What Toys Do Kids Need?

As you think back to your own childhood toys, which stand out to you as those you engaged with most? Were you particularly attached to any? It's hard to remember very early childhood days, so if you don't recall much, pull out your own pre-five-year-old photos of yourself and what toys do you see in the pictures? Do you still have any of them?

I did this recently and it sparked some emotional memories. As a very young child I had a small all cloth doll with a plastic face named Suzy that I carried everywhere. There was also a  huge teddy bear nearly as large as myself named Sam that I was very attached to. My brother is 11 years older than me and I was surprised to see a photo of him at age two clutching the Suzy doll himself. I did not know I had "inherited" her from him. I also found a few photos of me riding a trike, playing with a ball, pounding pegs into a peg board, bopping a weighted inflatable clown that popped back up, and spinning a pump top. And it turns out I still have my fave bathtub floaty which I found resides with the Suzy doll in a little chest in the top of the closet with a few other mementos.

What toys have you wanted to make sure your child has to play with? When our daughter was born a friend gave us a wonderful book called "Play With a Purpose." It explained a great deal about early child development and what sort of stimulation kids need at different stages of growth. It opened up my understanding of letting kids play with objects from around the house and how to improvise stimulating toys and games that cost little to nothing.

I have a friend that jokes about Amazon.com deliveries, "Free play box for endless toddler fun included with every purchase." Don't you find it true that the "toys" that really get a workout aren't usually the expensive educational toys we have given our kids, but the simpler, active, engaging toys that best suit our kids' particular interests of the moment and allow them to use their imagination and interact with others in play? My daughter's faves at age 1 1/2 to 3: a thin rectangular piece of foam taken from a gift box of fruit that she pretended was a changing pad for her baby doll; a doll stroller (which she insisted I sew a clear plastic "window" into the upper shade so she could see her baby (often our long-suffering family cat) while she walked (just like real strollers she'd seen); a Tupperware marination tray she hijacked from the kitchen to make a grassy habitat for snails and rolly pollies; and, of course, dad's work boots and car keys.

Wired magazine published an article titled "The 5 Best Toys of All Time." I thought, "Oh, great contemporary culture and tech magazine. I wonder what new educational toys they've rounded up?" You can click on the link to read the full article, but (spoiler alert!) the short list is:

1. a stick
2. a ball
3. string
4. a cardboard tube
5. dirt

You may have noticed Kidspace takes Amazon.com and Charlie's Produce up on that offer of free play boxes with every order. :-) In our classrooms and large motor rooms boxes become trains, cars, Iditarod sleds, helicopters, and forts. The children use them right alongside our very thoughtfully purchased developmentally appropriate materials and equipment. You might take an informal survey around your house for a week or so of how your child actually plays with their purchased toys and which are played with the most. Do they use them in the manner the manufacturer intended? Are the things that are used the most more open-ended or creative in the ways they can be used? You may find that you can pare down the toy collection substantially if things just aren't being used.

Costco was always our downfall. The latest toys and electronic books at good prices seemed so fun. But after a week or so (or after the batteries wore out) a lot of those that had been our idea and not her own seemed to just languish on the shelf. My own weakness for buying new play things for my kiddo coupled with the many generous gifts received from family and friends at regular intervals made me start to feel like an equipment manager for a sports team. I was trying to take good care of and neatly organize all these things and not lose any of the zillion little parts so we could turn them in at Toy Go Round, our local toy recycling shop. Our house at the time was just 580 square feet, so you can imagine the challenge of having a lot of play stuff! Looking back I would have done well to really limit the impulse purchases and pay attention to what toys were being used most. Did she really need a slide, swing, and climber at home when we went to the park three blocks away every day? Did she really need a large plastic playhouse with ultra real play food, furniture, and a vase of silk flowers? Not so much, it turned out. She's an adult now and hasn't lived at home for several years, yet still stored in my garage are a lot of her childhood things, so I'm still strapped with being the equipment manager. For instance, there are three huge bags full of stuffed animals  (some beloved and others she probably wouldn't remember). There's also her large collection of Beanie Babies that, trust me, will never bring her a fortune except the rich pleasure of the memories she has of choosing each one at the local toy store and playing with them with her friends.

That's my hindsight. Your experience may vary. But do try to give the stick, ball, string, cardboard tube and dirt some space in your child's collection of toys and equipment and see what engaging fun and discoveries they come up with.

Please share with us in the comments what your own favorite toys were and what your child's are now.