Raising a small child is not an easy task, requiring constant attention from at least one of the parents. At the same time, adults sometimes also need a free minute, which is often not available - you cannot leave the baby alone, because it is not clear what he will be doing at this time, whether he will do something. An excellent solution for young mums and dads will be such an invention as a business board.
What is a business board and what is it for
A business board (or a developing board) is a special invention of modern educators and educators, which allows to achieve two goals at once: to reliably distract the child's attention so that he does not engage in various nonsense, and at the same time develop his ingenuity with a play method.
As the name suggests, this is really a board, and even with various details attached to it, designed to interest the baby. Probably everyone noticed that young children are very curious. They need to touch everything, or even put it in their mouths. This does not mean that they are harmful, they just do not yet have enough knowledge about the world around them, and that is the way they get to know it.
There is no standard set of things attached to such a developing board, but most often in the minimal version these are materials of various textures that allow the child to simply get a tactile idea of certain objects (it still looks bright and beautiful).
Modern designers are more sophisticated and much more active, attaching to the base all those things that are so interesting to kids. However, they can be dangerous for them or simply break from excessive childish interest - there are sockets with plugs, and cabinet door handles, and circular phone dials, and much more. In a more complex version, a business board can contain light structural elements - for example, plastic simple figures (circle, square, triangle), which can be immediately inserted into openings of the corresponding shape.
A bit of history
Busyboard is a prime example of the Montessori pedagogical method, named after its inventor. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was perhaps the first known person to point out that school education is too standard and does not take into account the individual characteristics of the child. She proposed a more flexible approach, in which the child is offered optimal conditions for development in the form of a reference developmental environment, and knowledge is not forced into his head by force, but gets there voluntarily - due to natural curiosity.
Busyboard is a Montessori technique for the little ones. It is unlikely that a tiny baby will be interested if you begin to explain to him how the same door latch works - he will not listen or simply will not understand anything. It's another matter when, playing with her, he accidentally understands the principle of work - then for him it will become a reason for joy and pride in himself. He will definitely remember this, and most importantly - he will definitely not break anything of value.
Both the Montessori technique in general and the business boards have been repeatedly criticized over the century of their existence, they still have not disappeared. On the contrary, over the years, certain teachers have introduced reasonable ideas about how to improve the invention, thanks to which modern "smart" boards are already much more useful and interesting than those with which everything once began.
A video review of the toy "business board" according to the Montessori method can be viewed in the following video.
What is useful for the development of the baby
When talking about the benefits of a business board, four main points are usually indicated:
- Even the most primitive development board involves feeling, and this develops fine motor skills. Babies are not as good at using their hands and fingers as adults, so their tactile curiosity is largely due to the banal desire to "stretch", and such a toy will provide all the possibilities for this.
- Receiving any new sensations uniquely stimulates the work of the brain, which must digest, systematize and remember the information received. With such simple exercises, the development of human thinking begins, which is significantly accelerated thanks to the bodyboard.
- If the board contains rather complex composite structures and is used by a slightly older baby, it can also contribute to the development of his logic. Using the example of simple mechanisms, such as latches or locks, he can independently figure out how such a structure works, as well as others (like it).
- Children's curiosity often ends with broken things or, which is much worse, with health problems in the child - what is worth only the eternal desire to stick your fingers into the socket! However, the business board was created specifically for these purposes - it is absolutely safe, but at the same time it gives the kid all the opportunities to explore the world around him.
At what age to play
The answer to this question can vary significantly - depending on how complex a particular type of business board is.... Educators and child psychologists believe that the use of the simplest constructions can be beneficial from the age of 10 months - at this stage, the baby's brain is already sufficiently developed to remember the sensations of touch and draw some simple conclusions.
The use of a business board is considered to be uniquely useful up to the age of two, in which the child has usually already mastered most of the knowledge offered by the "smart board", and now it is possible to distract and develop it with some simple cartoons. At the same time, there are more complex and interesting models, therefore, in general, child psychologists advise not to take away the development board from the child at all, but simply to wait until the moment when it by itself ceases to interest its owner.
Varieties
Business boards can be classified according to a number of characteristic features, starting with the design style - whether the product is focused on a boy or a girl, what is the set of parts. Most of these classifications are more descriptive. It is possible to clearly classify development boards only by the level of difficulty and by the estimated age of the owner.
