Toys Now vs. Then

Growing up I don’t really remember having a lot of electronic toys.  Yes we did have our game console but most things were not battery operated   I had crayons, markers and coloring books.  We had dolls and slip and slides.  Kids of today are surrounded by soo many technological toys.  It amazes me how young a child can figure out an electronic device like a smart phone or iPad.

I see kids in the grocery store playing on hand held devices whether it be made particularly for children or if it’s just their parent’s cell phone.  I’m grateful for our technological advances that we have but I don’t want our kids to miss out on all of the fun they can have without technology.  I try to encourage their imagination with dress up clothes, lots of materials to build castles and forts to let their minds go wild.

I love seeing the light in my kids’ eyes when they create something.  They look like they have the biggest sense of accomplishment.  It warms my heart to see all of the new things they make.  Just yesterday my daughter had me put a skirt on one of her dinosaur toys because she wanted a dinosaur princess.  That takes imagination if I do say so.  She’s a genius.

Children’s Literature Favorites

One of my most favorite books ever growing up as a kid was, Where The Wild Things Are. I remember Max tromping off into the scary woods and dancing with the wild things. I loved how he was dressed up and seemed to fit right in with the rest of the monsters.

I always wondered what had happened to him earlier in the day that led him to go to this far off place where the wild things lived. Did he get into trouble? Did he tell a lie? Was he trying to escape something he didn’t like? He sure had a gigantic imagination to dream up a place like that.

Every kid should have a chance to read that story. It would be a lot of fun to make up your own prequel or sequel to the story to explain what happened before or after to Max and his family. I might even do that with my own kids. I bet they would love to write and illustrate their own stories about Max.

Imagination Time

The kids were watching a science program on the public access channel and were enjoying all of the experiments they saw.  My oldest asked me if I could get her a lab coat like the one the scientist was wearing in the program.  She said she wanted to play science lab.  I told I would see what I could find for her.

I looked around online and found a few options on http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/. I think she would like a coat no matter what size it is.  I might just order one for myself and use it as a model to make one that will fit her and then we could both play science lab together.  Her imagination is really vivid and I know she’ll come up with some wild concoctions to experiment with while she wears her fancy scientist lab coat.  I bet if I got her some safety goggles she would really be thrilled.

I suppose I’ll make a science lab kit for her for a Christmas present.  The lab coat will be the best part of it all.  I’m excited to see everything put together now.  Our imagination time is going to be filled with lots of new science adventures.