How Playtime Prepares Your Children For Their Future Careers

But while playtime was a simple act of youthful entertainment, the toys that children play with can also impact their adult life, such as the careers they pursue as they enter the professional world.

Educational bodies are even recognising the importance of playtime. More money is being invested into educational technology than ever before, with total spending expected to double to £296,246,116,710.50 ($341 billion) by 2025. These technologies will encourage children to interact with the resources, including toys.

Here, we’ll explore the concept that toys play a crucial role in future careers in more detail.

From wooden blocks to computer science

Everyone remembers playing with wooden blocks. They’re a simple and effective way for little ones to develop hand-eye coordination, discovering which shapes match through trial and error. Now, to go one step further, technological advancements are boosting the usefulness of this classic game for children.

Primo, a company that specialises in toys, has developed a robot that does just this. Cubetto is a small wooden robot that moves around the board, instructing your little one on how to place their blocks. This can be used with wooden block boards to maximise its learning potential. It also teaches coding skills to children as young as three!

Kano, another company, specialising in educational technology, has also developed the Kano computer kit that reimagines traditional wooden blocks. This enables children to build their own computer board, learning to create music and games with coding.

Allen Tsui, a teacher who has used this in his classroom, comments on its effectiveness: "Kano offers paradigm game-changing opportunities for teaching computer science. It also enables project-based learning opportunities to extend collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking skills."

Playtime becoming a reality

Playtime may be a time of make-believe. But children may also develop their emotional skills while playing with toys. You may want to include toys that encourage nurturing playtime, such as baby dolls, teddy bears, and other stuffed animals. This might not lead to a specific job role, but the emotional intelligence gained from an early age is invaluable if they decide to pursue a career in, for example, healthcare or education.

The toys your children choose to play with can also discover their desires. If they gravitate towards toys that mimic cooking, for example, they may develop a passion for cooking in later life, which can develop into a career as a culinary genius. On the other hand, they may want to venture outside and explore the wilderness. And with a pair of wellies and a boy’s or girl’s waterproof jacket, a little bit of rain isn’t enough to stop them.

Preparing for the unknown with Lego

Our world is constantly changing. This includes the available careers destined to change and evolve as your little ones grow up and enter the professional market. In fact, 65% of jobs our little ones will pursue won’t be a reality for us in 20 years.

Creativity, a mindset which allows us to tackle new situations with logic and new approaches, is the number one way to tackle this changing world. So much so, according to the World Economic Forum, 70% of business leaders argue that creativity is one of the top three skills necessary to succeed in the modern professional field.

Lego could be the answer to this. The toys are not just colourful building blocks offering endless entertainment hours. They’re able to spark the imaginations of children and adults alike, whether they’re building a house or a spaceship. Even the acclaimed composer Hans Zimmer, known for creating the score for Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) and Inception (2010), uses Lego to focus.

Playtime is more than fun and games. You can utilise these activities to inspire your little ones and ignite the passion that may develop into a successful career. These toys can range from wooden blocks all the way to robots, but the potential is there.

Sources

https://www.vodafone.com/business/news-and-insights/blog/gigabit-thinking/how-to-prepare-children-for-the-jobs-of-the-future

https://www.manojstores.com/how-toys-can-help-a-child-pick-a-career/

https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/20/playing-lego-help-prepare-child-future-job-market-10780006/