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“There is a tremendous hunger in our culture for true play.” This is a quote from Stuart L. Brown, M.D. who has spent years studying play in children. He is among a growing number of doctors, psychologists, child development specialists, and other professionals who are speaking out on the apparent lack of true play in children today. Are they right? Are our children “starving” for play?

To be defined as play, most researchers agree that children’s activities must meet five criteria:

1. Play must be pleasurable and enjoyable.
2. It must be spontaneous and voluntary.
3. A play activity contains an aspect of make believe.

4. The player must be actively engaged in play.
5. Play must have no extrinsic goals. *

While most children probably engage in play activities that meet some of these criteria, an activity has to meet all five to be considered “true” play. Activities for children today seem to be lacking in two primary areas: numbers four and five.

Many toys on the market today encourage passive rather than active play. In this age of high-tech toys, children frequently push a button and are entertained by watching play happen. The construction of the toy sets up the play activity and determines how it will be played with. The same can be said for many other typical activities for children today – television, movies, computer and video games. The problem with these activities is that the child is not creating anything using his/her own imagination. The child is not an active participant in creation of the play experience.

Criteria number five states that play must happen for the sake of play, with any outside goals. Much of what we “play” with children today has the covert agenda of teaching them a skill. Many of today’s toys are “educational” and clever marketing has told parents that they need to stimulate their baby’s brain, use flash cards with their toddler, teach reading to their preschooler. Some of today’s most popular toys carry names such as Einstein, Genius, Mozart, and Scholar. While there is nothing wrong with children learning through play, the point is that learning happens naturally in the course of true play. All children are born with a desire to explore, discover, and learn. The most effective means of accomplishing this is through their play.

When playing with water children learn about weight, in selling food in a pretend store they learn about numbers, by using toys symbolically, they are thinking abstractly – a requirement for reading. All of these activities lay the groundwork for learning naturally.

It is interesting to note that although children appear to be lacking in true play experiences, most parents agree that play is important to their children’s development. In fact, research has shown that parents even know the types of play that are most beneficial to children!* If parents acknowledge that play is important and know what types of play are beneficial, then why are children not playing in this type unstructured free play? Developmental psychologists Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, PhD and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD state that as parents, “we know what to do, but we just can’t bring ourselves to do it. We are afraid that if we trust our instincts, our children will be missing out on learning some critical skills.” Their book, Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, proves otherwise.

It is my hope that we will bring to bring back true play to childhood. Just as many of us take back the process of childbirth, just as we trust our instincts regarding attachment, let us also value our children’s need to play creatively and show respect for the importance of play in their lives.

Ways we can each begin to do this:

• Make play a part of your child’s daily life. Set a time for free play, play that is undirected and uninterrupted by adults, each day.

• Allow your child to play for the sake of play. Have no hidden agenda for “teaching” or “learning” during play.

• Provide unstructured, multi-purpose toys. Toys that are not detailed encourage active participation on the part of the child. The child has to use his/her imagination to “complete” the toy. This also encourages creativity and gives the child an opportunity to make believe endless possibilities. In addition, there is some evidence these types of play materials develop out-of-the-box thinking and problem solving skills.*

• Eliminate or limit television viewing. Television is a passive activity. It can also invite a host of other challenges to true play: children reenacting television programs instead of playing out of their own imaginations, exposure to violence and commercial marketing, and contributing to the need to be entertained.

• Be conscious of the images and sensations your children take in. Young children are just beginning to know the world around them, try to give them a beautiful image of their world. Toys that are made of natural materials such as wood and cotton are particularly nice as they have a warmth and quality that synthetic counterparts cannot match. Images that are reflective of the beauty of nature are preferable to characterizations and cartoon-like reproductions.

• Offer your child a life worth imitating. Young children learn through imitation. Watching you engaged in worthwhile daily tasks will give them lots of things to pretend and role play.

• Choose a play-based preschool. Children learn best through play. Research shows that children who attend academically oriented preschools do not enter school with better skills or attitudes toward learning.*

• Educate yourself. Do some reading on child development and the importance of play and play materials. Question marketing of toys claiming to be based on brain research. For example, would it surprise you to know The Mozart Effect was a study done on college kids and not babies?

• Get involved. There are many play advocacy organizations that are free to join and many encourage parents to do so. The Alliance for Childhood (www.allianceforchildhood.org) is a great one. They provide information for parents and you can join their free email newsletter.

Play fosters the growth of healthy children in every aspect of development – physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally. It really is food for children’s bodies, minds, and spirits. Let us nourish them with wonderful “true” play experiences.

*Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD & Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, PhD with Diane Eyer, PhD. Einstein Never Used Flash Cards. (Rodale, 2003)

Dana Johnson, MSW is a former children’s mental health therapist, now a work-at-home-mom of three. She owns http://www.ThreeSistersToys.com, and specializes in natural, open-ended toys for children.

A tomato importer, John Nix, decided to challenge the law after scrutinizing the Tariff Act. His case relied on the fact that tomatoes were a fruit and not vegetable, therefore, it should not be subjected to the Tariff Act. Nix’s objections brought the case to the Supreme Court in 1893. Although Nix had a solid case, the Supreme Court rejected the botanical facts and continued to refer to tomatoes as a vegetable.

Plant family
Tomatoes belong to the genus Lycopersicon, while potatoes belong to the genus Solanum; Both of which belongs to the same “flowering plant family” solanaceae. The similarities in leaves and flowers justifies this taxonomic grouping.

The UK – Introduction of the tomato
When the tomato plant was first introduced into the UK, some areas were not willing to consume the fruit because they were considered poisonous. Other plants that were poisonous, and in the same family as the tomato, such as the henbane, mandrake and the deadly nightshade were reasons to be concerned.

