A Fresh Look at Play-Objects: Clues for Art Teaching

Author(s): Bernard Schwartz

Source: Art Education , Jan., 1973, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), pp. 6-9
Published by: National Art Education Association

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3191783

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 A FRESH LOOK AT PIAY-OBJECS:
CWES FOR ART TEACHING
Bernard Schwartz
of play and games. The studies of Brian Sutton-Smith suggest
Play in one form or another is found in every human that games are a form of learning which offer the child
society and among a great many animal species. From an- acquaintance and experience in an abstracted and
thropological and historical studies we know that the fairly crystallized version of human relationships, particularly
arbitrary dualism between work and play that has charac- those which have to do with strategies of asserting power
terized the treatment of these activities in the Western over others in his culture.
world during the past several hundred years has notMuch
beenhas been written about kinds of play and game
their causes and consequences, their functions and valu
typical of mankind in general. Today we commonly support
the idea that with the young child "his play is his work in human
and behavior. Play is seen in the life of the child as
his work is his play." vastly rich, encompassing, and relevant to the developmen
A great deal of theoretical attention has been paid to of play
his emotional, intellectual, aesthetic, imaginative, socia
not only as a behavioral phenomenon but also as a develop- perceptual, and physical growth and well being. And
mental one with distinctive sequences. Erik Erikson, well beyond these instrumental contributions of play associated
known for his recent contributions to the theory of play, with learning, exploratory behavior, manipulative skill
identifies three stages of play. mastery; symbolic activity of wish fulfillment, fantasy,
Autocosmic play, begins with and centers on the child's dramatic play, and role playing; the socialization processes;
own body. The child is exploring through repetition of sen- release of physical, emotional, and mental tension and
sual perceptions, kinesthetic sensations, vocalizations, and energy through expression of forms of aggression, fear,
so forth. Following this the child plays with people and anxiety, love, joy, hope, and so forth; or the acknowledged
things. Such might be interplay with the mother in exploring professional use of play for diagnostic and therapeutic pur-
the contours of her face or playfully crying to ascertain what poses, there remains a fundamental consideration-play is
kind of response is obtained. inherently valuable for purely its own sake. Witness the self-
The microsphere follows, the small world of manageable direction, freedom, spontaneity, utter absorption, and con-
toys, is a secure place established by the child to return to centration of the youngster who finds potential amusement,
when he needs to "overhaul his ego" after experiences in diversion, pleasure, or fun in his play.
the larger world. Pleasurable and successful experiences in The foregoing discussion provides major clues for art
mastering this small world of toys and things become teaching practice. Through a fresh and incisive look at the
associated with similar events in the larger world. phenomenon of children's play, a powerful case could be
The third stage of playfulness, the macrosphere, the world made that teaching and learning in the schools can be
shared with others, is reached at nursery school age. People enhanced by making more explicit and cultivating the play
at first are treated as things. Learning is necessary for under- element in learning. This, of course, is a concept against
standing what play content is appropriate for each of the which the typical school culture is heavily loaded. In so
three spheres of play; each sphere then is distinguished by doing, the art teacher would be supporting the concept of
its own sense of reality and mastery. Opportunity for solitary school as a place where the behaviors of play, fun, and en-
play continues to remain indispensable for the child. "For to joyment and the behaviors of working, making, and
'play it out' is the most natural self-healing measure producing (the school as a productive institution) would be
childhood affords." Thus Erikson's theory of the child's play developed harmoniously at all levels. This is not a par-
is that of "the infantile form of the human ability to deal ticularly profound or new idea since this has been a fun-
with experience by creating model situations and to master damental component in the thinking of John Dewey and
reality by experiment and planning." others. Unfortunately, however, the pervasive concept of
There are several other influential contemporary con- school is that it is a productive institution, one where play
tributors to the concept of play and games whose work and work are incompatible, except for educating the very
merits the attention of those concerned about children. young.
Notably among these is Piaget who contends that play Theisnature
a of toys is intimately related to the child's play.
form of thought which is especially necessary duringBalls early
as a plaything, for example, are extremely ancient,
childhood when realistic forms of thought are not available. perhaps among one of the earliest toys to evolve. Curiously,
He identifies a sequence of three broad categories: sensory- most all of the types of modern toys were discernible during
motor play, symbolic play, and rule games in which thehe
time of the Egyptians. Since then there have been no
provides an elaborate account of the child's play. Bruner fundamental changes except for the major technological ad-
and others see learning taking place as a result of what vances is
in toy manufacture, but there have been significant
currently considered play and game simulation. In his changes in the adult attitude toward the child. In this article
fascinating work Caillois developed a typology of play in attention to toys is primarily on mass produced, store
which a great number of games were classified under four bought toys rather than handmade, one-of-a-kind toys con-
major rubrics: ag6n (competition), alea (change), mimicry structed at home or made by craftsmen. These are the toys
(simulation), and ilinx (vertigo), in an attempt to better un- we adults ostensibly buy for our children but which, in fact,
derstand the nature of culture through a cross-cultural study we often buy for ourselves.

