Download Analysis of an age appropriate developmental toy

Running head: Analyzing a developmental toy for children ages three to five years
Analyzing a developmental toy for children ages three to five years
Christa W. Cliver
The University of West Georgia
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IDENTIFICATION OF DEVELOPMENTAL TOY
I have always been fascinated in the developmental stages of young children, especially
because children learn and retain a large amount of information in the span of just a few years.
The most fascinating developmental years to me; however, fall between ages three to five.
During this time children are at their peak of learning and it’s important to provide them with
toys to foster their creativity and ability to learn. Having just become an aunt, I can’t help but
buy my niece fun toys such as a battery operated car or a stuffed animal, but I realized that even
though I know she’ll enjoy these toys, why not buy her a toy that provides a dual purpose: fun
and learning. That’s when I came across the Melissa and Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock, as
pictured above.
Toy manufacturers Melissa and Doug are known for, “Products with tremendous value,
quality and design.” Their line of over 2,000 products offer children of all ages innovative toys.
The Melissa and Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock is described as, “A colorful wooden clock
features 12 shaped wooden blocks that fit into matching slots, plus movable hands! With lots of
"timely" information on the hands and clock face, this is the perfect toy to help children master
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an abstract concept.” In this analysis, we’ll define and discuss the target group of users for this
toy, explore a sub-group of the same target group, examine and evaluate the toy’s
appropriateness, and provide an overall report of the product.
IDENTIFICATION OF TARGET GROUP
The target group for this analysis is children ages three to five years. From my experience
working in a Georgia Pre-K program, children at this age are a sponge; they want to learn
everything! I’ve observed that by this age, children express individual development such as
beginning to name colors, understanding simple counting, and grasping the concept of time.
Physically, children at this age are able to use their motor skills to draw and begin tracing letters
and even using a pencil or pen to write their name. On the social side of a three to five year olds
development, they are really growing; beginning to understand “fake” play and imagination or
deal with conflict and solve problems.
Another interesting thing also happens with children at this age—they become more
independent. It’s rare to find a three to five year old child that is not enrolled in some sort of
preschool or Pre-K program, which means that the child is away from their parents for at least 812 hours a day. Children at this age slowly begin to learn how to do simple tasks such as wash
their hands, use the restroom, or make their own plate by themselves without the aid of their
parents. Psychosocial theorist Erik Erikson describes a child’s ability to be self-sufficient as the
second stage of development or “Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt.” Erikson describes this as,
“children are learning to be self-sufficient in ways such as self-regulation, toileting, feeding, and
dressing.” The next stage Erikson describes is the “Initiative vs. Guilt” period, which states,
“Around the age of four, they enter their third stage of psychosocial development…over the
course of this period, children learn to imagine, to become more independent, to broaden their
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skills thorough play, fantasy, and exploration, and to engage, participate, and cooperate with
others, including peers.” Erikson says that if these goals aren’t met, the child will suffer and
become fearful, dependent on adults, and socially excluded.
IDENTIFICATION OF SUB-GROUP
While most three to five year olds are in their peak developmental stages, unfortunately,
there are some that are not. According to Down’s Syndrome Education Online, “Learning in
children with Down syndrome is inevitably greatly compromised by the disruption to
developmental processes caused by the presence of the extra copy of chromosome 21.
Differences in the structure and development of the brain mean that a number of basic
information processing skills central to the achievement of specific cognitive and linguistic
milestones are adversely affected.” This means that there is no typical learning framework, such
as Erikson’s psychosocial stages, for children with Down’s Syndrome because they all learn at a
different rate. While studies have been conducted to capture the development of children with
Down’s Syndrome, there are only guides for development for children with this syndrome.
To illustrate a few of the developmental stages of children with Down’s Syndrome, we’ll
refer to charts provided by author Cliff Cunningham from his publication Down Syndrome: An
Introduction for Parents and Carers:
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In this graphic, we are shown a few developmental milestones of children with Down
Syndrome versus typical children. Since we are focusing on children ages three to five, we’ll
look at the “Copies a circle” activity. As you may remember from the target group section, we
discussed that children between the ages three to five begin to learn how to copy a circle or trace
letters during this age. According to this chart, typical children can copy a circle by 30 months;
however, most children with Down Syndrome typically don’t learn how to copy a circle until
they are between 36 to 60 months, with the average age being 48 months.
Individual development is key for children between the ages of three to five. According
to the above chart, typical children are able to control their bowels by 24 months. Comparing this
to children with Down Syndrome, they typically don’t develop this until they are in the range of
26-60 months. As expected, children between the ages of three to five with Down Syndrome are
more developmentally delayed versus typical children of their age.
