Toy critique free essay sample

Introduction The toy I have chosen is the Lego Deluxe Brick box for children aged four to seven years, which also includes miniature figures. Lego was first invented in 1947 in Denmark by a man named Ole Kirk Christiansen. The name Lego comes from the Danish word ‘LEgGOdt’ meaning play well. This toy is very popular with all children and is good for free play and can help a child to be creative. Lego comes under the category of table top area of play, and within this area table top play helps children to â€Å"Develop concepts of colour, size and shape. Group match and pair objects, Develop creative ways of using materials. Refine hand, eye coordination and visual discrimination. Learn how to work and co-operative with others through shared projects. Develop concentration† (Donohoe Gaynor, 2011, p. 95) Lego is also a learning toy that can teach children numbers, by counting bricks and create the things they see around them. Lego comes in different shapes, sizes and colour and gets children thinking about what to build. Lego bricks allow the children to develop their own ideas in the construction world and it also fosters the development of their social skills by interacting with one another as they build their houses or cars. â€Å"Using constructive toys (Lego) or constructive material allows children experience almost all early years’ mathematical concepts counting, matching, ordering, sorting, making and recognising pattern, shape and space† (Flood Hardy, 2013, p. 137) For this assignment I am going to do a rating scale from 1 to 5 and will be handing out the criteria to five parents at my local school. From that, I will assess the toy under each criterion giving reasons for my answers, I will also reflect on the adult’s role in relation to the toy (Lego) and make three recommendations to how the toy could be improved or modified. List of criteria Storage I will be seeing how easy Lego can be stored and if it needs much space. I also will be seeing how easy it is for children to store and put away. C E mark If the toy has the CE mark for safety and age range Development Values I will be looking to see if the toy will help the children with their Physical, Intellectual, Language, Emotional and Social development. Inclusive I will be looking to see if Lego is played by both boys and girls Play Value Does the toy keep the children engaged in play for long, is it fun and what can they do within this play. Durability I will be looking to see if Lego can with stand a lot of rough handling and if it will break easy or is it tough and durable. COST AVAILABILTY They are available in the following stores and cost: Argos â‚ ¬19. 99 Smiths â‚ ¬32. 99 Toy master â‚ ¬39. 99 Tesco â‚ ¬39. 99 ? RATING SCALE FOR LEGO BRICKS Rating scale LEGO12345 STORAGE (safety) C E MARK DEVELOPMENT VALUE PLAY VALUE DURABILITY (boy and girls) INCLUSIVE EVALUATION After assessing my rating scales and talking to the mothers from my school, I am now going to evaluate each criteria. STOAGE Lego comes in boxes and for this it is very easy to store on shelves, under tables or even in the corner. It is also very easy for children to put away into boxes and under tables. As Lego does have many parts often pieces would be left on table or dropped on the floor and could easily get lost. C E MARK All Lego boxes carry C E mark and also has the age range it is meant for. Lego is also very easy to wash as is plastic. Could be dangerous to young children if left or dropped on floor as some parts can be quite small and could fit into mouth and coarse children to choke DEVELOPMENT VALUES PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: is enhanced as their gross motor skills and fine motor skills improve. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT: is helped as Lego bricks can help with matching, sorting and counting. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: will help as children will name their building talk to their Lego animals or figures. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: promotes a sense of achievement for the child as the outcome of what they have built will boost their ego and self-esteem. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: children will interact with adults or other children in a group as they build their houses cars or farms as they pretend play. INCLUSIVE Lego is played by both girls and boys as they now come in many different colours and they have different themes to them, like My Little Pony for girls or Car City for boys. Lego still seems to be more popular with boys from the feedback I have received from the other parents from my local school. PLAY VALUE Lego Bricks allows the children to explore the environment by constructing their own houses, cars and farms. It is good with pretend play by talking to their toys or moving them from one house to another. It keeps them engaged in play for hours as they build different things. Lego bricks help the children to build and extend their knowledge, understanding and skills in a way that makes sense to them. DURABILITY Lego bricks are durable because it’s made out of thick plastic the plastic is very strong so they can withstand a lot of impact, rough handling, throwing, being stood on and still not break. The plastic is easily washed so is good for hygiene reason. RATING SCALE For my rating scale average I have added up each criteria and then divided each one by 5 to get my final average score. ? THE ROLE OF