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 That to design a good toy is extremely difficult became ap-
parent to the visual artists who were asked to design a toy
according to what a toy meant to each one for the unusual
exhibition Play Orbit, organized by The Institute of Contem-
porary Arts, London, England. It is illuminating to see the
four main categories of toys conceived by the artists and
representative examples: (1) a toy as something that must in-
volve participation in its construction, such as an object or
series of forms that a child makes himself from a series of
tising, buildings, interiors, and industrial designed consumer
ready-made elements (puzzles, construction kits, etc.), (2)
products
a of every kind (e.g. automobiles, telephones, furn-
toy as an object of pleasure and fun, a depository for
imagination, with which one cannot actually do very much,
but which is simply nice to have around (stuffed animals,
objects that may act as companions to the child or
decorations in a room, etc.), (3) a toy as an environment
which enables a child to create his own situations within it
(space frames, tents, etc.), (4) a toy as an object withmental
of which we can simulate real-life situations (toy transpor-
tation vehicles, toy household equipment, etc.). A which
similar exhibition currently is being organized here with
Edmonton Art Gallery (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and
reflects the interest of art galleries and museums in this area. from children's expressive paintings and constructions to
A unique venture of superb promise, at least to this
writer, is the founding of the new Toymakers Co-operative.
On the premise that "few children's toys combine the
elements of surprise, participation, and inventiveness, and
even fewer explore fully the possibilities of engaging the
imagination," their aim is to "produce toys and things which
involve an educational component, which give pleasure, are
original, superbly made and well designed." Artists from all
over the world including persons of international acclaim
such as Alexander Calder, Isamu Noguchi, Victor Vasarely,
Claes Oldenburg, Bruno Munari, Max Bill, Lynn Chadwick,
and Jean Tinguely, have been invited to invent a toy and
produce the prototype. Research information on children's
play from birth to eight years of age, from the work of
eminent child psychologists, will be provided each artist.
The toys are expected to be produced commercially in
unlimited quantities, sold as inexpensively as possible in
one source in each major city, and exhibited to the public in
art musems.
Today there exist numerous professional educational
organizations, non-profit volunteer groups, parents, and
other interested individuals actively working toward im-
proving the quality of toys available on the market.
Highlighting current issues are concern with safety factors, ture of the adult world of art serve as but one source of
exploitation of children through the mass media, particularly
television, and stereotying of sex roles in society. Wolff and elementary classrooms today, are needed for modifying a
Feinbloom have alerted pediatricians to the very lack of per- assembling such materials using an assortment of nails an
suasive evidence from research which would account for
claims that "scientifically designed toys" have "educational"
merit (beyond the household items usually available aluminum
fants) in terms of stimulating cognitive development
the "critical periods" of learning prior to two years bring
Thus, they have signaled a note of caution regarding many
of the outcomes of an "infant development market"different
of course, has great commercial possibilities.
Educators and parents are volume buyers of toys in
big business of toy manufacture and merchandising.
Through the kinds of toys they purchase for youngsters in
schools and homes, they can substantially influence the
nature of toys initially designed, mass produced, and made
available across the nation. Their informed demands for
quality can generate favorable results as may currently
seen in other aspects of the consumer arena. Understanding
children and their play would seem to offer the most
propriate criteria in the design and selection of theirown
Current conceptions of school art programs suggestonthat
they offer youngsters a range of experiences in perceiving,
making, knowing, and choosing in art. A spectrum of
behaviors are developed through activities in creating art by
working with art media and tools and in understanding and
appreciating art through activities in looking, talking,
reading, and discussing art, both past and present. As a reac-
tion to programs involving creating and expressing primarily
through studio art activities, current directions are giving in-
creased attention to developing critical perceptual and
linguistic abilities through experiences in describing, analyz-
ing, interpreting, and evaluating works of art which include
painting, sculpture, graphics, crafts, as well as adver-
the wearing apparel, kitchenware, lighting, and many
iture,
other products). Much interest is directed to consumer arts,
those mass-produced utilitarian objects shaped by industrial
designers and used by all of us, with a view toward
developing an intelligent consumer public. Furthermore, at
present there appears to be interest and activity in environ-
the aid education as it pertains to architecture, urban plan-
ning, ecology, and problems of environmental pollution
rather is encouraging multi-disciplinary studies, bridging art
by themany other school subject areas.
Why not begin with children's toys? Rather than leaping
examining the mass-produced products of the adult con-
sumer's environment, a most natural beginning for the study
by elementary age youngsters of machine-made, mass-
produced obects would be the commercially available toys
which children themselves own. Beginning with the child's
own toys seems to offer a more appropriate transition as
well as all of the advantages of maximizing on his interest,
personal experience, understanding, enjoyment, and many
of his associations which toys have with play.
Art teachers could provide children with a multitude of
challenging possibilities if a unit on toys were developed in-
volving a variety of activities from creatively designing toys
to critically responding to manufactured toys as consumer
products. For example, children can fashion play objects
from discarded found materials: cardboard boxes and tubes,
thread spools, soda straws and toothpicks, wire of various
gauges, string and rubber bands, tin cans and bottle caps,
scraps of soft wood and dowels, fabric odds-and-ends,
beads and buttons, assorted bits and pieces of plastics,
workings from watches, clocks, machinery. Some children
with a scientific bent may apply their knowledge and in-
terest in electronics by incorporating elements of light and
motion in their toys. Current kinetic and multimedia sculp-
reference. A small variety of hand tools, not uncommon
screws, adhesives, paper clips and fasteners, staple gun an
perhaps the popular, inexpensive "Pop" tool employing
to in- rivets. Water-based paints for the youngest
children
during and enamel or spray paints for older children help
of age.projects to completion.
Particular toy-making problems can be posed, focusing on
which, kinds of toys children can create. Nurturing the
child's capacity for the unique response by stimulating his
sense of wonder of what a toy can be could, of course, be a
this
highly desirable aspect of any design problem. Children
should have opportunities of exploring approaches in-
volving individual and team activity, undertaking
background research, idea sketching, even building scale
models prior to fabricating more ambitious, time-
consuming,
be large-scale ventures. Is it inconceivable that
youngsters might engage in a thorough job of designing an
outdoorap- play sculpture or environmental structure for their
school or community playground, to be constructed
toys.
site by local contractors?
Initiating a child's critical response to machine-made toys
can begin by asking each one in the class to bring a favorite
toy to school. By displaying, examining, discussing, and cer-
tainly playing with their toys, children can, with the

