Abstract
Strategies of Parents Having 3-6 Year Old Children About Toy Selection and Usage
Knowing the parents' opinions about the selection and use of toys, which are the materials children use in their plays, is a matter to be considered in the plans and applications to be made on the subject. For this reason, it is aimed to investigate the opinions of parents who have 3-6 year old children about toy selection and usage. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used as a data collection tool in the study conducted by qualitative research method. Descriptive analysis technique was used to analyze the data. As a result of the research it was found that the parents in the study group were more interested in educational toys in toy selection, that they are substantially influenced by the media at the stage of purchasing the toy, that they have no information as to what the CE mark on the toys means and that they want mostly that the toy they are going to purchase contributes to the cognitive development of the child. It was observed that the parents’ frequency of purchasing toys is mostly once a month and is rare, the most preferred toy type by children is dolls for girls and cars for boys and that the majority of children share their toys. It was also seen that unused toys are put out of sight and are brought out again by the parents after the children have forgotten the toy.
Keywords
Toy, pre-school period, toy selection, parent, child.
