Week Five Journal
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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Communications
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Jan 9, 2024
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Week Five Journal
The toys that children play with can be an indication of things that they are interested in, and how they play with toys can show certain qualities in them that might benefit them in a career later in life. A small study conducted by Becky Francis of Roehampton University found that toys stereotypically meant for boys were more educational while toys meant for girls were more imaginative and creative (Barford, 2014). A study done by Argos, a UK toy company, showed a positive correlation between childhood toy choices and later careers, with 60% of adults who played with blocks as children now architects or designers and 66% of adults who played with puzzles as children now in math related roles. Putting the results of these two studies
together, there is a possible correlation between childhood toy preferences and later career choices because stereotypical “girl” toys are aimed towards creativity while stereotypical “boy” toys are aimed toward math and science, and there are generally more females in helping or caring fields such as social service while there are generally more males in math and science fields. Play is important in the development of children, cognitively, emotionally and physically, and their toy choices could speak to their interests, which in turn could give insight into future career choices. Toys can be chosen to cater to and foster a child’s interest and skills in certain areas, which could lead to later career choices that have a skill set required in toys played with in
childhood. For example, as noted in Do Children’s Toys Influence Their Career Choices?
, children can learn empathy through caring for dolls and stuffed animals, which could be indicative of later interest in becoming a doctor or working in social work (Clayton, 2018). I remember playing with a wide variety of different toys as a child; however, I did have a stuffed bear that I carried around throughout childhood and still have to this day. According to Clayton (2018), the way that I cared for my stuffed bear could have been an indication that I
would join a career helping others and it could have helped me develop empathy needed to relate
to others in a helping career field. I did also play with superhero action figures as a child, which could be seen as a possible indication that I wanted to help others, as superheroes are usually trying to help the community against an enemy, which I feel can be similar to a counselor helping a client fight their internal “enemies”. I enjoyed puzzles as a kid as well, but do not really have an affinity for math and have never really had an interest in math. The puzzles that I prefer are generally word puzzles though, so that might speak to a different set of skills for a career different than a career that would involve math such as accounting. Overall, I do think that
the toys that I played with and the scenarios in the play could have impacted, or least been indicative of, my current career choice as a counselor. When playing, I would generally have a house or family that I was taking care of or some dire situation in which one person was saving another. I feel this could indicate that I would end up in a field where I am helping others.
References
Barford, Vanessa. “Do Children’s Toys Influence Their Career Choices?” BBC News
, 27 Jan. 2014, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25857895. Clayton, Tracey. “Do Children’s Toys Influence Their Career Choices?” Kids in the House
, 13 Dec. 2018, www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/tracey-clayton/do-childrens-toys-influence-
their-career-choices
. TnP. (2013, July 24). Argos unveils top toy predictions for Christmas 2013
. Argos unveils Top Toy predictions for Christmas 2013 - Toys “n” Playthings. https://web.archive.org/web/20180213115142/http:/www.toysnplaythings.co.uk/news/
8343-argos-unveils-top-toy-predictions-for-christmas-2013/1/
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