As seen from the case of McKenna Pope’s brother above, gender-specific toys perpetuate the belief that girls and boys should possess different skills and aspirations. This diminishes the rich educational potential of toys in children’s development.
In this report, toys refer to the variety of games (eg board games, card games, puzzles, video games) and toys (eg dolls, trucks, playhouses).
Our research shows that the role of toys is to enable children to develop freely, through the attainment of various skills and embodiment of desired aspirations. The holistic skills which toys develop include the social, physical, cognitive and emotional aspects , while desired aspirations is shaped by the ability of toys to enhance imagination and creativity .
More specifically, it is during the ‘Imprint Period’
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One reason is that adults are generally unaware of the possible limitations of gender-specific toys, as indicated by 56% of adults in a survey we conducted (Appendix B: Problem, Question 5).
Another reason is that adults are unsure of how to choose toys based on skills. Our survey indicated that 68% of adults purchase gender-specific toys since there are no existing methods to aid them in making gender-neutral choices (Appendix B: Problem, Question 3).
1.4 What has been done abroad? LTBT (UK)
In the United Kingdom (UK), the Let Toys Be Toys campaign (LTBT), initiated by a group of concerned parents, attempted to tackle the problem of gender-specific toys. They encouraged the public to lodge complaints against toy retailers to convince them to remove their gender signages in stores (Fig 7).
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Fig 7: Use of social media to create pressure on retailers
We hope to expand LTBT (UK) beyond their geographical boundaries of UK to Singapore.
1.5 LTBT