Sally Goldberg

Photo submitted by Sally Goldberg

OPINION – Giving and getting gifts are major in our thoughts this time of year, and the technological ones are running away with the show. Maybe it doesn’t have to be that way.

Anyone remember the pink rubber ball, pick-up sticks or jacks? How about how many card games you can play with one deck of cards? Outside, there is Red Rover and Red Light Green Light. Remember 20 Questions, Ghost and I Spy? Many of the simple childhood games of yore helped children grow in all five basic areas — cognitive, motor, social, language and self-esteem.                                    

Back to technology, easy, entertaining and flashy, but how do they stack up on the five parts of “balanced learning?” For young children, educators recommend hands-on and interactive activities. Here is a quirky extension to this recommendation. We now know that the same balance that is good for our littlest ones is good for all of us. Our brains are always growing and changing by the ways we spend our time. All experiences leave their mark throughout our lives.

While it is getting easier to spend more time with computers, please remember that experiences are formative. What we do with our time influences what we will continue to do. We get better at what we do by doing it. “Use it or lose it” is common advice.

Imagine, for children, their first year is their most important developmental one. That is when the brain grows the fastest and learns the most. “We are a product of our experiences, and that is why we need to make them as good as possible.” Time is a simple concept! Spending it is not so easy. I heard of a new gift this year — “Walk and Talk.” How interesting is that?

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