Therapeutic Play Challenge

By Christina Wallerstein, Playworks.net

Here's a challenge for you: design the perfect distraction toy for a child over the age of three. Of course, adults agree that all distraction toys need to be affordable, available, portable, safe, and easy to clean. Beyond our practical considerations, however, lies the key to success: child appeal. Unless a child finds a toy inviting and chooses to play, the toy, however well designed, is a dud.

So let's put on our thinking caps and consider our options:

What material attributes will the toy have? Will it be hard or soft? brightly colored? What will the toy do? Of course the child needs to provide the "fuel" to make it "go," no batteries required. Can the child play independently with this toy? Will playing with the toy be calming to the child? Will the experience improve his/her ability to focus and concentrate? Will the toy be "educational? enhance problem solving skills? deepen understanding of spatial relations?

I'm no toy designer, but lucky for us, Richard Zawitz is, and he invented what has to be a leading contender for the title of perfect distraction toy. Tangles, the ultimate universal playthings, feature a series of 90 degree curves interconnected to pivot 180 degrees at each joint. A Tangle has no beginning and no end, and there is no end to the delight children and adults alike experience when turning, twisting, bending and coiling a Tangle. Lightweight and portable, Tangles are the pinnacle of take along stress relievers.

Happily, Richard didn't stop with just one design. His creations vary in color schemes, the size of the curves, surface hardness, and texture. Some are smooth; others are textured. Some are hard plastic, others have a soft, pliable coating with distinctive raised tactile nodes. Some are large, others small.

The largest, Tangle Original with Texture, offers vibrant colors and five different textures. The links can be pulled apart and pushed together, building finger strength and improving hand-eye coordination; however, as a distraction toy, and I consider that its primary function, it invites being "fiddled with" - twisted, turned, bent, and coiled. All Tangles are child-powered, no batteries required.

The smallest and most affordable style, Tangle Junior Textured, is the perfect pocket distraction toy. I'd say the caution "don't leave home without it" applies to this toy. Having a stash of these could save the day. We all know what happens when a favorite, and successful, antidote to stress, goes missing.

For variety and to encourage observation of similarities and differences, offer the Junior Textured as a companion to the Original with Texture. Being small, Tangle Junior Textured fits easily inside a pocket of the Functional Uni4m [Playworks>Other Toys>Teaching & Learning Products] worn by a growing number of Applied Behavior Therapists.

My personal favorite is Tangle Therapy, the first Tangle with a soft, pliable coating and raised tactile nodes. I like its feel and find its easy to grip and manipulate surface encourages squeezing as well as twisting. Orthopedic surgeons recommend Tangle Therapy for patients needing to rehabilitate hand muscles and joints.

Tangle Relax Therapy is a smaller, more affordable version of Tangle Therapy. Offering a child a Tangle Junior Textured and a Tangle Relax Therapy provides another exercise in exploring similarities and differences.

Distraction toys are meant primarily to reduce stress and create calm, and for that Tangle is a perfect choice. Yet their benefits extend into the educational realm as well. Teachers who use Tangles as a reward for children with autism report improved behavior: an increased calm and ability to cope with stressors that usually send them "over the edge" as well as increases in skill acquisition. Tangles invite manipulation and reward play with improved concentration and spatial relations and problem solving skills.

Considering the affordability, with prices ranging from $3.50 to $12, portability, and all around appeal of Tangles, I'll give it my vote for perfect distraction toy.

How about you? Have you tried a Tangle with your child? If not, I encourage you to do so. You'll find a selection at www.playworks.net (see Playworks.net >Manipulatives>Mazes & More).

If you have, I'd like to hear your experiences. Please e-mail me at christina@playworks.net. In return we will e-mail each contributor a coupon code for $5 off your next order of $10 or more as well as choose the most informative comments to post on our blog. Let's share and learn together.