Ricchezza, Betina & Vellere, Paola
Nowadays children have contact with technology at a very early age. Most of them usually use computers better than adults. Technology provides with everything they want. Is technology going to replace the traditional games?
Olivia is a sweet piglet girl whose imagination plays an important role in a cartoon which carries her name. Although Olivia’s games are based on imagination, little children, who are usually accustomed to technology and not to imagination games, can identify with her. Olivia, a model for all preschoolers, promotes creativity, confidence and independent thinking.
In every episode Olivia share with her peers role play activities created by her imagination making all her dreams come true, such as being “owner of a restaurant”. Olivia and her friends experiment real-life situations. Simple and every day actions among adults, like ordering a meal, helping a customer or paying bills, are part of the social skills develop through imaginative games by children.
While interactive and electronic games promote strategic and critical thinking allowing children’s intellectual growing, this technology does not help social relationships among them. Throughout the use of devices such as cell phones or computers, children do not have to spend much time in face to face conversations, thus they can not learn good social skills outside their technological life. Technology avoids children’s imagination because everything seems to have already been thought. Playing video games children gain problem solving abilities, memory, quick thinking and valuable information about the surrounding world. However, the technology tools do not provide them a real life environment
Adults who were imaginative children became creative and independent thinkers. Cartoons like “Olivia”, which promotes creative thinking, increase confidence and self-esteem preparing children to become problem solvers in interpersonal situations. Free play is active and physical. It also creates new worlds and portrays real situations. Children who can take part in real-life games will be able to take part in society as adults.
Preschool children are in the pre-operational stage. At this point, in free play, they develop their imagination, ideas, and images. They learn symbols to represent objects in daily life. Anger and fear need to be resolved and imaginative play provides a safe means for this. Olivia is an accurate model of any preschooler despite the fact that children in today’s society are more related to technology than to imaginative games. Although most of children do not take into account this kind of creative activities, all of them are capable of developing such skills as imagination and creativity. Olivia’s cartoon foster children to create new worlds through imagination. The viewers discover that imagination is a great tool to reach whatever they want and to spend time with their friends. Olivia is a good model for kids.
1 comment:
Hi, girls! To be honest, I've never warched Olivia' cartoon. However, after reading your essay, I feel like watching it! Then, I'll tell you if I agree or not with you.
see u!
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