For the smallest, for example, structural details are useless, for them the main thing is tactile sensations, which can be provided with the help of different types of fabric, buttons, pockets, and the like. There is even such a variety as a soft business board, which is not a board at all, because its base also consists of fabric.
Children closer to the age of 1.5-2 years can be given more complex tasks, such as the same figures with slots for them, switches and sockets, locks. The toy can be complicated even more, but then think about replacing it with a full-fledged (albeit small) constructor.
Popular parts and elements
The imagination of today's business board creators knows no bounds, so in the process of creating they can use the most unexpected components. Parents who do not have a pedagogical or psychological education, as well as experience in using business boards (or at least preliminary experience in raising children), it can be difficult to decide on the choice of a board model.
Parents do not understand which of its details are really useful, and which are the fruit of the manufacturer's overly exuberant imagination and his desire to interest ignorant buyers. It is worth considering which components are generally accepted, "standard" for business boards - some of this may not be on a particular good model, but none of these things will become superfluous.
So, they are successful:
- The smallest details - buttons, loops, hooks.
- Simple locks of all known types - from bolts and latches to latches and door chains.
- Various switches and buttons, as well as (in complex versions of boards) simple lighting devices in working order - bulbs or flashlights.
- Wooden abacus.
- Wheels, balls and gears are anything that can show movement.
- Zipper locks.
- Watch dials, disks from the phone, remotes from the TV - to a greater extent in order to protect the originals of such things from excessive curiosity on the part of the child, but also for his development in preschool age - provided that he already at least approximately understands the purpose of this item.
Sometimes a drawing can also be perceived as a separate element of a developing board - provided that it really is, as it were, a separate part.
Shape and dimensions
When deciding when choosing a business board with its shape and size, start from the fact that the use of the product should be as comfortable as possible for your baby... When choosing a form, pay attention to non-standard solutions designed to attract attention not only by its content, but also by its appearance - for example, today such a toy may look like a little train or a house.
At the same time, most of these products still look standard - most often it is a rectangle, but other simple shapes are also popular.
As for the size, here you should start from the fact that the child has everything at hand. If we are talking about a child aged 10 months to 2 years, then his physical activity is relatively low. For hobby and play with a business board, he needs to constantly sit still, which means, ideally, he should reach with his hands to the edges of the board - this will be the optimal size. A reasonable exception is permissible if there are two or more children and they are expected to play together. Then the playing field also increases proportionally so that it is not too crowded near it.
Popular brands and models
For those parents who have already realized that they cannot do without a business board, it is worthwhile to conduct a small review of the most popular manufacturers of such toys with descriptions of the models thanks to which they became famous. In our country, the following companies are most often preferred.
Smekalkin
This company as a whole focuses on the production of educational toys for the youngest children, and their selection of educational boards is simply amazing. There is everything here - for every taste and every size, and you can highlight double-sided business boards, as well as options with labyrinths and doors.
Happy home
This company does not have its own website, but is known throughout the country for its strikingly beautiful business boards. The peculiarity of this manufacturer is that he offers only ready-made sketches, while he starts manufacturing only after placing the order itself. In theory, this allows for small changes to the selected sketch, which should be of interest to creative parents.
Smart girl
This brand stands out for its most expensive models, the cost of which can reach tens of thousands of rubles. Such a high price is due to the fact that the manufacturer creates not only ordinary business boards, but also complex structures from them - a kind of "houses", each side of which is a separate development board with its own set of components.
This solution will not work for babies, but it can seriously captivate older children, whose physical activity is already well developed. Such a product can be successfully used where there are many children. This brand is a supplier of goods for kindergartens.
Smart tree
The products of this company are distinguished by visual conciseness, which by no means diminishes the interest of children, because the creators very competently select a monochromatic calm color scheme. This choice is very good for those kids who are particularly restless - the toy will not only attract their attention, but also calm down a little. At the same time, the developers offer a wide range of business boards of various orientations.
Entertaining house
High-quality, beautiful and thoughtful business boards from this brand will surely please the kid. The child will learn how to open and close zippers, tie shoelaces, button up clothes.
Of course, the list of manufacturers of development boards does not end there, but it is these companies that have earned the special love of parents.
