IELTS Writing Task 2 sample answer (band score 8-9)
IELTS Essay # 1015 - Advantages and disadvantages for the child of having a large number of toys
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IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some parents buy their children a large number of toys to play with.
What are the advantages and disadvantages for the child of having a large number of toys?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant example from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer 1:
In today's consumer-driven society, some parents are inclined to buy a large number of toys for their children to play with. This trend has both benefits and drawbacks. This essay will examine the major advantages and shortcomings of providing children with many toys.
One major advantage of buying many different toys for young children is that those toys stimulate a child's creativity and imagination. With a diverse selection of toys, children engage in various role-playing scenarios and explore different worlds. For instance, a child with a wide array of building blocks, action figures, and dress-up costumes can create imaginative stories and scenarios, honing their cognitive and emotional skills.
Another major advantage is that a plethora of toys can facilitate social interactions and cooperation among children. When children have access to a variety of toys, they are more likely to share and exchange playthings with their peers. This fosters a sense of cooperation and teamwork, allowing children to learn valuable social skills from a young age. For instance, in a preschool setting where children have an assortment of toys to choose from, researchers observed that the children were more willing to collaborate on building projects and imaginative play scenarios, promoting positive social interactions.
Despite the advantages, having an excessive number of toys can lead to a major disadvantage, as it may overwhelm the child. When surrounded by an abundance of toys, children may struggle to focus on a particular play activity, and this constant stimulation can lead to a lack of appreciation for the value of each toy. Research shows that a surplus of toys indicated that children often flitted between different toys without fully engaging in any one activity, resulting in shorter attention spans and a diminished sense of fulfilment.
Furthermore, an overabundance of toys can foster materialistic tendencies in children, leading them to place greater value on possessions rather than experiences or relationships. Research has shown that children with access to an abundance of toys tend to show a stronger preference for material possessions, which can affect their long-term attitudes towards consumerism.
In conclusion, providing children with a huge number of toys can offer advantages in terms of fostering creativity, imagination, and social skills. However, it is essential to be mindful of potential drawbacks, including overwhelming the child, diminishing appreciation, and fostering materialistic tendencies.
Sample Essay 2:
These days, a growing number of parents spend money on purchasing a lot of toys for their children. Some do so because they want to make their children happy, while others believe that it helps their child's intellectual development. Despite good intentions, this trend can have both advantages and drawbacks. The following paragraphs are going to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of children having a large number of toys.
One of the major advantages of giving young children a wider range of toys is the intellectual benefits it offers. Good toys engage a child's senses, spark their imaginations and encourage them to interact with others. For example, lego blocks can help preschoolers learn letters, numbers and language skills, while also developing their intellectual abilities. Many toys are made for children's educational and development purposes. For example, blocks, educational computer games, puzzles etc. and they ignite the creativity of children and let them find out their interests. Moreover, it can improve their communication skill by encouraging them to use those playthings and play with other children. Communication plays an essential role in our life and the toys can help them have playmates with whom they communicate a lot.
On the contrary, children having too many playthings may be affected by some detrimental effects. First, it can make them greedy. For instance, many parents spoil their children by purchasing every toy the children want. This can give them an impression that they can have anything they wish and their desire to own more toys grows over time. When children get every toy they want, they will not value most of the toys and lose interest easily. This will not offer them any benefits of playing with good toys. Furthermore, too many toys may grow a conformist mentality in a child as their immature minds blindly follow other children's playing styles, activities and characters. It does not let a child develop his or her personality and character.
In conclusion, toys play an important role in helping a child's growth, but too many toys may affect children's psychological development negatively. Therefore, parents should choose useful toys and purchase a reasonable number of toys that they feel are right for their children.
[ Written by – Shirley ]
Idea Generation for this IELTS Essay:
Essay Question:
Some parents buy their children a large number of toys to play with.
What are the advantages and disadvantages for the child of having a large number of toys?
Essay type:
Advantage-Disadvantage Essay
The main question of this essay:
What are the positive and negative impacts on children of having many toys?
