Educational Toys?
Neurobiology is challenging the way we look at learning.
The brain, it turns out, is "wired" for learning by the physical and sensory experiences of the body. The brain controls movement in a contra-lateral fashion, meaning that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and, of course, the opposite. Movement that shifts from one side to the other, crossing through the "midline" requires a neural handshake. Habitual repetition of these neural pathways creates a kind of information superhighway between the sides of the brain.
Movement is also managed by the pre-frontal cortex, or the "executive brain." The pre-frontal cortex is the part of the brain unique to humans; it controls all higher-level function by coordinating the activities of the entire brain, plus adding functions for social and emotional control. Highly coordinated movement, then is "brain exercise" activating the executive to elegantly manage all of the different processing, including the ability to manage attention.
In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variable in it." Simon Nicholson, Architect.
Nicholson is credited with creating the theory of "Loose Parts," reflecting the idea that the value of any toy or environment was relational to the number of ways it could be used.
In a world where computers "know" all the facts, it is the imagination innovation, and creativity of the human mind that has value. It is said that rocking helps develop a child's sense of balance and the brain to sort sensory impressions.
The value in any toy is not what the toy can do, but what the child can do with it. As time goes by, your child will think up more and more ways to use this profound learning tool.
**Customers are strongly urged to exercise appropriate caution. Children should be supervised during play. The purchaser assumes all responsibilities for any injuries resulting from the use of this item.**
Each board can safely hold two grown adults each weighing 200 lbs one either end while rocking back and forth like a seesaw.