<p>This thesis proposes an alternative perspective to the general neglect of toy materials from deeper analysis in archaeology. Based on a study of selected toy artefacts from the Classical Harappan settlement at Bagasra, Gujarat, it suggests a viable way of approaching the objects when considering them within a theoretical framework highlighting their social aspects. The study agrees with objections in e.g. parts of gender archaeology and research on children in archaeology to the extrapolating from the marginalized child of the West onto past social structures. Departing from revised toy definitions formulated in disciplines outside archaeology, it proceeds with the objects’ toy identifications while rejecting a ‘transforming’ of these into other interpretations. Thus entering a quite unexplored research field, grounded theory is used as working method. As the items indicate a regulated pattern, the opinion on toy artefacts as randomly scattered around becomes questioned. Using among others the <i>capital</i> concept by Bourdieu, the notion of <i>micropower</i> by Foucault and parts of the newly developed ideas of <i>microarchaeology</i>, the toy-role of the artefacts is emphasized as crucial, enabling the items to express diverse social uses in addition to their possible function as children’s (play)things. With this, the notion of the limiting connection of toys to playing children becomes unravelled, opening for a discussion on enlarged dimensions of the toys and a possible re-naming of them as the materialities of next generation. While suggesting the items to indicate various social strategies and structurating practices, the need for traditional boundaries and separated entities successively becomes eliminated. The traditionally stated toy obstacles with cultural loading and elusive distinctions can with this be proposed as constructions, possible to avoid. The toy concept simultaneously emerges as particularly useful in highlighting the notion of change and continuity within the social structure and children’s roles in this.</p>

Excavations performed at the historic Smith House (ORYA3) located in Dayton, Yamhill County, Oregon, recovered a large collection of artifacts. Categories of artifacts previously analyzed include flat glass, nails, glass containers, ceramic hollowware and flatware, brick, bone, metal containers, illumination devices, currency, footwear, tobacco, and lead balls, shot, and cartridge casings. A category not analyzed was children's toys. This thesis addresses this category of artifact. The thesis discusses the historical context of the Smith House, and examines children, play and toys. The theoretical construct of symbolic anthropology is used to provide a model for the process of enculturation. Detailed analysis of glass and clay marbles and of ceramic doll and doll-related artifacts is performed. Proveniences and associations of these artifacts are undertaken. Appendices provide for a chronology of doll manufacturing and for a detailed description of artifacts. Conclusions drawn from the analysis of the toys at the Smith House suggest that a larger collection of toys and better provenience of collected materials are necessary in order to apply the symbolic approach to toys as tools of enculturation. Recommendations for future avenues of research are given. It is suggested that this analysis provides a basis for future comparison with other historical archaeological sites. / Graduation date: 2002

This thesis proposes an alternative perspective to the general neglect of toy materials from deeper analysis in archaeology. Based on a study of selected toy artefacts from the Classical Harappan settlement at Bagasra, Gujarat, it suggests a viable way of approaching the objects when considering them within a theoretical framework highlighting their social aspects. The study agrees with objections in e.g. parts of gender archaeology and research on children in archaeology to the extrapolating from the marginalized child of the West onto past social structures. Departing from revised toy definitions formulated in disciplines outside archaeology, it proceeds with the objects’ toy identifications while rejecting a ‘transforming’ of these into other interpretations. Thus entering a quite unexplored research field, grounded theory is used as working method. As the items indicate a regulated pattern, the opinion on toy artefacts as randomly scattered around becomes questioned. Using among others the capital concept by Bourdieu, the notion of micropower by Foucault and parts of the newly developed ideas of microarchaeology, the toy-role of the artefacts is emphasized as crucial, enabling the items to express diverse social uses in addition to their possible function as children’s (play)things. With this, the notion of the limiting connection of toys to playing children becomes unravelled, opening for a discussion on enlarged dimensions of the toys and a possible re-naming of them as the materialities of next generation. While suggesting the items to indicate various social strategies and structurating practices, the need for traditional boundaries and separated entities successively becomes eliminated. The traditionally stated toy obstacles with cultural loading and elusive distinctions can with this be proposed as constructions, possible to avoid. The toy concept simultaneously emerges as particularly useful in highlighting the notion of change and continuity within the social structure and children’s roles in this.

Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med barn i förskoleklass och genom enkätundersökningar hos pedagoger har jag fått svar på mina frågeställningar som handlar om pojkar, flickor och deras leksaksval då det gäller teknikbaserade leksaker. Syftet var att försöka se om det fanns skillnader i valet och användandet av dessa leksaker och i så fall försöka tydliggöra dem, och dessutom ta reda på varför barnen är olika i sina leksakspreferenser. Resultatet påvisar att för barnen i denna förskoleklass är konstruktionsleksaker ett frekvent val i verksamheten. Alla barn leker med dessa leksaker, dock skiljer sig preferenserna åt beroende på om man är flicka eller pojke, både i hemmet och i förskoleklassen. Hur barnens preferenser uppkommer finns det delade meningar om, dock är huvudteorin enligt de forskarna/författare jag tagit del av, socialt betingat. Pedagogiska slutsatser är att som pedagog måste man arbeta på ett målmedvetet sätt då det gäller leksaker och genus, man skall alltid ha med sig att leken har stor betydelse i barnens utveckling. Nyckelord: genus, leksaker, preferenser, teknik / Through interviews with children in preschool class and through inquiries by questionnaire with their teachers, I have received answers of my question at issue about boys, girls and their choices of technical toys. The purpose was to see if there were any differences in choosing and using these toys, and also to find out if and why the children have different preferences. The results indicate that for the children in this preschool class the choice of construction toys is common in the activities. All the children play with these toys, but still there are different preferences among girls and boys, both at home and in preschool class. There are differences in opinion among earlier researchers what causes boys and girls to differ in preferences of toys, but the main theory is still that gender differences depend on the family and the community. Pedagogical conclusions are that as a teacher of young children, you have to work with awareness when it comes to toys and gender. You must never forget the important role toys play in the development of the children. Keywords: gender, technical, toys, preferences

Leksaker har en stor och viktig del i barns uppväxt vilket gör att leksaksföretag har inflytande i hur barnen kan komma att se sig själva och sin omgivning. Vi har studerat två leksakskedjors reklamblad ur ett genusperspektiv för att se hur flickor och pojkar framställs samt hur genus framställs i leksakerna och deras marknadsföring. Vi har använt oss av semiotisk metod för att urskilja olika mönster i de bildspråk som finns i reklambladen. Det vi sett är att man gör skillnader mellan flickor och pojkar genom hur leksakerna presenteras och man låter traditionella roller styra. Flickor förväntas att ha rosa leksaker, ta hand om familjen och göra sig vacker och åtråvärd medan pojkar förväntas att inte ha rosa leksaker, gå in i viktiga och maktfulla roller samt vara starka och uppfinningsrika.

The play materials designed for special education are commonly used by children with various disabilities. This study overviews these materials from the perspectives of special needs, special user groups and special education. Furthermore, the effects of different disabilities on the interactions of the children with the same toys are investigated, within the light of those special cases. The base of the study is constructed with a literature review on toys, play and special education, followed by observations that are performed in a special education centre with six subjects having different disabilities, namely Rett&rsquo / s syndrome, mental retardation, hyperactivity, Down&rsquo / s syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism. The study is concluded with compared results of the observations and design implications derived from the interactions between the toys and children.

In this study, semi-structured interviews adopted from repertory grid studies are conducted with ten 5-year-old preschool children, during which children are asked to evaluate four types of construction play materials and four types of metallophones.In the study, the important design attributes of these two types of play materials preferred by preschool children are analyzed by gathering their own evaluation criteria. Based on the interview data, children&rsquo / s preferences, evaluation criteria and the reasons behind their preferences are tried to be identified. The results of the study show that, children evaluated construction play materials considering method of construction, form of the pieces, color, size, types of pieces, types of constructions, ease of construction and material. Children evaluated metallophones considering color, placement of the keys, sound, being in the openbeing closed, form, size, storage of the mallets, weight, size of the mallets, form of the keys, coding, number of mallets, number of keys, height and material. The study also includes the analysis of the relationships between children&rsquo / s evaluation criteria for each product group and comparison of the evaluation criteria related to construction play materials and metallophones.

Bakalauro darbe analizuojamos žaislų reklamos etiniais ir poetiniais aspektais. Didelis dėmesys skiriamas reklamų daromai įtakai vaikams, ieškoma įstatymų pažeidimų, nusižengimų etikai, semiotiškai nagrinėjamos klasikinės ir lavinamosios reklamos. / The advertisement of toys is analyzed according to ethical and poetical aspects in the Bachelor thesis. Much attention is paid to the impact of advertising on children, the search of violations of laws, offence against ethic, classical and educational advertisements are analyzed semiotically.

