The Jamaica Observer – Staff Writer
“A US study has found that traditional children’s toys such as wooden puzzles, rubber blocks, and shape-sorters are more effective in increasing the quantity and quality of language in young children than modern electronic toys that produce lights, words, and songs. In the study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, a team of researchers from Northern Arizona University, USA, carried out a controlled experiment with 26 children aged 10 to 16 months old. The children were given three different sets of toys, electronic, traditional, and books, for playtime with a parent in their own home. The sound of the playtime was recorded in the home using audio equipment for researchers to analyse later. After listening to the recordings, the team found that when compared to playing with books and traditional toys, playing with the electronic toys decreased the quality and quantity of language used by both children and parents, with fewer adults’ words, fewer parental responses, less content-specific language, and less back-and-forth conversation.”(more)