. Playing had a goal with either of these: you had a complete picture or a little house at the end of it all. I have a nephew and niece now, and both my sisters are interested in educational, non-sexist toys. I'd like to see a summary of your responses. Still a kid at heart, Lois Morton (ihlpg!loislane) === The toys I remember playing with most at the age of 6-8 are Lincoln Logs and Bricks. There was also an Erector Set. Most of the toys belonged to my brother, who was a year younger. I was also very impressed with wiring a lamp during a Scout meeting. -- +-------------------------------------------------------+ | General Disclaimer: The above opinions are my own and | | do not necessarily reflect the opinions | | of McDonnell Douglas Corporation. | +-------------------------------------------------------+ hplabs!oliveb!tymix!whitehur My favorite toys were (are) loosely as follows: - Lionel train at about age 4. I slept with it. - Wooden 3d puzzles as well as wire puzzles. The good ones would provide weeks of frustration. These would probably only be good for kids who are teenagers though. - An erector set. This was one of the old ones from about 1960 with a great 110v electric motor with nice open gears which could bite. I doubt that any toy mfg would offer something so nice. - An electronics set with a tube in it (this really dates me). When I got older there were junker radios to play with. A couple of friends ended up with TV chassis and both became ham radio operators in their teens. - Model airplanes (balsa). Mostly free flight hand launch gliders, but I had a few Cox .049 gas engines. These were pretty frustrating until a got involved with a model airplane club and learned the trade secrets. - Telescopes. I was given a 2" junker refractor but was extremely interested in astronomy (and still am). In quick succession I built 4", 6" and 8" reflectors. All had homemade mirrors with the third attempt coming out very well. This would be a teenage activity. It is annoying to see the false advertising on "toy" telescopes. Companies sell them by "power" which turns out to be a pretty empty metric. - Magazines and books - although not toys things like Sky and Telescope and Scientific American were very important to me as a teenager. Our public library wasn't great, but it was a treasure house as far as I was concerned. ===== My favorite toys were my brother's model rockets (he didn't take them to college and I was 12 when he left). I re-discovered them at MIT and get the urge every now and again. Jeri ==== Subject: toys for kids You are to be congratulated on your independent stand on this issue. By far the best thing adults can do for children is to help them grow (and instill a rational set of values). It is likely that the best intellectual stimulation children receive is obtained on their own time (not in school), by reading and experimenting; providing access to appropriate materials is an excellent way to assist this natural process. The few women scientists with whom I have discussed this invariably told of having to struggle against stereotypical toys such as dolls, except when their parents encouraged toys for the inquisitive (then they still had problems with relatives and peer pressure). Edmund Scientific (Barrington, NJ) did and does sell nice kits for the experimenter, especially in optics. One can also find electronic experimenter kits (generally a collection of components that can be interconnected in different ways), although the educational value varies widely depending on the manufacturer. Erector sets used to be great fun (I haven't tried the newer designs), and there are other construction sets with which one can build useful devices. Estes Industries (since acquired by Damon) is the premier manufacturer of model rocket kits and supplies (I had a great time with these, but the engines are much more expensive than they used to be). There are beginner darkroom sets, for the budding photographer. With appropriate supervision (unless the kid is especially careful), a chemistry lab can be set up for a moderate investment; I had a nice one with ground glassware etc. by the time I entered college. Of course, these days home computers are available. I think there are robot experimenter kits, which I would have enjoyed. I had access to a well-equipped workshop (my father's), which in retrospect was an important part of my childhood. A microscope, telescope, or other optical instrument can be very nice, provided that the kid expresses an interest in having one (costs too much for a good one to just buy it and hope the kid likes it). As you can gather, I think general-purpose experimenter tools are most helpful. Some specific technical toys that I liked and recommend include: shortwave receiver kit, camera-carrying model rocket with developing and printing facilities, top-of-line Erector set, Edmund "Fun With Optics" kit, Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games books, small telescope (3-4" reflector, equatorial mount best), terrarium, birdwatching setup (birdhouse, feeder, good binoculars, field guide to birds), Origami book and paper. I think the key is to let the kid know that technical curiosity is encouraged, and to help him buy materials for the things that he gets interested in. An occasional surprise gift in a different area can be useful, since often a kid won't know how interesting something is until he tries it for a while. One should also avoid buying kits that are expressly aimed at children (except Erector sets and maybe chemistry starter sets), since they are often disappointingly limited. It is much more fun to use real-world materials, preferably with printed suggested experiments to get started, and with a necessary minimum of adult supervision (chemicals and power tools are probably most dangerous, followed by electrical experiments that connect to house wiring). Showing the kid how to use the public