Forget dolls and trucks! Scientist claims children should play with WHISKS and potato mashers to boost development

When it comes to playtime, most parents turn to the toybox to keep their young children entertained.

But giving them unusual objects such as whisks and potato mashers could help hold their attention for longer and boost development, research suggests.

Delaney Witmer, a student researcher at Arizona State University, said young children tend to focus on and explore objects that are unfamiliar compared to what they know.

As part of a study, she analysed how 32 children aged between two and four played with both familiar and unusual objects at home.

Parents were asked to choose a safe but unfamiliar item for their child to play with – which tended to be some type of kitchen utensil – while the research team recorded how the child interacted with it.

Alongside whisks and potato mashers, these also included a tea strainer, a funnel and a colander. Familiar objects, meanwhile, included dolls, cars and plastic food items. 

Overall, they found that children touched the unusual object more than the one that they already knew.

On average, unusual objects were touched 40 times during the 10 minute play session compared to 30 times for familiar toys.

The experiment also found that the children spent 5.32 seconds touching the novel item each time they picked it up compared to 4.64 seconds for the familiar toy.

'It snags their attention,' Ms Witmer told the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

'It's engaging and it helps with attentional shifts – switching their attention from something they have seen every day versus something new.'

When asked if the children appeared more engaged with unusual objects, Ms Witmer said: 'Definitely. You'll also see, with unfamiliar objects, that the kids will more often look toward their parent for clues of how to play with it.'

She said that parents should 'absolutely' introduce new items to their children – as long as they are safe – rather than just sticking to what's in the toy box.

'Even if they've just played with it for three minutes, at least they're learning more and playing with a new object,' she said.

By getting children to play with these items at an early age, parents can help 'prepare them for their future' by 'encoding that information in their brain', she added.

Her research, which is forming part of her thesis, reads: 'Toy interaction plays an important role for young children's learning and memory.

'Findings suggest that children interact with and hold objects longer than their parents, especially novel objects.

'Results could help inform…how parents may support their children's exploration.'

A separate study previously found that allowing infants to hand–feed themselves may be better for their growth.

The findings suggest that baby–led weaning — a popular way of introducing solid foods to infants – provides ample calories for growth and development.

Researchers from the University of Colorado discovered that there was no significant difference in energy intake between babies who were spoon–fed compared to those who were left to hand–feed themselves.

Advocates say that it encourages healthy eating habits because babies self–feed and can explore a variety of foods from the family's meals.