Secondary research | Role of parents in child’s play
b. Lead in Paint and Similar Surface Coatings: All children’s products must not contain a concentration of lead greater than 0.009 per cent in paint or any similar surface coatings. The following materials are exempted from lead testing: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Pure wood (not plywood or other composites) Paper and products made from cellulosic fibre Certain plant-derived and animal-derived materials such as animal glue, bee’s wax, etc. Certain natural and synthetic textiles, such as cotton, wool and polyester: Fabrics that do not contain lead can be affected by printing or dyeing. Textiles should not be treated or adulterated in any way with the addition of materials that could result in the addition of lead into the material. Dyes are not considered to be a material that may result in an addition of lead. After-treatment applications like screen prints, transfers, decals etc. can lead to the addition of lead and can be avoided by using ‘dye-like’ ink .
Key Insights: • There are lot of regulations by various organisations to ensure safety of toys, yet they are often missed or overlooked by the manufacturers for reasons like variation in type of products manufactured (e.g. a manufacturer specializing in Injection moulding may at the same time be producing toys as well as parts of cars). The designer should be able to provide and measure exact requirements to lessen decisions for manufacturers. • Although some parts like baloon, are exempted from size and material regulations, using those for any products must be done responsibily. • Using colors in parts of toys should be limited to minimum, light colors requires less amount of paints and hence is less toxic than dark colors.
3.4. Role of parents in child’s play Between the ages of two and four, the child is undergoing the Spectator and Parallel play stages, which means, that the child needs the same age peers around him/her. A child tends to imitate what others around him/her are doing, parental participation can be an efficient source of learning. Parents are also the primary facilitators for the child, their choices in buying toys and other materials heavily influence the childs development. 35
