A preschool teacher took away the toys in his classroom & gave the kids empty boxes - happy kids

[Liberal_in_LA]

video at link

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#/video/bestoftv/2012/11/21/wcmh-teacher-replaces-toys-with-boxes.wcmh

Lose the toys -- kids happy with boxes

A preschool teacher took away the toys in his classroom and was surprised to receive zero complaints.



Preschool Ditches Brand-Name Toys for Cardboard Boxes, Shocked to Discover That Kids Don’t Care
Neetzan Zimmerman

When a preschool teacher in Ohio decided to replace all the toys and learning materials in the class with cardboard boxes and other raw materials, he expected some grumbling from his three-year-old students.

Much to his surprise, he received none whatsoever.

"Not one of them complained about not having a toys and it was actually really cool because some of the quieter kids actually got to show leadership roles in projects," Pete Kaser told NBC

http://gawker.com/5962237/preschool-ditches-brand+name-toys-for-cardboard-boxes-shocked-to-discover-that-kids-dont-care

[valerief]

1. Homelessness training? nt

[Journeyman]

5. Quite an imagination you have, valerief. Did you create your own play with random items as a child?…

[valerief]

19. Oh, yes. I was always the one who wanted to "put on plays" on the spot.

Unfortunately, everyone else wanted to play sports or dolls.

[Skidmore]

9. Why immediately go to that space?

When my oldest grandchild was very small, he didn't understand how to play with a toy that didn't "do" something. I had a talk with my daughter about going back to basics and putting up most of the overly technical toys so ho could exercise his imagination. It was worth the deprivation for a little guy who was an only child at the time.

[valerief]

18. I'm old. We played with balls and sticks when I was a kid. Or else

we made up stories and acted them out.

(My browser won't play the CNN clip--Flash crash--so I can't see the video.)

[Posteritatis]

40. Cardboard boxes, a bucket of Legos, and another bucket of Construx and I was good to go.

(I still miss Construx. There is no justice.)

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. I never understood the draw of those "overly technical" toys like Teddy Ruxpin

Teddy Ruxpin was that talking / reading toy - robotic bear. Where was the imagination in playing with that thing. You couldn't really "play" with it.

[Posteritatis]

41. I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that I liked the cartoon, at least. (nt)

[Drale]

2. Kids love boxes

Its makes them use their imagination.

P.S. Cats also like boxes lol

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. cats looooove boxes and bags

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Which reinforces my belief

that cats are very much like small children - or vice versa.

[dlwickham]

28. both are evil little creatures?

at least my cats are and my niece and nephew were fairly evil-my niece more so than my nephew

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. They are, indeed, evil little creatures.

Each species has its own particular form of evil, however. Cats can't draw on your walls with Magic Markers, but small children don't have fangs and claws and they can't jump five times their own height. Pick your poison.

[dlwickham]

38. decisions decisions

[JDPriestly]

14. Yes. It's the caveman instinct. I'm convinced of that.

They try to get in them, sit in them, sit on them, stand in them, stand on them (not always a good idea depending on the box) and fight over them.

Other items that toddlers love: pots and pans and plastic bowls, the vacuum cleaner hose, worms, bugs of any sort, flowers, leaves, rocks pieces of wood (although less than the other items on my list). When my kids were small, we simply could not afford very many fancy or even not so fancy toys. They had a great time because I took anything that could hurt them out of the lower kitchen cabinets and let them have a go at what they could find.

You need to be careful about small children with a metal pot in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. A hazard to your eardrums.

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. Something about needing a quiet dark private space of one's own.

[Sadiedog]

4. As a parent and a preschool teacher I have known this for a long time.

However it will get old eventually so I bring the boxes out for novelty and then when interest wanes back come the other toys. In fact just last week we created a wonderful fort with the boxes that our new play kitchen came in.

[randome]

7. How about extra-jumbo sized Lego blocks?

They could probably construct their own toys out of those.

[Sadiedog]

23. Yes indeed!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. One of the highlights of my childhood was when

my parents bought a new refrigerator. We didn't care about the fridge, but it came in a HUGE box. Best fort ever.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. They don't come in boxes anymore, do they? Washer /dryers use to have kid friendly boxes also.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. I think some of them still do, and I know washers and dryers do

because I just bought a washer/dryer pair this summer. They came in boxes, which we tore up and recycled. No forts this time.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. ok. When Sears or whoever delivered my stuff, no box. maybe they left them in the truck.

