As a child, I remember watching our black-and-white television until the station would go off the air and would not broadcast again until the next morning. We had three, maybe four, stations to select from, but today young kids can watch a full-length movie in color on their cellphone. All this advancement took place in a very limited time span. To survive, let alone advance, our children need to be prepared as much as possible to accomplish one very important basic thing--to learn.
To learn, they need to not only be able to read and write but also challenge themselves. Not to just do what parents and teachers ask, but to seek out answers to everything they hear about or see. Anyone can witness an action happening in front of them, but those who question why it happened and seek out answers, will be the future. Young minds work like a sponge, and I believe we need to provide them with subjects and items that promote a deeper understanding. Even the construction of a chubby little snow man requires thought and creativity.