THE ADULT Within this role it is very important for the adult to encourage and offer to help the children in the building of the Lego; also you could offer to demonstrate on how to construct their house, car or farm. Children need to be supervised and helped with ideas of what they could build, also as adults we should listen and help them by showing and praising them on their built houses, cars and farms. â€Å"Effective adult-child interaction is essential to a successful early childhood programme. Research indicates that the way adults interact with children plays a very important role in children’s learning and development. These studies demonstrate that in classrooms where teachers are responsive, guiding, and nurturing, children take more initiative and are more likely to be actively involved and persistent in their work† (HIGHSCOPE, 2013). CONCLUSION The aim of this assignment was to assess my chosen toy (Lego) and asses it under six criteria’s, Storage, CE mark, Durability, Development value, Play value and Inclusive (boy/girl). I asked five parents from my local school to fill in a rating scale from one to five on each criterion. I then evaluated my finding, using both my rating scale analysing the Lego and using my secondary research to come up with my findings. I have found that Lego is a very popular toy that is easy to store away, it has the CE mark, and development values are very good it is also popular with both boys and girls is very durable. CONCLUSION TO PRIMARY RESEARCH After doing my toy critique and going over my rating scales and talking to the parents at my local school, I have found out that Lego is a very easy toy to store under or on a shelf, and can be pulled out to play with very easily, but as it has small parts some of the bricks or Lego figurers could easily be lost. The C E mark is clearly written on the box and states that not suitable for under 36 months as children under this age could choke on the bricks or mini figures. Lego bricks are very durable because it is made out of hard plastic that can with stand being thrown stood and kicked about it is also very easy to keep clean as the plastic is washable. Lego is very good when we talk about the Development values as it teaches children to explore the environment by constructing their own house, cars and farms. In addition to this, it helps children with their language as they play and talk to their mini figures other children or adults. As the children build their houses, farms or cars it will get them using their fine and gross motor skills and they will get a great sense of achievement from their built house. While they build it will get the children thinking about the different shapes sizes and colours the bricks come in. Lego is popular with both boys and girls but it seems that boys play with Lego a lot more than girls. This could be due to the fact that it is very much a constructive toy were a lot of building is required, and not so much playing until the house, farm or car is finished. Children will get hours of fun from Lego as they build and use their imagination to create different things from what they see in the world around them. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGES To have the cost be reduced as I have found that Lego is quite expensive, as often you will have to buy added parts to complete our houses or farms and in addition children will want many of the mini figures that are not included in the box set. Moulding letters and numbers on the brick to help the children with counting and recognising letters, also will get the children counting and recognising numbers for when they start school, and also help them to learn their alphabet. Changing the colours of the bricks from Primary to adding in Pastel colours will give the children more variety of colours, having brighter colours would make the Lego stand out more and get the children more interested in playing with it. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Aim Objectives Rational†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦3 List of criteria†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3/4 Rating Scale for Lego Bricks†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Evaluation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Role of the Adult†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Conclusion to primary research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8/9 Recommendations for changes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 ? Aim The aim of this assignment is to choose a toy and assess and examine it under various headings using both primary and secondary research. Objectives Compile a comprehensive checklist of assessment criteria with which to critique my chosen toy use the checklist to assess my chosen toy. Write up and evaluate my findings. Outline and evaluate the role of the adult in relation to the toy. Rationale To have a better understanding of the development and play values of a toy. To see how my chosen toy Lego stands up in relation to play and development values and if there are many changes required to improve it. Introduction The toy I have chosen is the Lego Deluxe Brick box for children aged four to seven years, which also includes miniature figures. Lego was first invented in 1947 in Denmark by a man named Ole Kirk Christiansen. The name Lego comes from the Danish word ‘LEgGOdt’ meaning play well. This toy is very popular with all children and is good for