The role of the physical, as distinguished from the social, environment is discussed as a major factor in influencing child development. That the child's physical world is critical must be established before toys may be seen as developmental instruments. In contrast to a global view of good versus bad child environments, a differentiated approach is advocated wherein environmental, age, and organismic specificity are related to developmental impact. Availability, variety, complexity, and responsivity are discussed as dimensions of objects (toys) that interact with child characteristics to influence development; of these, variety and responsivity seem the most important. The concepts of affordances, match between the physical attributes of the toy and child characteristics, and individual differences in responsivity are discussed as future directions for research.
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