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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Shopping for Tots? Keep it Simple, Santa

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Friday, December 17, 2010   

AUGUSTA, Maine - Those battery-operated, digital wonder toys have their place, but experts say the best way to help a young child develop creativity and imagination is to "keep it simple, Santa."

Filling and emptying a can of tennis balls can fascinate a toddler. A simple set of blocks can, too. Hundreds of do-it-yourself ideas and plans for easy, inexpensive toys can be found on the Internet.

For Dana Friedman, president of the Early Years Institute, the basic principle is "less is more."

"Anybody who's ever given a toy to an infant knows that they're going to play with the box rather than what's inside."

Joan Almon, executive director of the Alliance for Childhood, suggests parents consider avoiding high-tech toys entirely for children under age 5.

"You want play materials that are 90 percent child and only 10 percent defined. Meaning if a toy is really defined, as most electronic and battery-operated toys are today, there is very little room for the child's own imagination to come in."

These days, Friedman points out, children are "natives" in the digital world, while their parents are "immigrants." Before kids are immersed in computers and high-tech gadgets, she says their creative and imaginative "muscles" need to be developed and flexed.

"In most cases, a toy that uses technology is one-directional. It is a program that says 'if you do this, then you're going to get this result.' But this is not experimentation. This is not imagination. This is not what you want little minds to be doing."

Instead of something involving a screen a child can stare at, Friedman suggests a book of coupons, good for things like a trip to the ice cream store with dad, a special play-date with mom, a tour of the neighborhood holiday lights and other ways that allow adults to spend quality time with their children.



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