University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

NEWS RELEASE

CSUN Professors Offer Advice on Making Sure the Gifts
for that Special Child on Your List are the Right Ones

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Nov. 17, 2006) -- Santa may not be in the malls yet, but the holiday decorations are up. And that means it’s time to start putting together your holiday shopping list for that special child, or children, in your life.

Two professors at California State University, Northridge, have some advice for making the right choices that will put a smile on a young person’s face.

Recreation and leisure studies professor Veda Ward suggested that the holidays are a perfect time to remind people, big and small, about the diversity of wants and needs around the world.

"This holiday season, re-connect with the gifts from nature that have been shared by people of all cultures, across all times and places," she said, adding that creating gifts from leaves, pine cones and other treasures found in nature adds particular meaning to the spirit of giving.

She suggested using this as an opportunity to "help your children understand the places in our world where families still rely on nature to provide food and shelter and entertainment. Locate these places on a map. If you have a computer, take a virtual trip to these places, and realize how fortunate we all are."

Alyce Akers, chair of Northridge’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, said she finds that the traditional toys, toys that have withstood the test of time, are still the best—wooden blocks, toy cars and trucks and non-animated dolls.

"They are the ones that encourage creativity and imaginative play," Akers said. "Once children begin playing with a toy cars or dolls, there’s no telling where their imagination can take them."

Akers also suggests magazine subscriptions that can provide children, even young children, with insights into worlds beyond their own. They also encourage reading and analytical thinking.

Here is a sample of some of the toys Akers and Ward suggest for that special child, or children, on your list:

• Birth to crawling -- mirrors, musical or colorful mobiles, crib gyms, teethers, cloth blocks and clutch balls.
• One year to 18 months -- simple, sturdy riding toys with no pedals, surprise boxes, balls, small wooden blocks, stacking toys, toys for the bath, books and music.
• Two to three years -- children’s musical instruments, bristle blocks, pegs and pegboards, large wooden beads for stringing, dramatic play costumes, dolls, doll carriages, cars and construction trucks, paper, markers, crayons, chalk, a chalkboard, books and music.
• Four to five years -- an outdoor swing set, dramatic play costumes, games, big wheels, tool sets, Lincoln logs, play tiles, a child’s tape recorder, books and music.
• Six and older -- exercise balls, jump ropes and other exercise equipment, maps, puzzles, games and dolls that reflect a variety of world cultures and enhance awareness of geography and the full spectrum of diversity, books and music and
• Preteen and up -- journals, diaries, blank CDs to encourage individual, creative expression, books and music.

California State University, Northridge has 34,000 full- and part-time students and offers 62 bachelor’s and 50 master’s degrees as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.