library is also important, as is getting him experimenter supply catalogs. ==== Subject: Re: Physical Toys Newsgroups: net.physics In-Reply-To: <1333@mhuxt.UUCP> Organization: EECS Dept. U.C. San Diego Cc: I had a toy van de Graff generator when I was in elementary school which I loved immensely. It came as a simple kit, requiring me to install the brushes and crank and the large rubber band which ran against the brushes as I cranked it. Although hand-cranked, it would go up to 150,000 V, somewhat higher than the motor driven one's I've seen on the market since (I also think it was a bit bigger). It wasn't at all difficult to crank it up to about 50,000 V. To get higher than that required dry cold weather, but was also easy. It had a central tower with a large sphere, and a number of accessories, including a smaller sphere on a pivoting rod. Somehow it got lost over the years, and I don't remember the brand name. _Greg ==== When I was a kid, I had a set of Legos (you know those plastic blocks that stick together). I remember being very frustrated that they didn't have all the shapes I needed to build the things I could imagine. There were also erector sets, a microscope etc. My parents recognized a scientific interest but I always felt that they gave me these things without following up with their own interest in what I was doing with them. I think that is very important. They tried to allow us a lot of freedom (its probably worse if parents get so interested that the child is not coming up with the ideas him/herself), but if they were more interested I probably would have followed through with projects that got abandoned halfway. Another thought: My girlfriend is always interested when I explain technical things from work. I asked her why she didn't become an engineer too and she replied, "nobody told me I could". Good luck with the kids, Mark Garrett. === Well, my cousin(male), who is now one of the top electrical engineers in the country, was making robots with his Erector Set when he was just a little tyke! He certainly recommends "creativity" toys. Then, of course, my father gave me a book called "Teach Yourself FORTRAN" or some such thing when I was in the 6th grade, and now I am a good programmer(I *don't* use DORTRAN anymore). -- Sarima (Stanley Friesen) ==== Subject: Re: educational toys that inspired you... My boyfriend and I try to give non-stereotyped toys to his neices and nephews. Along with books (Berenstein Bears, How the Body Works, ...), they got tops, plastic gear wheels, windmill things, and a woodburning kit (that was for the oldest boy, but the box did have a girl on it.) When I was growing up, I don't remember any particular toy that inspired me. I got a fire engine for my first birthday, and my mother encouraged me to try the experiments in Childcraft. We were always encouraged to read a lot. Later on, I got a meteorology kit, rock collection kit, and a microscope. I would say that the most inspiring educational 'toy' I would receive would be books, books, and more books. I read all about dinosaurs, volcanos, geography, astronomy, weather, fairy tales, math, and people. If it is available on videotape, "Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land" is a great movie as is "Nature's Half Acre". === I am a mechanical engineer (male) and played with an Indian version of what are known as erector sets here I believe. But I haven't seen anything quite as complex in the toy stores in the US: some English firms make good ones. I also was very much into aeromodeling, although it was $$expensive in India. I guess the toys didn't influence me to become an engineer- it was more that mechanical stuff was of much interest to me, so I asked my parents to get them for me. - Ali Shaik ihnp4!philabs!ams === The best one was a non-working television no one wanted, coupled with a hammer, screwdrivers and priers. "Gosh, I wonder what's inside a transistor! <crunch!>" Jeff Sonntag ===
rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist) (01/09/86)
The best toy I had when I was a child was a set of broken wristwatches,
and some jeweller's screwdrivers, together with the tool for removing
the backs of watches.
Of course, it helps to have an uncle who repairs watches, since otherwise
this can be an expensive gift....
I always thought I'd give something like this to my kids, but now
that we have entered the digital age, I wonder. Oh well, TV sets
are fun, too; but the kid has to be old enough to be given a
soldering iron.
--
"The Badger MAIMS, but he doesn't KILL" -- Larry
Rick Keir -- right next to the Oyster Tank -- UWisc - Madison
{allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rickbarb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (01/22/86)
> Subject: Stimulating Toys
My very, very favorite toy isn't made anymore. American Bricks. They're
like Leggos but made of wood -- and MUCH more satisfactory. Leggos (to me)
are too difficult to get apart, therefore frustrating. (Of course, I'm
no longer a child ;-) I would spend hours building complexes with temples
and mazelike interiors -- a world for a multitude of small plastic toys
(mostly horses) (you buy them by the bag in dime-stores).
The same plastic creatures also proved playmates in every child's dream --
a dirt pile. Great for tunnelling and road building. Perhaps not 'educational'
per se, but I practiced/learned a lot of creativity.
Finally, a pad of paper. My best friend and I used to set up WWII sea
scenarios, with ships, planes, and submarines -- then proceed to destroy
them. Paper Airplane wars were also entertaining. Five hours to design
the things, fifteen minutes (if that) to destroy them.
Mostly, if the "toy" encouraged free, creative thought (a blank pad of
paper vs. a coloring book)(I was *terrible* at coloring books), it was
'educational' enough for me. (I since have a degree, (BA) in Art, minored in
English, and am a Software QA Engineer.)
Barb