Worksheets for chapter 7 completed

Here's the worksheets for one activity in chapter 7: It looks like the chart did not paste - I just made a simple chart with the four headings - I'll attach it to an email...


4. Playing with toys is a form of socialization. Toys can encourage children to be active or inactive and can stimulate children to model certain behaviors. For example, a hockey stick encourages a child to run or skate; board games encourage sedentary play. Obviously, each kind of toy has its advantages. Toys are also a means by which sex-typing can occur in the socialization process. For example, toys marketed for boys tend to be complex and encourage more vigorous activity than those marketed for girls. The typical girls’ toy promotes quiet, indoor play, such as “playing house.” Sex-typing through toys is well entrenched in society. Manufacturers often advertise their products along sex-typed strategies. For example, boys are featured on commercials or packaging for racing car sets, and girls are pictured with toy kitchen sets. Use the observation sheets in documents (one for toys, one for television commercials) to help you examine toy-marketing strategies. Use your observations to decide whether these strategies socialize children into traditional gender roles.

Directions: Visit a local toy store or toy section in a department store. Evaluate 20 different children’s toys for a specific-age child. Observe how the toys are packaged. On the observation sheet, enter each toy’s name, it’s category, the key word or phrase used by the manufacturer to market the toy (“just like mom’s”) and whether boys or girls are pictured on the package. Summarize your report in the forum.

Examining Toy Marketing Strategies: Toy Store Visit

Target Age/Grade level of Toy: __________________________________

Name of Toy Toy Category* Key Marketing Phrase Children Pictured
































*Examples: construction/building set, sedentary game, make believe domestic role (e.g. kitchen set), make believe action career (e.g. soldier), educational toy/computer, sport equipment.

Which toys would you purchase? Why? Reasons for your purchase…..

Directions for Cartoon Show Commercials worksheet: Watch two children’s programs on television. Choose a time slot popular for children’s viewing rather than family viewing (Saturday morning, for example). Observe the commercials during and immediately after each program. Using the worksheet record the name of every toy advertised, the type, the key marketing terms used, and whether boys or girls are pictured in the commercial. After completing the worksheet, respond to the following questions:
1. Is stereotyping prevalent in cartoon show commercials?
2. What is the main message being sent to children in these commercials?


Cartoon Show Commercials

Name of Toy Toy Category* Key Marketing Phrase Children Pictured


























*Examples: construction/building set, sedentary game, make believe domestic role (e.g. kitchen set), make believe action career (e.g. soldier), educational toy/computer, sport equipment.