Westlake Middle School students evaluate age appropriateness of children’s toys

Middle school students evaluate the age appropriateness of children’s toys in their family and consumer sciences class.

Westlake Middle School students examined age-appropriateness for children’s toys and games as part of their family and consumer sciences class. In the hands-on activity, students evaluated age ranges for each toy. The age ranges were infant, toddler, pre-school or school age. Then the students considered how it helped in each of the developmental areas such as intellectual, physical and social/emotional developmental stages. They discussed in groups the factors that influence human growth, development and well-being as they determined the appropriate age range for each item.

This activity leads into their next lesson on being able to identify the role of a caregiver in providing a learning environment, such as babysitting, which could be a first job for some middle school students.