‘Toys in a Box’
A supportive home-learning environment is crucial to shape children’s development in the foundational years
Parent-child interactions, access to developmentally appropriate toys and resources, as well as opportunities to play and engage meaningfully with these toys and resources contribute to creating a supportive home-learning environment. Unfortunately, the unavailability of appropriate materials often restricts home-learning opportunities. In rural India, only 9%1 of households have reading material (e.g., storybooks, comics) for children. Additionally, many parents from rural communities and urban slums lack the guidance, knowledge, and time to engage with their children and support their learning and development at home1. This critical gap highlights the need for developmentally appropriate play materials and activities that would not only be fun for children but would also help in improving learning and parent engagement in the process.
‘Toys in a Box’ fosters foundational skills among children while also engaging them in fun activities
In order to improve the home-learning environment, FSG has developed the concept of a ‘Toys in a Box’ (TIAB) kit. Priced at ~INR 300-400 (~USD 4-6), this low-cost kit contains a curated set of easy to use, developmentally appropriate, fun and engaging toys that can help improve key skills among children (e.g., executive function, problem solving). TIAB includes toys that require very limited instructions to play and provides children opportunities to engage, interact and make sense of the world.
Key benefits of getting children and parents to use appropriate toys at home:
- Supports learning and development at home
- Stimulates children mentally
- Fosters curiosity, imagination, problem solving, dexterity and socio-emotional development
- Helps parents to engage with children meaningfully
- Provides children with a fun alternative to screen time
To learn more about how the TIAB kit can improve the home-learning environment click here.