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guidance of their teacher, discover criteria useful in making
reasoned judgments about the character and quality of toys.
Criteria such as function, aesthetic form, craftsmanship,
originality, expressive meaning, simplicity, and economy
may be identified. As general criteria these may be ranked
for their relevance to the different kinds of toys and then
particularized through discussion. Experiences as these
establish a basis for subsequently responding to many other
consumer products children see and use daily. There is also
in primitive or folk arts and crafts a myriad of handcrafted
toys, often unique, one-of-a-kind objects which should not
be neglected for their interest to children. Contrasting their
similarities and differences with currently manufactured
toys opens still another path for inquiry. By taking a fresh
look at the play and play-objects of children, teachers can
structure a series of personally meaningful art experiences
for their students.

Bernard Schwartz is associate professor of art education,

The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

REFERENCES

Ellen P. Berkeley, "Environmental Education from Kin-

dergarten On Up," Architectural Form, June, 1969, 46-53.
Jerome Bruner, Man: A Course of Study. Educational
Services Inc. Quarterly Report, 1965, 3, 85-95.
Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1962.
Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society. New York: Norton
and Company, 1963. Second edition.
Jean Piaget, The Moral Judgment of the Child. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1932.
Jean Piaget, Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood.
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1962.
Jasia Reichardt, ed., Play Orbit. London: Studio Inter-
national, 1969.
Sutton, Smith, Brian. "The Game as a School of Abstrac-
tion" in Shears, L. M. and Bower, E. M. (Editors) Game Book.
A forthcoming book.
P. H. Wolff and R. I. Feinbloom, "Critical Periods and
Cognitive Development in the First 2 years," Pediatrics, Vol.
44, No. 6, December, 1969, 999-1006.

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