I know. I know! I am not up on all the latest and greatest electronic ways to entertain our young or for that matter, ourselves. But I see these contraptions everywhere with their tiny screens and myriad beeps and squeals. I see the joy when the button manipulator triumphs over the game programmer and the anguish when they don't. Yes - it does take skill, quick reactions between brain to thumbs and alas, good eyesight.
Conversation example: "Grammie, play xyz with me. You just need to get the little yellow what-cha-ma-call-it from one side of the screen to the other side without it being eaten, beaten, blown up or tossed in a hole." Now I look at this 2"x3" device and realize this little piece of plastic has more capabilities then my first two computers combined and answer, "Honey, I can't find the screen."
But what about creativity? I hope that blocks of scrap paper, crayons and markers are not becoming a thing of the past. I would much rather watch the workings of a creative mind as it explodes across the blank sheet. Even the "old" paint by number sets left room for expansion by mixing the colors and changing shapes if one wanted. Now I see pre-cut stickers that are set into outlines to form pictures. That does allow for hand eye coordination, but what about just plain designing something clever even if not recognized by anyone else.
Mr W and a group from our community spend one morning a week mentoring second grade readers at a local school. He came home with 18 valentines and I was excited to see what they had done. I was disappointed. The greetings were well crafted from carefully chosen available patterns and various fonts. The individuality was found in the choices but the final card was 'designed' on the computer and I'm sure to save money, printed in black and white. Truthfully, I was impressed by the computer skills of these 7 year old students but I missed the odd-cut red construction paper hearts, lace doilies and gobs of library paste with hand done messages and signatures.
It used to be easy to spot the student with a different slant on the same subject. It was the apple colored blue among all the red examples on the wall or the paper jack-o-lantern taped to the window with jagged teeth rather than square as in the pattern. It also meant there was a teacher who was not about to stifle such a difference.
I believe an imagination needs to be exercised to help it grow. I will never be accused of not having one for the whirl in my mind never seems to cease. Yet, for the ideas in my head to become something creative, they must be acted upon. The idea of Ben in The Spruce Gum Box grew in my imagination for five years before it took me a year to write and thus create his story.
So let maturing imaginations have fun with the beeps and squeals of rapidly changing technology but toss in some crayons, paints, scissors, glue, and clay on occasion. Please don't crush creativity.