Well this is going to be a more personal blog post. (These are my views only). Being a speech pathologist means you love toys and using them in lots of different ways to motivate your clients. But it also means PLASTIC. And of course most of us are worried about climate change. So where does that leave a toy-loving, economy friendly and value packed clinic?
This is a dilemma I have been wrestling with for a while now. Certainly you can buy more eco-friendly (wood, recycled etc) toys which is a good choice and often more durable. However as my own family grows up and the toys in our home accumulate dust I realise how MUCH we have that can be re-used. I don’t need to run out and buy more DinkyDoodads or other plastic nicknacks when I have so much of it already. I probably shouldn’t have bought so much plastic in the first place but at least I can recycle it now and have lots of children get value out of it.
So what is junk exactly and is it really junk?
The Lego Masters TV show has inspired our home to get out the Lego again. I am sure we are not alone in having big tubfuls of it! Whilst my husband and son build it, I sort through it and glean all of my own treasures…. Most of it is Lego but also so many other little bits have strayed into the boxes that I know I can use. Marbles, rocks, Kinder Surprise, figures, cars, wheels… It’s all in those tubs and I am alphabetising it for use in articulation, literacy and other areas of our clinical work. Have you noticed Lego figures have capes, hats, helmets, wigs? Also they have shovels, keys, flags, shields, bones and whatever else your set may have included. Lego men themselves are incredibly motivating for articulation work.
Stay tuned for the next post on recycling.
My other helper….
When children learn to read, they need to understand;
