A Magic Cube And 'my' Logic Sense !!

It was one of the greatest faults I made in selecting toys for her !! The fault is but simple. This time I bought nothing but a magic cube. It looked like a cage filled with attractive colours. I convinced myself that she will enjoy the cube! In my boyhood days,nobody had bought a cube for me. I don't know why they didn't buy. Perhaps  this 'toy' was not familiar then . But now I suspect that, old people had more discriminating power than today's people including myself  have!

 As a student in high school classes, I had learnt by-heart many  meaningless formulas including 'a cube','b cube' and even 'a plus b whole cube'. Thus the memories of cube were associated with the shouting faces of my mathematics teachers. I was taught how to find the volume of water kept in a cubical vessel. But no teachers asked me to solve a cube,even when I was in my degree mathematics classes! But now every kindergarten children keep a cube with them!!

I have read everywhere that a cube is a good gift to children,remarking that it awakens the logic sense of  children. So, as a father it was my duty to introduce brilliant toys to my child. But I was sure that she is not going to solve it in the near future!!

When she got it with her,she was very happy,turned it here and there,enjoyed it or its pattern of colours. She learned to call it a cube,counted the number of stickers as I suggested,named each colour and recognised each face to be a 'square' and most the facts her mathematics teacher mrs.Shyla  and g.k teacher mrs.Sheeba taught her. I suggested her, you should solve this cube later,by arranging each colour on each face. She responded ,'how'?

It was just for time passing I started to 'play' with the cube yesterday. I convinced soon that it was not just time passing! I could do nothing with that 'simple looking' cube. I was felt ashamed of my logic sense. I was also tensed on the psychologist's quoting- 'not only the environment but also heredity (!) determines a child's ability'.   It took at least half an hour for me making only one side single coloured. It was not possible,even to make two sides single coloured simultaneously. I knew that I am not the one to solve it completely !!

I tried to convince myself  that it is not possible to solve it. I searched on the  encyclopedias and collected many valuable facts . This Rubik's cube was introduced in 1974 by toy makers. It is the largest sold 'toy' since then!!!!
I could also see lengthy algorithms explaining its method of solving,none of which are easy for beginners to follow. Then will anybody explain me why it is the largest sold toy?

But children are always interested in it or in its colour pattern or in its movements or in something else and it may be the logic behind it!! However I recommend this magic cube, because it can inspire a future architect, a future mechanic,a future problem solver or a future' problem maker' !!

Have You Selected Valuable Toys For Your Children?

Now a days there is no complication in buying a toy for our beloved children.People have enough money to spend comparing with those in former decades.Toys are available in different colours,shapes and sizes,varying in cost from high cost Indian made or Japanese made toys to low cost but attractive Chinese toys.The world of toys grows in high speed and even faster than the growth of emerging Asian markets.Thus every layman is able to buy toys from anywhere.

However as a brilliant father or mother you have to think about the intrinsic value of the toy you have selected.The toy selected by you may be colourful,attractive and suitable for the age of the child.But I ask you about the strategies you have kept in mind,when you select a toy so as to make him/her a brilliant and outstanding one in future!!Let me share my own ideas with you.Toys have both aesthetic and intellectual values.As the aesthetic value helps him to enjoy the beauty of the world around him,the intellectual value helps him to discover the unrevealed facts in the universe.More over,toys have social values too,which helps the child to adjust with his surroundings.

I believe that the first five years make a child best performer in life.Thus as a brilliant parent,you should be well prepared in selecting toys too.A toy you are buying for him should have an intrinsic value whether the toy is cheap or costly.Thus you can introduce building blocks or cubes or cross-words in proper years.It is necessary that you should find some time to spend with him in his games with these bright toys.

Let me conclude with my own experience with a pack of toys.One of my cousin's daughter was presented a set of small and beautiful Chinese toys of wild animals.She kept it for two or three days with her and left it somewhere.Keeping this in mind,before buying the same set of toys for my own child,I had taught her many facts about wild life such as Giraffe is the tallest and Elephant is the largest.Then she was eagerly waiting for getting it and by two or three days,she was able to say that Zebras and Giraffes are found in Africa.Just to introduce Africa to the three year old child,I used a world map downloaded from the net.There were many animals in the set which were not known even to me!We together searched the internet for many days and identified most of them.This also helped her to use the mouse of the computer herself.Even after one year she is interested in playing with and knowing them.Thus the set,which costs only Rs.225 became a most valuable one for both of us.Any of us can guide our children with a toy,if we are able to find an intrinsic value in it,keeping in mind that our guidance is a necessity in forming a future citizen.