Unseen contributing factors

What toys are available in the local shops to you? Do you have access to an actual toy shop or do all of your toy choices come from a store like Target or Kmart or Big W. Do you have access to a library near by? Does your local shops have a newsagency? A bookshop?

What have you been handed down from older siblings, from cousins, from family friends, from grandparents?

What are the interests of your parents? Separately as individuals? And together? As an extended family? Are there any specific cultural or religious activities that your family or community provides you with access to or that you are required to participate in? Over what time period do you participate in those? Does that leave time for other things? How many people are in your immediate family? Are there enough adults or carers to take you in the different directions for activities that might occur at the same time? Or do you or does someone miss out because there isn’t enough time in the day? For how long do you / did you cope with this before becoming angry or overwhelmed?

Is your leisure interest heavy with items that need to be stored at home? In your bedroom? Or do they take up room that is used for others so that the house needs to be layed out differently? How many TV’s does your house need to have because of individuals interest in gaming? What does that mean for how many rooms you need? And for your ability as a parent to supervise?

How big an age gap is there between your children? How does that change what types of activities and depth of content and type of play that they are exposed to? How does that change the type of language experiences and vocabulary that they are exposed to?

Where do you get to play? Do you have a space set aside within your home or do you use a shared area? Do you have somewhere to sit down at a table or do you use the floor and lie down to draw? Do you need to pack away everything at the end of the day or are you allowed to leave everything out? Or do you have set spaces for somethings that can be left out e.g. building items and other things which need to be put away? Can you pack away all of the toys yourself? Did you need to go buy more storage items to pack away the toys neatly because of the type of toys that they were or the shapes of them or because of the quantities of them?

When other kids come over to play have they used the toys before that you have in your home? How frequently? Does this change their success in playing with each other? Does this change how quickly they move in between different types of toys? Or does this change how long the friend wants to stay playing the same type of toy if they don’t have access to it at home?