My essay is about me and my colleagues who have come to realize that maybe we are stuck in old habits when it comes to preschool indoor environment from a gender perspective. The insight has enabled us now face the challenge of how to deal with and move forward with gender issues and the indoor environment. The reviews between us educators differ greatly, making it difficult start of a process of change, or development, of previous work in the preschool. The difficulties of working with gender in preschool is that we do not know how teachers influence or shape the children. We educators controls many times the children, both consciously and unconsciously and sometimes benevolence tend to instead become a takeover. We also want to develop a norm-critical approach to preschool. The dilemma is how it should be done in a natural way as the children in our preschool has homogeneous family situation and we educators do not have enough experience on standard critical perspective. The purpose of my essay is that based on my experience, discuss the pros and cons of striving for a gender-neutral indoor environment. That will I do by highlighting and portray my experiences from when we started the nursery in 2001 and until today in 2013, to gain perspective on the indoor environment. With the help of my own and theoretical reflections, I will look at how working has changed in our workplace, but that we noticed or been aware of it. I want to make impact in how the discussion of gender in preschool has changed over the years. I also want to problematize what is a good or less good indoor environment for children in preschool through a pedagogical approach to the standard critical perspective. Something I want to mention is difficulties that educators face in working with a gender-inspired preschool. My reflective along with my preconceptions, I have lead me to approach the dilemmas that gender norms create in my daily task at the preschool. Through my encounters with colleagues, parents and children. I have reflected on the events that occurred during these meetings. My own reflections and thoughts have provided the basis for this investigation. I have been using a variety of theoretical perspectives to sort my reflections and thoughts. The theories I have used are for example the current curriculum for the Swedish preschool (Lpfö 98/10), as we as literature by Elisabeth Nordin-Hultman and Klara Dolk. My research question is formed with thoughts on how I, along with my work colleagues can create more awareness of the preschool indoor environment from a gender perspective, to develop a gender neutral environment in our preschool. Some obstacles to get further arise from colleagues we have shared opinions about what is good practice. The standard critical perspective is something we are interested in and started to explore, but there have also been new problems to work on. Who and what those difficulties might be and consist of, is something that I raise in my essay. My conclusion is that by letting the kids get more involved in preschool indoor environment from a gender perspective, a common change happen. / Min essä handlar om mig och mina kollegor som har kommit till insikt om att vi kanske har fastnat i gamla vanor när det gäller förskolans inomhusmiljö ur ett genusperspektiv. Insikten har gjort att vi nu står inför en utmaning om hur vi ska hantera och komma vidare med genusfrågor och med inomhusmiljön. Åsikterna mellan oss pedagoger går isär, vilket försvårar igångsättningen av ett förändringsarbete, eller utveckling, av det tidigare arbetet på förskolan. Svårigheterna med att arbeta med genus i förskolan är att vi inte vet hur vi pedagoger påverkar eller formar barnen. Vi pedagoger styr många gånger barnen, både medvetet och omedvetet, och ibland kan välviljan tendera att istället blir ett maktövertagande. Vi vill även utveckla ett normkritiskt arbetssätt på förskolan. Dilemmat är hur det ska ske på ett naturligt sätt när barnen på vår förskola har homogena familjeförhållanden och vi pedagoger inte har tillräckligt med erfarenhet om normkritiska perspektiv. Syftet med min essä är att utifrån mina erfarenheter diskutera för- och nackdelar med att sträva efter en könsneutral inomhusmiljö. Det kommer jag göra genom att lyfta fram och skildra mina erfarenheter från när vi startade upp förskolan år 2001 och fram till idag år 2013, för att få perspektiv på inomhusmiljön. Med hjälp av mina egna och teoretiska reflektioner kommer jag att se över hur arbetssättet har förändrats på vår arbetsplats, utan att vi märkt eller varit medvetna om det. Jag vill göra nedslag i hur diskussionen kring genus på förskolan har förändrats med åren. Jag vill också problematisera vad som är en bra eller mindre bra inomhusmiljö för barn på förskolan ur ett pedagogiskt synsätt när det gäller normkritiska perspektiv. Något jag vill ta upp är svårigheter som pedagoger möter i att arbeta med en genusinspirerad förskola. Min metod har varit reflekterande och tillsammans med min förförståelse har jag försökt närma mig de dilemman som genusnormer skapar. Genom mina möten med kollegor, föräldrar och barn vid förskolan, har jag utgått från och reflekterat kring de händelseförlopp som uppstått under dessa möten. Mina egna reflektioner och tankar har utgjort basen för undersökningen. Jag har med hjälp av olika teoretiska perspektiv, kunnat sortera mina reflektioner och tankar. De teorier jag har utgått från är till exempel läroplanen (Lpfö 98/10), samt litteratur av Elisabeth Nordin-Hultman och Klara Dolk. Min frågeställning handlar om hur jag tillsammans med mina arbetskollegor kan bli mer medvetna om förskolans inomhusmiljö ur ett genusperspektiv, för att utveckla genusarbetet i förskolans miljö. Vissa hinder för att komma vidare uppstår av att vi kollegor har delade åsikter om vad som är bra tillvägagångssätt. Det normkritiska perspektivet är något vi är intresserade av och har börjat utforska, men det har också kommit nya svårigheter att arbeta med. Vilka och vad dessa svårigheter kan vara och bestå i, är något som jag lyfter i min essä. Min slutsats är att genom att låta barnen bli mer delaktiga i förskolans inomhusmiljö ur ett genusperspektiv kan ett gemensamt förändringsarbete ske.