free play and can help a child to be creative. Lego comes under the category of table top area of play, and within this area table top play helps children to â€Å"Develop concepts of colour, size and shape. Group match and pair objects, Develop creative ways of using materials. Refine hand, eye coordination and visual discrimination. Learn how to work and co-operative with others through shared projects. Develop concentration† (Donohoe Gaynor, 2011, p. 95) Lego is also a learning toy that can teach children numbers, by counting bricks and create the things they see around them. Lego comes in different shapes, sizes and colour and gets children thinking about what to build. Lego bricks allow the children to develop their own ideas in the construction world and it also fosters the development of their social skills by interacting with one another as they build their houses or cars. â€Å"Using constructive toys (Lego) or constructive material allows children experience almost all early years’ mathematical concepts counting, matching, ordering, sorting, making and recognising pattern, shape and space† (Flood Hardy, 2013, p. 137) For this assignment I am going to do a rating scale from 1 to 5 and will be handing out the criteria to five parents at my local school. From that, I will assess the toy under each criterion giving reasons for my answers, I will also reflect on the adult’s role in relation to the toy (Lego) and make three recommendations to how the toy could be improved or modified. List of criteria Storage I will be seeing how easy Lego can be stored and if it needs much space. I also will be seeing how easy it is for children to store and put away. C E mark If the toy has the CE mark for safety and age range Development Values I will be looking to see if the toy will help the children with their Physical, Intellectual, Language, Emotional and Social development. Inclusive I will be looking to see if Lego is played by both boys and girls Play Value Does the toy keep the children engaged in play for long, is it fun and what can they do within this play. Durability I will be looking to see if Lego can with stand a lot of rough handling and if it will break easy or is it tough and durable. COST AVAILABILTY They are available in the following stores and cost: Argos â‚ ¬19. 99 Smiths â‚ ¬32. 99 Toy master â‚ ¬39. 99 Tesco â‚ ¬39. 99 ? RATING SCALE FOR LEGO BRICKS Rating scale LEGO12345 STORAGE (safety) C E MARK DEVELOPMENT VALUE PLAY VALUE DURABILITY (boy and girls) INCLUSIVE EVALUATION After assessing my rating scales and talking to the mothers from my school, I am now going to evaluate each criteria. STOAGE Lego comes in boxes and for this it is very easy to store on shelves, under tables or even in the corner. It is also very easy for children to put away into boxes and under tables. As Lego does have many parts often pieces would be left on table or dropped on the floor and could easily get lost. C E MARK All Lego boxes carry C E mark and also has the age range it is meant for. Lego is also very easy to wash as is plastic. Could be dangerous to young children if left or dropped on floor as some parts can be quite small and could fit into mouth and coarse children to choke DEVELOPMENT VALUES PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: is enhanced as their gross motor skills and fine motor skills improve. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT: is helped as Lego bricks can help with matching, sorting and counting. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: will help as children will name their building talk to their Lego animals or figures. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: promotes a sense of achievement for the child as the outcome of what they have built will boost their ego and self-esteem. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: children will interact with adults or other children in a group as they build their houses cars or farms as they pretend play. INCLUSIVE Lego is played by both girls and boys as they now come in many different colours and they have different themes to them, like My Little Pony for girls or Car City for boys. Lego still seems to be more popular with boys from the feedback I have received from the other parents from my local school. PLAY VALUE Lego Bricks allows the children to explore the environment by constructing their own houses, cars and farms. It is good with pretend play by talking to their toys or moving them from one house to another. It keeps them engaged in play for hours as they build different things. Lego bricks help the children to build and extend their knowledge, understanding and skills in a way that makes sense to them. DURABILITY Lego bricks are durable because it’s made out of thick plastic the plastic is very strong so they can withstand a lot of impact, rough handling, throwing, being stood on and still not break. The plastic is easily washed so is good for hygiene reason. RATING SCALE For my rating scale average I have added up each criteria and then divided each one by 5 to get my final average score. ? THE ROLE OF THE ADULT Within this role it is very important for the adult to encourage and offer to help the children in the building of the Lego; also you could offer to demonstrate on how to construct their house, car or farm. Children need to be supervised and helped with ideas of what they could build, also as adults we should listen and help them by showing and praising them on their built