Tips for choosing
Many parents, choosing a business board for the first time, start only from the attractive appearance, but this should not be the only criterion for making a purchase. There are a few simple rules that a good board should follow:
- The business board must be of a solid structure, without completely detachable parts. Children tend to pull any nasty stuff into their mouths, and a loose zipper can become a huge problem, so even before making a purchase, you need to carefully examine the fasteners of all elements. Pay attention also to the paint - it must be of high quality, not flake off, and it would be nice to clarify how safe it is at all.
- It is generally accepted that soft cloth development boards are much safer, but this is not entirely true. Such a basis is really better if the child is less than a year old, but older children already have sufficient strength to tear one or another part from such a basis. Wooden boards are recommended for them. In this case, the business board should be smooth and not have sharp corners.
- The complexity of the toy must correspond to the age of the child for whom it is bought - this applies to both the specifics of the tasks and the set of components. A development board may even contain sharp elements - or the same thin threads that can also cut yourself, but such models can only be trusted by those children who already understand how to handle such things.
How to do it yourself
There is nothing extremely difficult in this venture, so many parents really do just that - they refuse to buy in favor of a homemade toy. The first stage for its creation will be detailed planning - how the final result should look like, what materials will have to be used and where to get them, how to combine and in what order. Get ready for the task (seemingly very easy at first glance) to take at least a day.
Fabric
If you are planning to make a business board on a fabric basis, choose a durable, pleasant to the touch fabric that does not come out of threads. Just in case, quilt the piece around the perimeter with threads - the base is ready for this. Most of the components are attached to the fabric base with threads - they just need to be sewn, but this must be done securely in order to hold. Any mother can easily make such a business board with her own hands.
Wood
A business board on a wooden base is, rather, a task for dad.
- The simplest and most correct base material will be plywood. This material has sharp edges and can leave splinters, so it must be carefully polished on all sides with sandpaper.
- The method of attaching the components to the wood board may depend on the material of the components themselves. If it comes to self-tapping screws (for example, for attaching rotating gears), make sure that they do not protrude from the back side - the child can get hurt by them. Fasten all the parts that can be attached with threads in this way, however, choose the threads that are more reliable so that they do not break.
- Making holes for fasteners, be it thread or self-tapping screws, don't forget to grind also the edges of these holes, since they are often sharp.
When choosing accessories, start from what is at hand - literally everything will do. However, psychologists recommend that the complex mechanisms used should work as much as possible.
It is clear that no one will put a work phone on the business board, although its disk is quite appropriate there, but here buttons and switches would be nice to assign the appropriate functions. Have some small flashlights turn on and beep. So the baby will comprehend the purpose of such things much faster and learn to use them in practice.
You can see the step-by-step process of creating a business board at home in the following gallery.
Another variation of the do-it-yourself business board is discussed in the next video.
Recommendations for games
Ideally, a good business board should contain a certain concept - or at least allow the interaction of its individual components for some overall result. A good example of this interaction is a set of a small ball, a curved plastic corrugated tube, and a cup at its lower end. This simple exercise develops your baby's understanding of space very well.
Switches or buttons are much better perceived if they have a certain visible (or audible) function.
If the design of the business board provides for the presence of opening doors, it makes sense that at least one of them has a small secret where you can hide something. These little tricks actually greatly contribute to the development of the baby's thinking, because things that seem simple and obvious to us are not yet available to him.
This is the easiest way to explain to the kid that you have an object, no one sees it anymore, but it is there, but you have it again - this is how doors work. There can be quite a lot of similar ideas, therefore, when purchasing a specific development board, do not hesitate to ask how exactly it will expand your child's idea of the functioning of the world around him.
Reviews
It is not at all surprising that most of the comments on business boards on various sites about young children boil down to the fact that this is a genius invention of mankind. Such products have a lot of advantages.
Most often, buyers indicate that even the most restless little man can be interested in such a toy, and at the same time at this age there is hardly any other way to keep the child busy with something useful to the mind. It has been repeatedly noted that the business board is perhaps the very first educational toy available, since all the others are relevant already at an older age.
Complaints are rare, but for the sake of completeness, they are worth mentioning. They usually criticize low-quality business boards, whose durability parents did not pay attention to when buying - for this reason, plastic development boards (especially from a cheap price segment) are often mentioned in a negative way. Models with thin threads are also mentioned as dangerous - both because of fragility and because sometimes children even manage to cut themselves with them.
You can see how to make one of the do-it-yourself business board options in the next video.
