Give a child the right toy and you open up a world of imagination and creativity.
Parents, educators and child development experts are continuously looking for
ways to ignite a spark in children and to open up a child's mind to endless possibilities.
The colorful pieces in a Magtastik set can be the match to set off that spark.
Shari Siragusa, lead teacher of 4-year-olds at the Child Enrichment Center in
Katy, Texas, loves the bright colors and "fun look" of Magtastik toys and knew
they were something her class would be drawn to. "They looked like something the
children could use their imaginations with as they created various things with
the different shapes," says Siragusa, who has 18 years of experience working in
a preschool setting.
But there was something more important that she loved about Magtastik toys.
"The imagination is a wonderful thing, and any toy that fosters this gets an A+
in my book," says Siragusa. "Creativity is something to promote in everyone, especially
today's children. Our society seems to have moved away from this kind of imaginative
play. We are raising kids who are used to everything being handed to them in 'a
box' all ready to go, and they often find it difficult to use their imaginations.
These toys allow children to be creative, while learning about science as well."
Jennifer Goll, a childcare professional in California who has worked as a preschool
teacher and nanny, says toys should inspire children. "Kids need to make the toy
(and the play) their own and have it become familiar to them," Goll says.
Rae Pica, a children's movement specialist and author of
Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional and Cognitive Development
Through Age-Appropriate Activity (McGraw-Hill, 2003), says Magtastik toys inspire kids' imaginations. "A significant
factor in creativity is the ability to see beyond what already exists - to answer
the question 'What if...'" Pica says. "These toys foster that ability."
Plus, they "look really cool!" says Peggy Brown, a child development associate
at Holy Covenant Child Development Center in Katy, Texas. "[They are] very colorful
and inviting. I have a 9-year-old son that loves regular Magnetix, so I was impressed
to see a larger version and really liked the design of them." When Brown's preschool
class arrived, they immediately noticed the colorful additions to their classroom.
Brown liked the way the box gave children suggestions for structures to build
but says the way the pieces connect leaves a lot of flexibility to "do your own
thing." "One girl was building a puppy [and] she added extra eyes to the back,"
says Brown. "She said, 'Now, the puppy can see in front and behind him.'" The
children's imaginations did not stop there. "The children also expressed interest
in using the magnetic marbles from our science center to add to the Magtastik
toys. So they were interested in combining them with other things. They also seemed
to not mind using the 'dog' body as part of their space ship or the legs to be
levers in an invention."
The toys also stimulated conversation among the children. "They would work together
to put something together, play with it, then discuss and make decisions on how
to change it or add to it," Brown says. "There was a lot of talk going on at the
table about how the pieces could be combined, how the new invention would work,
ways to make it better. It was a constant process of build, play, build again."
There was a whole lot of talking going on in Siragusa's class as well. "As the
children created different things, they were eager to tell you about their creation,"
she says. "You could see their little minds working as they added more blocks
to create the finished product. They were talking to their friends while they
were building, explaining what they were making or what they wanted their friend
to make."
Goll says the children in her care were able to create animals and an environment
they could give life to. "When you give children something that they can build
(or something that can grow or change shape), a lot can happen," she says. "More
than one child can be included in the play, and their imaginations will work together
to produce many variations. I have found that children respond best to toys like
this, ones that offer both imaginative play and manipulative play."
Heather Ballard, a kindergarten teacher with 25 years' experience, was impressed
by the imagination going on in her classroom. "They are very engaging to the children,"
she says. "You could see them smile and try to outdo each other for the best design."
Though some of her students did just follow the pictures on the box, many created
"conceptual designs from their imagination," Ballard says. "Each child that used
the Magtastik came up with a different design. They were making up different
characteristics [and] animals. They were trying to make very silly things, which
used their imagination. They wanted to make something better than the children
before them. You can see that they were thinking outside the box, allowing the
right side of their brain to develop."
Pica says that due to their limitless possibilities, Magtastik toys lend themselves
to divergent production, a necessary component of critical and creative thinking.
"Too many toys today have only one possible use," she says. "Not only does that
ensure children will be bored with them quickly; it also promotes the misguided
belief that there's always one 'correct' answer."
The magnetic quality of the pieces - how they connected one way and repelled
another - opened the door for a science lesson in Siragusa's class. "This concept
is an interesting one and helps to further a child's curiosity and discovery,"
she says.
