More Simple Things: What Little Kids Really Like to Play with Isn't High Tech

A young friend just posted a photo of her 8 month son on Facebook, showing the cherub playing with a spoon. Her comment: "He has all the toys imaginable but is happiest playing with a spooon. Go figure ! :)

One of her friends responded: "They ignore their toys, then you think you're not stimulating them enough so you go out and buy more, then they ignore those too! (My boy) will spend 45 minutes shredding a piece of paper and carefully hiding it around the house :) "

Too true, and maybe the importance of that kind of play is coming back on the radar:
The New York Times has a story today about the "a growing movement to restore the sometimes-untidy business of play to the lives of children." It goes on: "For several years, studies and statistics have been mounting that suggest the culture of play in the United States is vanishing. Children spend far too much time in front of a screen, educators and parents lament — 7 hours 38 minutes a day on average, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation last year."

So let's hear it for spoons and tiny pieces of paper!