jay
I am living in Chennai, India, any knowledge building toys that makes the child involved and interested, which is availabel in india(if possible in Madras(new name Chennai) is what i am looking for. I am also looking for parental tips for my son aged 2 years and daughter aged 5 months.
Answer
The Lamaze Company makes excellent toys for infants, as does Baby Einstein. The Lamaze toys are great for sensory stimulation, which increases the infants vision and spatial awareness, attention span and motivates them to hold their heads up, roll over and want to reach and grab, etc.
Building toys are wonderful. My son always loved the basics: Lincoln logs (which are making a big comeback, now) and the Legos/Duplos. If your child is 2, he would be better off with just the Lincoln logs (made of wood and easier to put together, and not a choking hazard) or the larger Duplo blocks.
My son also loved Tinkertoys, but I think they may not sell those anymore, because they have sticks that may be considered hazardous.
Other toys that are great are puzzles, building blocks that don't have to be put together, just the colored, different shaped ones that your son can stack and build forts with. Those let him be creative and fun without making him stick to any kind of pattern.
You can find many, many things on Ebay! Lots of things you can't even find in stores any longer people will have on Ebay.
Other things I always encourage my students' parents to have on hand is plain paper and lots of crayons and markers. Let them draw and write and create. I don't like coloring books, because they limit their imaginations. Kids have very vivid imaginations, and they can create many magical things!
One word of parenting advice: whatever your child is doing, do it with him! He needs you to be an active parent, to help him see other ways of building, stacking, creating or just having fun. Otherwise, he won't learn as he plays, and he will just become isolated. Children need some alone time, but they need their parents, too. Even your daughter needs lots of interactive play time with you.
Have fun and don't be afraid to be silly with your kids! Every day should be a magical, fun day!
The Lamaze Company makes excellent toys for infants, as does Baby Einstein. The Lamaze toys are great for sensory stimulation, which increases the infants vision and spatial awareness, attention span and motivates them to hold their heads up, roll over and want to reach and grab, etc.
Building toys are wonderful. My son always loved the basics: Lincoln logs (which are making a big comeback, now) and the Legos/Duplos. If your child is 2, he would be better off with just the Lincoln logs (made of wood and easier to put together, and not a choking hazard) or the larger Duplo blocks.
My son also loved Tinkertoys, but I think they may not sell those anymore, because they have sticks that may be considered hazardous.
Other toys that are great are puzzles, building blocks that don't have to be put together, just the colored, different shaped ones that your son can stack and build forts with. Those let him be creative and fun without making him stick to any kind of pattern.
You can find many, many things on Ebay! Lots of things you can't even find in stores any longer people will have on Ebay.
Other things I always encourage my students' parents to have on hand is plain paper and lots of crayons and markers. Let them draw and write and create. I don't like coloring books, because they limit their imaginations. Kids have very vivid imaginations, and they can create many magical things!
One word of parenting advice: whatever your child is doing, do it with him! He needs you to be an active parent, to help him see other ways of building, stacking, creating or just having fun. Otherwise, he won't learn as he plays, and he will just become isolated. Children need some alone time, but they need their parents, too. Even your daughter needs lots of interactive play time with you.
Have fun and don't be afraid to be silly with your kids! Every day should be a magical, fun day!
What measures need to be taken to boost India as a brand?( general view)?
aryan
Perception of India in general population in Europe is not so promising. What measure would you ppl suggest?
Answer
Consider the negatives first:
1. India is a violent and dangerous place. Recent massive media coverage on rape and the poor treatment of women is only the tip of an iceberg. It is a horrible country for girls and women although there is lip-service to the joys and sanctity of motherhood. And most police offices will not make out a formal report on any attack on a woman, for the obvious reason that there are simply too many of them. "It's part of everyday life - it's perfectly natural - it can't be controlled."
I saw in the paper recently that a 14-year old had been killed by his classmates who coveted his cellphone. They said as explanation, "It was a nice phone, we wanted it. And he died so easily - we didn't realise." No sense of regret or guilt - just "...we wanted it."
2. Corruption is endemic. Most people carry with them a sum of cash to bribe policemen, public officials, shopkeepers, bar-tenders, postmen, taxi-drivers, professionals such as lawyers, architects, computer repair engineers and so on. Politicians bride their electorates prior to elections: sarees to the women, toys for kids, seeds and tools for the men. The Anti-Corruption Bureau has always a series of allegations and police complaints about its own corruption. They all say, "It isn't corruption - it's just out-of-pocket expenses, administrative costs, sales commission, introduction fee."