[dlwickham]

29. when my mom got her new stove

the delivery people took the box with them

[gollygee]

31. We got one with a stove not long ago

We kept it for a long time in my older kid's room. They LOVED it. It got tons of use and was drawn on and played in for ages. Eventually it was time for it to be recycled, but not until it had been the favorite toy for a good long time.

[elfin]

11. Something a grandparent just " knows "

For my 3 year old grandson. Saved a huge box from a washer delivery. Got some white butcher paper rolls and tape. Together, we made an igloo and decorated with snowflake stencils. Then read a library book about a polar bear while we cuddled in the igloo and chatted about cold things.

[lunatica]

24. Rolls of white butcher paper or just plain brown paper are great for art

Who needs fancy paper when you've got a handful of crayons and blank paper inviting you to fill it with something!

If I was a kindergarten teacher I would make sure that there was a long piece of drawing paper from a roll around the classroom tacked up at their level and any child who wanted to draw on it could just do it at any time.

[libdem4life]

12. The other clever idea is to put all your pots and pans on lower shelves and take off the kiddie lock

The at home little ones will entertain themselves for hours...and all Mom has to do is put them back on the shelves.

[Lugnut]

21. My son loved to play with pots.

I'd give him a wooden spoon and he'd amuse himself for at least an hour.

[monmouth3]

22. When I was little (early '40s) Christmas was always joyous. However after the hoopla was over I

went right back to the pot with the clothespins in it and had a happy day...LOL..

[Lugnut]

42. Kids make do with what they have if they're allowed to.

Clothespins were great toys and they made a bit of racket in a pot.

[LeftishBrit]

27. Oh yes, kids love pots and pans

When my cousin's little boy was about 1, he spent an entire visit trying to stand in one of my pots, for which he was JUST too small, but it kept him very absorbed!

[JI7]

13. is this a rare thing these days ?

for kids to just pick up a cardboard box, maybe some sticks from trees etc and just make up something on their own and play ?

can kids (or anyone else) stand to be able to be away from their phones for even a couple hours without needing to check ?

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. I think it's getting rare. Kids I know have starter netbooks at a very young age, electronic

devices. The they have are very detailed.

[condoleeza]

25. My kids and their cousins

could play for days under my expanded dining room table with blankets over it. They made tunnels into it out of cardboard and literally created worlds and wrote stories about their "fort". We just let them own the place and it's still their fondest memories of being together as kids. By age, they are now a software engineer, a published medical researcher, a jewelry designer, an actress/comedian/children's book writer, all successful. I couldn't afford toys, they didn't need them to be creative. I have tape recordings of them playing and they are awesome.

[LeftishBrit]

26. Toddlers often play with the boxes and wrapping paper, more than with the toys!

[GodlessBiker]

30. It's like my cat. He'll go for the crumbled piece of paper ...

... over the fancy store-bought toy every time.

[Cleita]

33. Mine likes shoe laces and paper bags. He won't play with any store bought toys or

balls. Just put some shoe laces in a paper bag or drape them over door knobs. Hours of entertainment for him.

[Moral Compass]

32. Boxes and String/Shovels and Wood

I had more fun with cardboard boxes and string than I ever had with a regular toy. Regular toys only do whatever it is that they do and then that's it. Raw materials and a few basic tools (when you get older) and you can make things.

I remember a big cardboard box that a refrigerator came in when I was five. This box became a playhouse until my mother decided having huge cardboard box in the living room wasn't cool... I was so steamed when she threw it out.

So, I'm not surprised at the lack of complaint. Or about the teacher's comment about the kids doing "projects". Kids will naturally build things if you give them half a chance.

[struggle4progress]

34. I loved boxes as a kid!

[southernyankeebelle]

36. How funny. I have a box that a lawnmower was in. My grandkids love it and play with

it all the time. They spend hours and besides that they have a box with their toys. They are doing what we did as kids. Loved it.

[gkhouston]

39. How long has this guy been a preschool teacher, if this is a surprise to him?

Kids and boxes is pretty much a universal, IMO.