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Action Figure Fun

Learning Basic Skills Through Toys and Play

By Beth Hering

Another way to sort with a purpose is alphabetically. For younger children who need to learn the order of the ABCs, this could mean just gathering all figures for a given letter as you call the letter. Older children can alphabetize beyond the first letter and create a long line by inserting each character they pick up into the proper spot.

Of course children will spend much of their time with action figures simply playing. The elaborate scenes they make up can be a good gateway to understanding narrative. Ask them about plot, characters and setting. Encourage tales to have a beginning, a middle and an end.

Writing assignments can also become easier when children realize they already create fiction every time they play. "My 8-year-old needed to write a poem," says Frank George, a father and English teacher in Arlington, Va. "He was having trouble figuring out a subject and decided to have a Star Wars duel while he thought. Suddenly, he got the idea to focus his assignment on "-ing" words that described the battle. The poem was quite interesting, and I was happy to have him write something that had meaning to him. Boys who can make connections between their experiences and literature are more likely to be readers and writers for life."

Anything that can get children excited about learning is worth a try. Challenge your child to find new ways to make homework fun. Besides, exercising creativity is a great learning experience, too!