Has anyone else been taken aback by the badly researched and even potentially dangerous recommendations on the page about traditional toys in this week's newsletter? Have just emailed Gransnet with the following message;
"Dear Gransnet,
Ah – I thought – traditional toys - some reminders of old toys and appropriate age recommendations. Must follow the link and visit the page.
First annoyance – this insistence on adding apostrophes ( 2’s , 5’s) which are not needed. Apostrophes show either omission or possession , neither of which applies.
Second annoyance – immediately spot a ‘heatable rag doll’ in the under 2s sections. Surely not, I think, for all sorts of reasons – overheating by mistake, bits that can be pulled off and swallowed etc. So I check it out on Amazon – and there it says, as plain as a pikestaff, ‘suitable for ages 3+’.
Then I spot the Play Doh, again in the under 2 section – visions come to mind of choking on it, pushing up noses, in ears, and all sorts of other unimaginable places. So I use the link to check it out, and, unsurprisingly, under specifications see that it says ‘suitable for 24 months plus’.
And how on earth do you expect a 2 year old to use a Sweep Hand puppet?
Need I go on.....................
Just one final one – well 3 at least! Are you trying to give all grandparents and parents a complex? How many under 5s are reading well enough to play Scrabble, even if it is ‘Junior’????? And how many under 5s can understand the concept of a globe? And how many can dribble a full sized football?
I’m sorry, but the page smacks of being put together by a well intentioned junior member of staff who probably hasn’t yet had children and doesn’t have a clue. Even so, if they had done their research they wouldn’t have made so many stupid errors.
I’m disappointed, Gransnet – not up to your usual standard!"