Ballard noticed the fascination with the magnetic quality as well. "They tried
to see how the things 'stuck,'" she says. "They tried to make their tower or toy taller than the child before. They were testing to see
how tall they could get the toy before it fell. Several children were trying to
figure out how they could change their tower to make it go taller. Many would
try - if it had three legs would it stand longer or did it need four legs. It
was a testing game to make it stronger."
Brown agrees that Magtastik toys are good for reinforcing science concepts,
as demonstrated by her students. "Two boys were 'racing' the cylinders," she says.
"They discovered that by holding one cylinder near another with the poles opposite,
they could make them roll across the table without touching them."
Siragusa liked that the toys worked on the children's fine motor skills. "In
order to pick up the pieces and put them together, the children had to use their
fine motor skills," she says. "The fingers had to grasp the small objects and
connect them together." Brown notes that they helped strengthen eye-hand coordination,
"and they won't get frustrated with trying to put them together and take them
apart, as this is easily accomplished," she says.
While many toys only encourage solo play or work best as a group activity, both
Brown and Siragusa gave Magtastik high points for being adaptable for both
kinds of play. "When I was talking with the children, I asked if they liked using
them with their friends," says Brown. "They all said 'yes.' One boy did say, 'If
I played with them alone, though, I could use all the pieces myself.'"
"At first the children were excited about building something together, but because
there weren't very many to choose from and they each had their own idea of what
they wanted to make, it became more of a solo play time," says Siragusa. "They
took turns so that one person could use more blocks, and this was a very positive
thing. Learning to share at age 4 and 5 is a very important skill."
What type of play Magtastik toys encourage depends on the child's stage of
development, says Pica. "If they're at the parallel-play stage, it will be strictly
solo play," she says. "If they're ready for cooperative play, they may well collaborate
on projects."
With Magtastik, Pica says solitary play, associative play, constructive play
and fantasy play are also possibilities. "Solitary play involves the child playing
alone with toys that are different from those used by nearby children," she says.
"With associative play, the children play together in that they engage in a similar activity and may share materials, etc., but
they each have their own individual goals. Constructive play involves handling
materials and objects for the purpose of constructing or building something. Fantasy
play is pretend play."
Darleen O'Brien, an occupational therapist and clinical director at Neurodevelopmental Therapy Services, Inc., (NTS) in Katy, Texas, used the toys
with several of her patients and felt they are great educational toys to help
promote learning. "[They are] educational due to the shapes/colors/promotion of
spatial awareness and visual motor integration," she says.
"Fun to play," was what 4-1/2-year-old Brynn said after playing with the toys.
O'Brien says the toy stimulated her positively with their bright colors and different
shapes, allowing the child to experiment with the pieces. "She preferred to build
herself, and she equally liked taking [them] apart due to the ease and [then]
reconstructing," O'Brien says. She felt Magtastik was a good toy for this particular
child because it promoted visual motor skills and facilitated creativity.
O'Brien had even more positive feedback from other patients. Five-year-old William
asked, "Can I have it?" after his time with the Magtastik toys. "He had lots
of questions about where he could get one and how long it would be available to
play with," says O'Brien. "He was engaged creatively. He like the geometric shapes,
and he experimented and organized shapes to create a 'city.' He was generally
positively influenced by this toy, and I could see him wanting [it] for home play!"
Another child, 3-1/2-year-old Ashton, exclaimed, "I can do it!" "She demonstrated
interest and independence with the objects," says O'Brien. "She wanted all out
of the bag quickly once she engaged with the [Magnimals] Monkey."
"I want to play more," said 5-year-old Ryan. "Ryan was very engaged with this
toy," says Janis Nelson, an occupational therapist at NTS in Katy, Texas. "He
preferred the animal pieces to the geometric pieces. I liked the bilateral component
to the toy as his therapist. I also noticed it encouraged good isolated finger
movement to rotate the pieces to orient before placement."
Whether in a classroom or in a medical facility, Magtastik toys sparked the imagination and creativity and brought on the fun for boys and girls. "My class really enjoyed
using the Magtastik toys," says Brown. "I look forward to keeping them out
as a regular activity. The most common thing said when I asked the children about
them was, 'These are so cool, we need more of them to build bigger, cooler things.'
And all the girls want the monkey!"
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