houses, cars and farms. â€Å"Effective adult-child interaction is essential to a successful early childhood programme. Research indicates that the way adults interact with children plays a very important role in children’s learning and development. These studies demonstrate that in classrooms where teachers are responsive, guiding, and nurturing, children take more initiative and are more likely to be actively involved and persistent in their work† (HIGHSCOPE, 2013). CONCLUSION The aim of this assignment was to assess my chosen toy (Lego) and asses it under six criteria’s, Storage, CE mark, Durability, Development value, Play value and Inclusive (boy/girl). I asked five parents from my local school to fill in a rating scale from one to five on each criterion. I then evaluated my finding, using both my rating scale analysing the Lego and using my secondary research to come up with my findings. I have found that Lego is a very popular toy that is easy to store away, it has the CE mark, and development values are very good it is also popular with both boys and girls is very durable. CONCLUSION TO PRIMARY RESEARCH After doing my toy critique and going over my rating scales and talking to the parents at my local school, I have found out that Lego is a very easy toy to store under or on a shelf, and can be pulled out to play with very easily, but as it has small parts some of the bricks or Lego figurers could easily be lost. The C E mark is clearly written on the box and states that not suitable for under 36 months as children under this age could choke on the bricks or mini figures. Lego bricks are very durable because it is made out of hard plastic that can with stand being thrown stood and kicked about it is also very easy to keep clean as the plastic is washable. Lego is very good when we talk about the Development values as it teaches children to explore the environment by constructing their own house, cars and farms. In addition to this, it helps children with their language as they play and talk to their mini figures other children or adults. As the children build their houses, farms or cars it will get them using their fine and gross motor skills and they will get a great sense of achievement from their built house. While they build it will get the children thinking about the different shapes sizes and colours the bricks come in. Lego is popular with both boys and girls but it seems that boys play with Lego a lot more than girls. This could be due to the fact that it is very much a constructive toy were a lot of building is required, and not so much playing until the house, farm or car is finished. Children will get hours of fun from Lego as they build and use their imagination to create different things from what they see in the world around them. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGES To have the cost be reduced as I have found that Lego is quite expensive, as often you will have to buy added parts to complete our houses or farms and in addition children will want many of the mini figures that are not included in the box set. Moulding letters and numbers on the brick to help the children with counting and recognising letters, also will get the children counting and recognising numbers for when they start school, and also help them to learn their alphabet. Changing the colours of the bricks from Primary to adding in Pastel colours will give the children more variety of colours, having brighter colours would make the Lego stand out more and get the children more interested in playing with it. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Aim Objectives Rational†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦3 List of criteria†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3/4 Rating Scale for Lego Bricks†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Evaluation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Role of the Adult†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Conclusion to primary research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8/9 Recommendations for changes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 ? Aim The aim of this assignment is to choose a toy and assess and examine it under various headings using both primary and secondary research. Objectives Compile a comprehensive checklist of assessment criteria with which to critique my chosen toy use the checklist to assess my chosen toy. Write up and evaluate my findings. Outline and evaluate the role of the adult in relation to the toy. Rationale To have a better understanding of the development and play values of a toy. To see how my chosen toy Lego stands up in relation to play and development values and if there are many changes required to improve it. Introduction The toy I have chosen is the Lego Deluxe Brick box for children aged four to seven years, which also includes miniature figures. Lego was first invented in 1947 in Denmark by a man named Ole Kirk Christiansen. The name Lego comes from the Danish word ‘LEgGOdt’ meaning play well. This toy is very popular with all children and is good for free play and can help a child to be creative. Lego comes under the category of table top area of play, and within this area table top play helps children to â€Å"Develop concepts of colour, size and shape. Group match and pair objects, Develop creative ways of using materials. Refine hand, eye coordination and visual discrimination. Learn how to work and co-operative with others