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EXAMINATION OF THE TOY
The Melissa and Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock is comprised of 12 shaped number
pieces which allow children to count, sort, and place within the clock. The shapes consist of
rectangles, triangles, circles, ovals, etc. The toy has an hour and minute hands, located in the
center of the toy, both of which are moveable to instruct the concept of time. In addition, it also
has the markings for a quarter past, half past, etc. According to online retailer Amazon, the toy
is, “Great for counting, sorting, color recognition, shape recognition, and hand-eye
coordination.” Amazon retails the toy for $14.99 and targets the appropriate age of use for the
toy for children between the ages of three and five years.
Amazon is a great place to read reviews of products, especially from teachers and parents
that have used this particular toy. A five star review written by a user named “Love Being a
Grandma” states, “This is a concrete hands-on way for children to begin learning about not only
clocks, but also shapes, order of numbers, and more, depending on the age and stage of the child.
It is a toy that can grow with a child, one to be taken out and used for a while, then as interest
wanes, put it away for a while, and then bring it out later for a child to explore at a different
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stage.” Not all of the reviews are stellar; however, as user “goonius” points out, “The pieces are
rapidly losing paint, and Melissa and Doug just isn't a company I trust enough to have their paint
chips floating around in my children's environment. Their toys are made in China, and they've
already had a recall in Canada for excessive barium in toys. I didn't even know toys could have
excessive barium until I read about that recall. When I bought this clock, I assumed it was
wooden. But when you remove the pieces, it is clear that the material the base is made of is
MDF, you can see the unfinished MDF inside the holes. Later, when the pieces begin to lose
paint, you find that they too, not surprisingly, are made of MDF. So my first gripe with this
puzzle is one I have with a great number of Melissa and Doug products: They advertise a
wooden toy, and it's deceptive marketing.” With these reviews in mind, I visited Target, which
sells the toy, to examine it on my own. It comes in a shrink-wrapped case, so I couldn’t tell much
about the quality of the toy, but it does appear to be sturdy and has the weight of a wood toy.
EVALUATION OF THE TOY
When purchasing a toy, especially for my niece, I first think of the safety of the toy. The
negative reviews of the Melissa and Doug Wood Shape Sorting Clock which describe the toy as
being made of MDF and the paint chipping off are concerning. From my physical examination of
the toy; however, I determined that the quality of the toy and the overall construction of the toy
to be safe for children of any age, not just for the targeted three to five year group or the
subgroup of children with Down Syndrome.
In terms of the toy’s developmental abilities, I think this product is a great tool for
children that are beginning to learn shapes, numbers, and time, as the above research suggests of
our “typical” three to five year age group. The different colored, removable shapes allow the
child to actually feel the shape, allowing them to discover which “slot” the shape fits into. I also
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felt the color scheme of the toy was a great reinforcement for developing children—as the shapes
correspond to the color wheel in the middle of the clock. This helps children in the three to five
year range also learn the difference in their colors. As far as helping children to learn their
numbers and counting, I also think this toy provides a great resource. Not only are the shapes
numbered 1-12, they correspond with the hour numbers on the clock. When it comes to helping
children determine time, I think that overall this toy does an okay job. At first glance, there is a
lot going on within the toy. You have different colors, numbers, shapes, etc and the clock
somehow seems to get lost. Even though there are markers for the hour and minutes, it does get a
bit confusing. If there is a drawback to this toy, I would say that the clock portion is it.
OVERALL REPORT OF THE TOY
After reviewing the toy and reviews from the manufacturer’s website and Amazon as
well as examining the toy in person at Target, the following are my recommendations for the
Melissa and Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock.
For a “typical” child within our target group, I would recommend this toy, as they have
the developmental skills to comprehend and actually develop and grow the learning concepts.
Following Erikson’s “Initiative vs. Guilt” theory, this toy helps to foster a three to five year old’s
skills to explore and broaden their ability to think about the world around them.
For a child within our sub-group, I would not recommend this toy until a later age,
perhaps 5-7 years. Basing this recommendation off the research presented in the graphs above, I
do not think a child between the ages of three to five with Down Syndrome would comprehend
the developmental tasks provided with this toy.
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Works Cited
Amazon.com. (n.d.). Melissa & Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock: Toys & Games.
Retrieved June 30, 2014, from
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GKATU0/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p21_d0_i1?pf_rd
_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center2&pf_rd_r=1GNFX23K3WPKH4JV21CJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i
=507846
Child Playing with Wooden Shape Sorting Clock [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wooden-shape-sorting-learning-clock
Cunningham, C., & Cunningham, C. (2006). Down syndrome: An introduction for parents and
carers. London: Souvenir.
Developmental Abilities of Down Syndrome Children vs Typical Children [Graph]. (2006).
Retrieved from http://http://www.dsmig.org.uk/pdf/downs3.pdf
Melissa & Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wooden-shape-sorting-learning-clock
Motivation and learning styles in young children with Down syndrome. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30,
2014, from http://www.down-syndrome.org/reports/113/?page=1
Simply Psychology. (n.d.). Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages. Retrieved June 30, 2014, from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Wooden Shape Sorting Clock [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wooden-shape-sorting-learning-clock
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