The Toys ‘R’ Us Challenge

From the time of Ancient Greece and Rome, children were viewed as little adults. The society did not understand the concept that children thought, behaved, acted, learned differently from adults and didn't understand why. The complexity of the behavior and development of children was not studied until the Renaissance period. Gradually the church and society grew an interest in studying children more theoretically and experimentally. Thus, society realized the importance the biological and environmental factors has on children in the early years of social, motor, perceptual, and cognitive development. Play, in the Renaissance period, was finally perceived as educational and stimulating in many different aspects of development. Realization of the significance of play instigated a tremendous boom in the toy industry and also concern, as caregivers, to provide a nourishing environment for the child to learn and develop in. In this paper, I will compare what makes a toy "good" or "bad" in terms of the positive and negative effects it has on the growth and development of a child.