3. Discipline is unknown. Indian mentality assumes that laws are to be broken; regulations to be ignored; health and safety to be in the hands of gods - not the civil service or the police. Is it legal for trucks to drive at night with no lights showing? No but everyone accepts it, including the police. It is legal to kill baby girls because they have "no value in the inheritance?" Of course not, but an estimated 25,000 are murdered at birth each year. Is it acceptable for motorbikes to travel the wrong way on any roadway? Not legally but everyone accepts it as normal, including the police. Is it legal to dump rubbish out of your car as you travel? No it is illegal but the Mumbai-to-Pune highway is a 100 km garbage dump of plastic bottles, plastic bags, food cartons, newspapers, used diapers and so on. And village roads are even worse.
4. Political chicanery. There are no free elections. Almost all politicians buy their votes or they are members of a ruling dynasty or they enlist the help of religious leaders. Most Hindu and Islamic parties will include deities or religious leaders in their election advertising. Voters, especially uneducated people in villages but also among the city professionals, will vote for the candidate and the party whose deity matches the one in their own houses. So a Sikh will never vote for a Parsee; a Hindu never for a Muslim; a Catholic never for a Protestant; A Buddhist never for a Hindu and so on . Bribery is rife [see above] and the country is run by a dozen or so "royal" families dating back before Independence in 1947.
5. Indian education is about pieces of paper; not knowledge and skills; and certainly nothing about employability or usefulness. Students learn by rote entire textbooks and the answers to previous examination papers. Cramming-colleges make fortunes every year by coaching students to cheat in exams. Most occupational certificates [electricians, hairdressers, car-mechanics, plumbers and glaziers, etc] can be purchased, not actually studied and examined. The All India Council for Technical Education, which accredits colleges and approves curricula, is currently under investigation for corruption: its officers apparently selling accreditations to rich college patrons for private "consultancy" payments.
NOW; how to present these "not so promising" aspects in a positive light?
Honestly; I don't know but I'll keep thinking and come back if anything comes to me.
Consider the negatives first:
1. India is a violent and dangerous place. Recent massive media coverage on rape and the poor treatment of women is only the tip of an iceberg. It is a horrible country for girls and women although there is lip-service to the joys and sanctity of motherhood. And most police offices will not make out a formal report on any attack on a woman, for the obvious reason that there are simply too many of them. "It's part of everyday life - it's perfectly natural - it can't be controlled."
I saw in the paper recently that a 14-year old had been killed by his classmates who coveted his cellphone. They said as explanation, "It was a nice phone, we wanted it. And he died so easily - we didn't realise." No sense of regret or guilt - just "...we wanted it."
2. Corruption is endemic. Most people carry with them a sum of cash to bribe policemen, public officials, shopkeepers, bar-tenders, postmen, taxi-drivers, professionals such as lawyers, architects, computer repair engineers and so on. Politicians bride their electorates prior to elections: sarees to the women, toys for kids, seeds and tools for the men. The Anti-Corruption Bureau has always a series of allegations and police complaints about its own corruption. They all say, "It isn't corruption - it's just out-of-pocket expenses, administrative costs, sales commission, introduction fee."
3. Discipline is unknown. Indian mentality assumes that laws are to be broken; regulations to be ignored; health and safety to be in the hands of gods - not the civil service or the police. Is it legal for trucks to drive at night with no lights showing? No but everyone accepts it, including the police. It is legal to kill baby girls because they have "no value in the inheritance?" Of course not, but an estimated 25,000 are murdered at birth each year. Is it acceptable for motorbikes to travel the wrong way on any roadway? Not legally but everyone accepts it as normal, including the police. Is it legal to dump rubbish out of your car as you travel? No it is illegal but the Mumbai-to-Pune highway is a 100 km garbage dump of plastic bottles, plastic bags, food cartons, newspapers, used diapers and so on. And village roads are even worse.
4. Political chicanery. There are no free elections. Almost all politicians buy their votes or they are members of a ruling dynasty or they enlist the help of religious leaders. Most Hindu and Islamic parties will include deities or religious leaders in their election advertising. Voters, especially uneducated people in villages but also among the city professionals, will vote for the candidate and the party whose deity matches the one in their own houses. So a Sikh will never vote for a Parsee; a Hindu never for a Muslim; a Catholic never for a Protestant; A Buddhist never for a Hindu and so on . Bribery is rife [see above] and the country is run by a dozen or so "royal" families dating back before Independence in 1947.
5. Indian education is about pieces of paper; not knowledge and skills; and certainly nothing about employability or usefulness. Students learn by rote entire textbooks and the answers to previous examination papers. Cramming-colleges make fortunes every year by coaching students to cheat in exams. Most occupational certificates [electricians, hairdressers, car-mechanics, plumbers and glaziers, etc] can be purchased, not actually studied and examined. The All India Council for Technical Education, which accredits colleges and approves curricula, is currently under investigation for corruption: its officers apparently selling accreditations to rich college patrons for private "consultancy" payments.
NOW; how to present these "not so promising" aspects in a positive light?
Honestly; I don't know but I'll keep thinking and come back if anything comes to me.
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