I don't know if you guys have heard, but when young children play with blocks and legos and things when they are younger it helps their brain development. You've also probably heard that boys score higher on average on the math sections while girls score higher on the reading comprehension side. We were wondering if this came from the type of toys they play with when they are younger. This article took the stance that legos and blocks just aren't as appealing to little girls. I know my brothers played with blocks and built massive lego fortresses, while I played with baby dolls and play-doh. I couldn't understand how my brothers did the things they did. I always wanted to build the things they did, but I could never successfully do it. Could this have affected our future scores?
The article says that legos are trying to gear more towards girls now by making them pink and the like. Will that really help though? Or is it truly in our genetics?
I'm interested in this, because I've been curious about the toys young children play with. I've been trying to get the little girl I babysit with to build similar things with blocks. She keeps taking on the first step which is to knock them down, but she hasn't built them back up yet.
Source: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/lego-goes-after-girls/
This is a really interesting question! I'm sure there would be many more toys you could work with, besides legos, too! Also, I know you want to do something related to kids, so this could be your opportunity! Good thinkin'!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool idea! I love legos although I could never make anything with them. You seem to love children and this would allow you to work on something that you are really interested in.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting! Its cool because it also goes along with your love of babies! I think this topic would teach you a lot about a subject you seem to really enjoy! Maybe I should have played with legos rather than stuffed dogs?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about this (sort of) the other day. My aunt let her kids watch "baby einsteins" when they were younger to help with their brain development. And of course we've all seen "your baby can read." Then usually we see some thing in the news later that says, surprise, these things will mess up your baby's brain. I think this forced "development" of babies would be something cool to look into.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could even research different types of testing and whether intelligent babies test better on different tests. I mean sure the ACT/SAT are helpful for colleges, but even colleges are starting to ignore them because they understand that they really don't show how a student will perform.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting! I never thought about if child development had anything to do with test scores! I think your love for babies and children can help you keep exploring this idea. Keep exploring!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of early development and figuring out what's beneficial and what's not. It would be cool to see if playing with certain toys influences your abilities.
ReplyDeleteEmily, this is a really interesting and cool idea! I know you love children and that's why child development would be a perfect thing for you to research. I played with barbie dolls and brats dolls all the time when I was little. Maybe if I had played with blocks instead I would've scored higher on my PSAT... Haha but anyways, this would be very interesting to research. I am eager to see where you take this idea.
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