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A group of us were looking at new early childhood product possibilities recently and we saw this large, colorful slinky. Everyone was so excited and thought it was so cool. A product developer said, "Yes, everyone thinks it is great. But what do you do with it?" That became the big question. They gave me the slinky to try out with my grandchildren to see if we could think of activities to do with the slinky. This was a difficult assignment. Because the slinky is prone to knot and bend and really was too big to do the token 'walking down the stairs.' We did have fun shaking it up and down like a parachute, but beyond that there wasn't much to do with it. I certainly realized I couldn't write an activity guide to accompany the slinky. It was a lesson learned about how sometimes things are cute and attractive, but not very useful in building skills. I see early childhood products like that occasionally. Sometimes they're just a slinky.

Similar to my last post, todays post also deals with a report looking at the Big Society agenda and children's services. One Million Reasons for Reform: Unleashing the Potential of the Voluntary Sector in Early Years Services has been published by ACEVO, and examines the future role of voluntary services within the early years sector. Among the recommendations are calls for the government to create a level playing field between charities and the public sector when bidding for services.

To view the full report, click here.