The deadly nightshade (Atropus belladonna), in particular, resembled the tomato plant the most, and was used as a hallucinogenic drug, as well as for cosmetic purposes in various parts of Europe. In Latin, the name “belladonna”; literally means “beautiful woman.” The women in medieval courts would apply drop of deadly nightshade extract to their eyes, dilating their pupils, a fashionable statement at the time.

When the deadly nightshade was taken for it’s hallucinogenic properties, the consumer would experience visuals and a feeling of flying or weightlessness. German folklore suggests it was also used in witchcraft to evoke werewolves, a practice know as lycanthropy. The common name for tomatoes in Germany translates to “Wolf peach,” which was simply another reason for Europeans to avoid the plant.

North America – Introduction of the tomato
Tomato plants were transported by colonists from Britain to North America. The plants were most valued for removing pustule (Pimples, Blisters – Pus filled, inflamed skin). The inventor of peanut butter, George Washington Carver, strongly urged his poor Alabama neighbors to consume tomatoes because of their unhealthy diet. However, he had little success convincing them that the plants was edible.

Early efforts by merchants to sell tomatoes were not very successful. It is said that the fruit was brought to the liberal hamlet of Salem, Mass. in 1802 by a painter who also found it difficult persuading people to try the fruit. New Orleans cuisine was reported to have used tomatoes by 1812, however, doubts about the fruit lingered in some areas.

It’s thought that doubts about the plant’s edibility was laid to rest, when Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson announced that he will consume a bushel of tomatoes in front of the Boston courthouse at noon on September 26, 1820. Thousands of spectators turned out to watch the man commit suicide (At least, so they thought) by consuming the poisonous fruit. It is said that spectators were shocked when they realized the Colonel will survive after consuming numerous tomatoes. This story is from an old farm journal and may not be very reliable, however, it’s quite entertaining.

Tomato popularity on the rise
Throughout the western world, tomatoes began to grow in popularity. In the 1820s, several cookbooks included recipes which required or called for tomatoes. Tomatoes were sold by the dozens in Boston’s Quincy Market in 1835. In Thomas Bridgeman seed catalogue, 4 varieties of tomatoes were listed: Cherry, Pear, Large Yellow and Large Squash.

Bruist, a seed merchant commented on the tomato in 1858 – “In taking retrospect of the last eighteen years, there is no vegetable on the catalogue that has obtained such popularity in so short a period as the one now under consideration. In 1828-29, it was almost detested; in ten years almost every variety of pill and panacea was extract of tomato. It now occupies as great a surface of ground as cabbage, and is cultivated the length and breadth of the country.” – www.heirloomseeds.com

That year, Bruits had eight cultivatars listed in his catalogue. A few years later, in 1863, a popular seed catalogue had 23 cultivars listed. One of the listed cultivars was Trophy, the first modern-looking, large, red, smooth-skinned variety which was sold for $5.00 for a packet of 20 seeds.

Large scale breeding for desirable traits became common in the 1870s in both the US and UK. In fact, by the 1880s several hundred cultivars had been named and it was clear that tomato had grown on the western culture. According to a study conducted at Michigan Agricultural College in the late 1880s, 171 of the named cultivars represented only 61 truly unique varieties, many of which were only marginally different.

Heirloom varieties
Although Central American is thought to be the center of domestication, throughout Europe and later in North America, further domestication occurred on a more intense level. Eastern Europe appeared to produce large numbers of high quality varieties. Tomatoes are self-pollinating plants which tend to become genetically homozygous after many generations. Tomatoes will rarely cross breed and usually produce plants will similar characteristics as the parents.

Because of tomatoes natural breeding process, early cultivars did not change much and were kept in a family or community for a long time, hence the name heirlooms. There are cultivars that dates back to over one hundred years that are still produced today. Most heirloom varieties are different in color, size and shape. Some varieties are black, red with black shoulders, dark purple, rainbow and green. In terms of size, some are the size of a cherry to larger varieties weighing over 2 lb.

Heirlooms – a story
Some heirloom varieties have interesting histories as well; at least I think so. Lets talk about the story of a heirloom name Mortgage Lifter. A radiator repair shop owner, Charlie, experienced hard times, as did much of the nation through the Great Depression. Because of financial reasons, most people abandoned their cars and Ol Charlie’s business too a hard hit. He decided to use his four largest fruit producing tomato plants to cross breed repeatedly with each other to create a plant that produced two pounds of fruits.

Claming that his plants could feed a family of six, Charlie peddled the crops for a dollar per plant. Within four years, Charlie generated enough money to pay off the $4,000 dollars mortgage on his home, which led to the heirloom name “Mortgage Lifter.”

Heirlooms – names & origins
In general, the names of heirloom varieties links directly to their history. For example, the Baptiste family in Remis, Fance cultivated the First Pick variety. Picardy’s history also dates back to France (1890). Besser arrived from the Freiburg section of Germany, while Schellenburg’s Favorite came from the Schellenburg family near Manheim, Germany.

Elbe was cultivated in 1889 near the Elbe River in Germany. Since the 1870s, the Amish in Pennsylvania cultivated the Amish Paste variety. Brandywine was also cultivated by Amish farmers near Brandywine Creek in Chester County Pennsylvania in 1885. The hills of Virginia is thought to be the origin of the Hillbilly variety. Old Virginia was cultivated in Virginia as well in the early 1900s. In 1953 Campbell Soup Co., introduced the Ace variety which is still popular for canning. On Edgar Allan Poe’s estate, a cultivar found growing there bears his mother’s maiden name, Hopkins.

Please bear in mind that these heirloom stories may be true or false, in part or whole, and may be inaccurate or exaggerated.

This article is courtest of HydroponicSearch.com – The Agriculture & Gardening Search Engine.