Abstract

Play during childhood is essential to growth and learning. Little is known about whether categories of toys moderate play behaviors at different ages, or how children interact with toys that are simple, appropriate, or complex for their developmental level. Two hundred and forty-three children between the ages of 1 and 8 years, divided into four age groups, played with toys that were targeted to their age group as well as toys aimed at one age group younger and older. Toys fell into nine different categories. Whether children fully utilized each toy was evaluated. Analyses examined how children’s utilization of toys was affected by the age-appropriateness of the toy, the category of toy, and the child’s age. Considering all age groups and toys, children were less likely to fully utilize toys targeted toward older children than age-appropriate toys, but this effect was moderated by the toy category and the child’s age.

摘要

童年时期的游戏对于成长和学习至关重要。对于玩具类别是否会调节不同年龄段的游戏行为，或者儿童如何与适合其发展水平的简单、适当或复杂的玩具进行互动，人们知之甚少。243名年龄在1岁至8岁之间的儿童，被分为四个年龄段，玩着针对其年龄段的玩具以及针对更小的和更大的一个年龄段的玩具。玩具分为九个不同的类别。评估儿童是否充分利用每个玩具。分析研究了儿童对玩具的使用如何受到玩具的年龄适宜性、玩具类别和儿童年龄的影响。考虑到所有年龄段和玩具，与适合年龄的玩具相比，儿童充分利用针对年龄较大儿童的玩具的可能性较小，但这种影响受到玩具类别和儿童年龄的影响。