through shared projects. Develop concentration† (Donohoe Gaynor, 2011, p. 95) Lego is also a learning toy that can teach children numbers, by counting bricks and create the things they see around them. Lego comes in different shapes, sizes and colour and gets children thinking about what to build. Lego bricks allow the children to develop their own ideas in the construction world and it also fosters the development of their social skills by interacting with one another as they build their houses or cars. â€Å"Using constructive toys (Lego) or constructive material allows children experience almost all early years’ mathematical concepts counting, matching, ordering, sorting, making and recognising pattern, shape and space† (Flood Hardy, 2013, p. 137) For this assignment I am going to do a rating scale from 1 to 5 and will be handing out the criteria to five parents at my local school. From that, I will assess the toy under each criterion giving reasons for my answers, I will also reflect on the adult’s role in relation to the toy (Lego) and make three recommendations to how the toy could be improved or modified. List of criteria Storage I will be seeing how easy Lego can be stored and if it needs much space. I also will be seeing how easy it is for children to store and put away. C E mark If the toy has the CE mark for safety and age range Development Values I will be looking to see if the toy will help the children with their Physical, Intellectual, Language, Emotional and Social development. Inclusive I will be looking to see if Lego is played by both boys and girls Play Value Does the toy keep the children engaged in play for long, is it fun and what can they do within this play. Durability I will be looking to see if Lego can with stand a lot of rough handling and if it will break easy or is it tough and durable. COST AVAILABILTY They are available in the following stores and cost: Argos â‚ ¬19. 99 Smiths â‚ ¬32. 99 Toy master â‚ ¬39. 99 Tesco â‚ ¬39. 99 ? RATING SCALE FOR LEGO BRICKS Rating scale LEGO12345 STORAGE (safety) C E MARK DEVELOPMENT VALUE PLAY VALUE DURABILITY (boy and girls) INCLUSIVE EVALUATION After assessing my rating scales and talking to the mothers from my school, I am now going to evaluate each criteria. STOAGE Lego comes in boxes and for this it is very easy to store on shelves, under tables or even in the corner. It is also very easy for children to put away into boxes and under tables. As Lego does have many parts often pieces would be left on table or dropped on the floor and could easily get lost. C E MARK All Lego boxes carry C E mark and also has the age range it is meant for. Lego is also very easy to wash as is plastic. Could be dangerous to young children if left or dropped on floor as some parts can be quite small and could fit into mouth and coarse children to choke DEVELOPMENT VALUES PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: is enhanced as their gross motor skills and fine motor skills improve. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT: is helped as Lego bricks can help with matching, sorting and counting. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: will help as children will name their building talk to their Lego animals or figures. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: promotes a sense of achievement for the child as the outcome of what they have built will boost their ego and self-esteem. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: children will interact with adults or other children in a group as they build their houses cars or farms as they pretend play. INCLUSIVE Lego is played by both girls and boys as they now come in many different colours and they have different themes to them, like My Little Pony for girls or Car City for boys. Lego still seems to be more popular with boys from the feedback I have received from the other parents from my local school. PLAY VALUE Lego Bricks allows the children to explore the environment by constructing their own houses, cars and farms. It is good with pretend play by talking to their toys or moving them from one house to another. It keeps them engaged in play for hours as they build different things. Lego bricks help the children to build and extend their knowledge, understanding and skills in a way that makes sense to them. DURABILITY Lego bricks are durable because it’s made out of thick plastic the plastic is very strong so they can withstand a lot of impact, rough handling, throwing, being stood on and still not break. The plastic is easily washed so is good for hygiene reason. RATING SCALE For my rating scale average I have added up each criteria and then divided each one by 5 to get my final average score. ? THE ROLE OF THE ADULT Within this role it is very important for the adult to encourage and offer to help the children in the building of the Lego; also you could offer to demonstrate on how to construct their house, car or farm. Children need to be supervised and helped with ideas of what they could build, also as adults we should listen and help them by showing and praising them on their built houses, cars and farms. â€Å"Effective adult-child interaction is essential to a successful early childhood programme. Research indicates that the way adults interact with children plays a very important role in children’s learning and development. These studies demonstrate that in classrooms where teachers are responsive, guiding, and nurturing, children take more initiative and are