Bakalauro darbe analizuojama tėvų, auginančių ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikus, požiūris į žaislų saugumą. Tyrime dalyvavo 100 tėvų, auginantys ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikus. Literatūros šaltinių analizė atskleidė, kad žaidimas yra vaikų savarankiška veikla, padedanti juos auklėti ir mokyti perteikti jiems žmonių veiklos patirtį. Žaislas žaidime yra tam tikras ženklas daiktų, kurių paskirtį vaikas turi sužinoti ir su kuriais turi išmokti įvairių veiksmų. Žaidimas kaip vaiko gyvenimo organizavimo forma svarbus tuo, kad padeda formuotis vaiko psichikai. Taip pat tyrimo metu buvo atlikta dokumentų reglamentų, žaislų higienos ir saugos reikalavimų analizė, kuri atskleidė, kad žaislai turi būti suprojektuoti, sukonstruoti ir pagaminti taip, kad žaidžiant arba naudojant kokiu nors numanomu būdu, atsižvelgiant į įprastą vaikų elgseną, nesukeltų pavojaus sveikatai ar rizikos susižeisti. Anketinės apklausos metodu tirta, pagal kokius kriterijus tėvai perka žaislus savo vaikams; iš kokios medžiagos pagamintų žaislų jų vaikas turi daugiausiai; kur tėvai dažniausiai perka žaislus vaikams; ar prieš įsigyjant žaislą, tėvai skaito etiketes; kokia informacija tėvams yra svarbi žaislų etiketėje; ar tėvai perka žaislus be pakuočių ar be ženklinimo; kaip mano tėvai, kokiose dokumentuose yra kalbama apie žaislų saugą ir kas reglamentuoja žaislų saugą; tėvų nuomone, svarbiausios žaislų atliekamos funkcijos; tėvų nuomone, kokie žaislai pavojingiausi vaikų sveikatai; kas yra atsakingi, kad prekybai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Parents’ bringing up pre-school aged children attitude towards safety of toys is being analyzed in the bachelor work. 100 parents raising pre-school children participated in the research. The analysis of literature sources has revealed that games are children’s independent activity helping to bring them up and teach, as well as to pass over human activity experience. A toy in a game is a certain sign of items whose purpose a child has to find out and learns to perform different action. A game is significant as a form of organizing a child’s life which helps to develop a child’s mentality. An analysis of toys hygiene and safety requirements and document regulations has been carried out which revealed that toys should be constructed and produced in the way that they do not cause danger to children’s health or a risk to get injured while playing or using it in any other way, taking children’s common behavior into account. Using a method of questionnaire we have investigated the following issues: according to which criteria parents buy toys for their children; the material which the majority of toys are made of; where parents usually buy toys from; whether parents read labels before buying a toy; what information is relevant to parents in the labels; whether parents buy toys without packaging or marking; in parents opinion, what documents inform about safety of toys and what regulations it; parents’ point of view about the main function of toys and what toys cause most... [to full text]