Advantages of children having a large number of toys:
1. Stimulates creativity and imagination:
Having various toys encourages children to explore different ways of playing, fostering creativity and imagination. For example, building blocks or Lego sets enable children to create diverse structures, enhancing their creative thinking skills.
2. Improves cognitive skills:
Different types of toys stimulate various cognitive abilities, including problem-solving, spatial awareness, and memory. For example, puzzles and educational toys enhance children's logical reasoning and critical thinking abilities.
3. Develops motor skills and coordination:
Playing with diverse toys, especially those involving physical manipulation, helps improve children's fine and gross motor skills. For instance, stacking toys and balls enhance hand-eye coordination and physical dexterity.
4. Provides entertainment and happiness:
A wide variety of toys keeps children entertained, reducing boredom and frustration. For example, a range of toys can occupy children effectively, allowing parents time for other tasks.
5. Encourages social skills and interaction:
Children often interact and share toys with peers, helping them develop essential social skills such as cooperation and communication. For example, board games and team-oriented toys can foster teamwork and collaborative play.
6. Enhances educational opportunities:
Many toys are educational, introducing children to basic concepts such as numbers, letters, colours, and shapes. For example, electronic learning devices and interactive toys can help children develop early literacy and numeracy skills.
7. Offers emotional comfort and security:
Toys often provide children with emotional comfort and a sense of security, especially in new or stressful situations. For instance, favourite dolls or soft toys can help calm anxious children, providing emotional support.
Disadvantages of children having a large number of toys:
1. Leads to overstimulation and distraction:
Having too many toys can overwhelm children, making it challenging to focus deeply on any single activity or toy. For instance, children might frequently switch between toys without fully engaging or benefiting from any one.
2. Creates unrealistic expectations:
Excessive toys may encourage children to expect constant novelty, reducing their ability to appreciate or value what they already have. For example, children receiving new toys regularly may become easily dissatisfied or demanding.
3. Hinders the development of imagination:
Too many toys, especially those with fixed purposes, might limit children's imaginative play by providing ready-made scenarios. For instance, heavily structured toys leave little room for imaginative and open-ended play.
4. Promotes materialism and consumerism:
An abundance of toys can instil materialistic values, causing children to associate happiness primarily with possessions. For example, children accustomed to receiving many toys may link personal satisfaction solely with material goods.
5. Clutter and organisational issues:
Too many toys can create clutter, making it difficult for children to learn responsibility and organisational skills. For instance, a disorganised play area may result in frequent loss or breakage of toys.
6. Financial burden on families:
Continuously buying toys can lead to unnecessary financial strain on families, limiting resources for other essential needs such as education or health. For example, parents may overspend on toys at the expense of savings or important expenses.
7. Environmental impact:
Many toys, especially plastic ones, contribute significantly to environmental pollution when discarded. For example, discarded toys can increase waste and pollution, harming wildlife and natural ecosystems.
The virtues bestowed by buying many toys to children are plenty. The most remarkable merit of which is that it helps develop children's senses and sparks imagination besides encouraging them to interact with others. There are innumerable cases that stand indisputable testimony to what has been claimed here. At this juncture, citing an example will strengthen the claim made here as if we take "Lego" toys, it helps children to learn the numbers and language skills before they enter the school. Likewise, there are many other games which empower a child's cognitive development such as puzzles, educational computer games, blocks etc.
On the contrary, the potential drawback involved in buying a greater number of toys is it makes them greedy. At this moment exemplifying an example would be apt as parents sometimes spoil their children by buying them the toys whenever they want. If we buy toys every time our children ask for it, it would make them greedy on buying new things, and moreover, this leads to a wastage of money. This makes a child grow with a conformist mentality which is very harmful to their future. Finally, if a child gets new toys every couple of days or weeks, he or she will lose interests and learn very little from playing with them.
All in all, I would like to conclude by saying that buying a huge number of toys to children would give them a wrong message and harm their future. Likewise, buying them selected toys which would encourage them in learning, will help them in growing - both physically and mentally.
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