Meet Fisher-Price's Child Development Expert to talk about play and learn

Fisher-Price hosted an event titled “Learning Revolutionised” hosted by Dr. Deborah Weber, Director of Early Childhood Development at Fisher-Price. Dr. Weber, who is based in Aurora, New York, came all the way to Malaysia to speak with the media and discuss what goes into raising well-rounded kids in a technologically advancing world.

From the moment they are born, children have a natural inclination to explore the world around them. How do they do that? Largely through play. If play is such a naturally occuring window through which kids see the world, it follows that the kind of toys they play with will have a large impact on the kind of play they get to participate in. This is the topic that Fisher-Price○R set out to explore at their event titled “Learning Revolutionised,” overseen by Dr. Deborah Weber, Director of Early Childhood Development at Fisher-Price○R.


Educational toy-maker, Fisher-Price○R has been at the forefront of developments in toys since the company was formed in 1930. While the team of adults there have proven to be wholly committed to developing toys that are safe, durable, and high-quality - there is no better way to ensure those toys will be fun than to ask the consumers themselves: children. This is where Fisher-Price○R’s Play Lab comes in. The Play Lab research facility puts observational research at the centre of its design strategy. Over the years, it has seen more than 127,000 babies and pre-school children and 1,700 parents through toy trials.


“The ability to observe how children play has been instrumental in allowing us to create toys that they love,” explained Dr. Weber. “Play Lab allows us to determine the age-grade for our products - ensuring that Fisher-Price○R is creating toys are both appropriate and enriching for developing children.”


Dr. Weber discussed the development chart that Fisher-Price○R uses to group their toys. She shared about why it is important for parents to an age-appropriate play guide as play can help facilitate their children’s growth. While the stages of development are a good reference for parents, Dr. Weber stressed that it cannot be taken at face value - that all children develop at their own pace and reach milestones at different times.


This could not have been a more timely reminder in our technologically advancing world. It isn’t uncommon to see young children at a dinner table with a smartphone or tablet propped in front of them while the adults at the table chat or do the same. Gadgets are undeniably effective as devices of distraction, but healthy parameters do need to be set. Dr. Weber provided some useful tips that parents could apply in managing gadget time for their kids: review content appropriateness, limits on gadget time, and ensuring that there are periodical breaks between each session.


On the topic of technological advancements, Dr. Weber highlighted the growing importance of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) method in today’s early childhood development. The STEM method puts an emphasis in active and systematic thinking - sharpening critical thinking and problem solving skills. It plays a large role in preparing children to build globally competitive characters, ready to take on a wide range of technical and creative careers in the future.

With the intention to meet the growing need for an early STEM education, Fisher-Price○R presents the Think & Learn line of toys that combines STEM methods and technology-based learning systems. Dr. Weber demonstrated how one of these toys, the Code-A-PillarTM, works to do exactly this. The toy features 9 easy-to-connect segments that preschoolers can arrange and rearrange to “tell” the toy how to move: forward, left, right, wiggle, dance or even wait for a couple seconds before moving again. Kids start the Code-a-pillarTM at point A and figure out how to get it to move to destination point B through sequencing.


Dr. Weber emphasised “Every parent wants to give their children the best possible start in life. It is important that throughout the process, parents are also involved in play time, witnessing their child’s early development first hand. In a technologically changing world, it is becoming more crucial for children to develop problem solving skills and what other way to best develop this skill then through play! When kids are busy playing, they are building more than preschool learning: they are building the foundation to grow into big thinkers.”


With Fisher-Price○R at the helm of a very exciting developments in play time, parents can rest easy, knowing that their kids are in good hands.


For more information, check out their Facebook page [FisherPriceSEA] and website [fisher-price.com/sea].