ADHD or Creative Parenting?

The creative spirit of entreprenurial parents never ceases to amaze me. Remember "Baby Einstein" when it first came out? (Not that I recommend the "Einstein" videos for babies and toddlers but that's another post.)

Lori Pope has solved the problem of keeping her infant twin sons constantly entertained. Your kids get bored with the gazillion toys they got for birthdays, Christmas, and Chanukah? Can't afford to buy more? Not sure what they might really enjoy? Now you can rent toys from Lori Pope via her company Baby Plays.

At first I thought what a clever, creative idea. It is.

But is it a good thing to give our children a continuing new supply of toys? Does this only make ever-increasing short attention spans even worse What does it teach about patience? Making one's own fun with snowmen, mud pies, pots and pans, and whatever we can find? Do kids risk growing up with an even greater dependence on store-bought external stimuli?

My first guess is that renting toys only adds to our hyperactive ADHD society? Bored? Go out doors and run around. But I haven't tested it so maybe renting toys is a great solution to finding out where a child's interest lies without spending a ton of money.

What do you think? Read the article We'd love to get your comments.

I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you subscribe to the free "Brain Boosters for Your Kids" newsletter. Not sure you want to subscribe? Read the February issue and get plenty of ideas for playing in the snow, how to teach math and science using snow, and even how to do Brain Gym in the snow.

And sign up for the next Brain Gym TeleChat starting Tuesday evening. I've got your spot saved. It's for both teachers and parents. You'll get 100 full-color pages of handouts and the audio to listen to if you miss one of the sessions or want to review.

The TeleChat's worth it just for tips on focusing on some dreaded, boring task and controlling your own stress. And you'll learn all 26 Brain Gym movements to help your kids learn anything quickly and easily. Wish you could tame ADHD? Try Brain Gym. It works.

Teachers, you'll want to watch for tomorrow's post on Project-based learning. Turns out recent research has shown that Project-based Learning can substantially raise test scores.

MaryJo

P.S. Don't forget to comment.