more likely to be actively involved and persistent in their work† (HIGHSCOPE, 2013). CONCLUSION The aim of this assignment was to assess my chosen toy (Lego) and asses it under six criteria’s, Storage, CE mark, Durability, Development value, Play value and Inclusive (boy/girl). I asked five parents from my local school to fill in a rating scale from one to five on each criterion. I then evaluated my finding, using both my rating scale analysing the Lego and using my secondary research to come up with my findings. I have found that Lego is a very popular toy that is easy to store away, it has the CE mark, and development values are very good it is also popular with both boys and girls is very durable. CONCLUSION TO PRIMARY RESEARCH After doing my toy critique and going over my rating scales and talking to the parents at my local school, I have found out that Lego is a very easy toy to store under or on a shelf, and can be pulled out to play with very easily, but as it has small parts some of the bricks or Lego figurers could easily be lost. The C E mark is clearly written on the box and states that not suitable for under 36 months as children under this age could choke on the bricks or mini figures. Lego bricks are very durable because it is made out of hard plastic that can with stand being thrown stood and kicked about it is also very easy to keep clean as the plastic is washable. Lego is very good when we talk about the Development values as it teaches children to explore the environment by constructing their own house, cars and farms. In addition to this, it helps children with their language as they play and talk to their mini figures other children or adults. As the children build their houses, farms or cars it will get them using their fine and gross motor skills and they will get a great sense of achievement from their built house. While they build it will get the children thinking about the different shapes sizes and colours the bricks come in. Lego is popular with both boys and girls but it seems that boys play with Lego a lot more than girls. This could be due to the fact that it is very much a constructive toy were a lot of building is required, and not so much playing until the house, farm or car is finished. Children will get hours of fun from Lego as they build and use their imagination to create different things from what they see in the world around them. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGES To have the cost be reduced as I have found that Lego is quite expensive, as often you will have to buy added parts to complete our houses or farms and in addition children will want many of the mini figures that are not included in the box set. Moulding letters and numbers on the brick to help the children with counting and recognising letters, also will get the children counting and recognising numbers for when they start school, and also help them to learn their alphabet. Changing the colours of the bricks from Primary to adding in Pastel colours will give the children more variety of colours, having brighter colours would make the Lego stand out more and get the children more interested in playing with it. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Aim Objectives Rational†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦3 List of criteria†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3/4 Rating Scale for Lego Bricks†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Evaluation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Role of the Adult†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Conclusion to primary research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8/9 Recommendations for changes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 ? Aim The aim of this assignment is to choose a toy and assess and examine it under various headings using both primary and secondary research. Objectives Compile a comprehensive checklist of assessment criteria with which to critique my chosen toy use the checklist to assess my chosen toy. Write up and evaluate my findings. Outline and evaluate the role of the adult in relation to the toy. Rationale To have a better understanding of the development and play values of a toy. To see how my chosen toy Lego stands up in relation to play and development values and if there are many changes required to improve it. Introduction The toy I have chosen is the Lego Deluxe Brick box for children aged four to seven years, which also includes miniature figures. Lego was first invented in 1947 in Denmark by a man named Ole Kirk Christiansen. The name Lego comes from the Danish word ‘LEgGOdt’ meaning play well. This toy is very popular with all children and is good for free play and can help a child to be creative. Lego comes under the category of table top area of play, and within this area table top play helps children to â€Å"Develop concepts of colour, size and shape. Group match and pair objects, Develop creative ways of using materials. Refine hand, eye coordination and visual discrimination. Learn how to work and co-operative with others through shared projects. Develop concentration† (Donohoe Gaynor, 2011, p. 95) Lego is also a learning toy that can teach children numbers, by counting bricks and create the things they see around them. Lego comes in different shapes, sizes and colour and gets children thinking about what to build. Lego bricks allow the children to develop their own ideas in the construction world and i