In Lake Tahoe, the toys are few and remnants of our childhoods. A jumpy Etch-a-Sketch, an original spirograph, Stay Alive, and old Apple IIe that doesn’t turn on. That’s fine, because the boys would rather play like German kindergarteners. Sticks become weapons (naturally) and the forest is one part intergalactic battlefield, one part nature observatory. A trickle of water is retold as a roaring river teaming with life. Rocks, pine cones, and feathers weigh their pockets down on the walk home.
Now we are back, and I drag them out on walks. The house is full of toys but they have nothing to do–aside from begging me to play Wii. The library books are boring. Swimming they love. Thank God for small miracles.
This is more Mikey than Nico, although I know Nico’s time is coming. It’s an attitude shift that happens once they pass six years of age, or so has been the experience among my friends. At age 7, they are jaded.
I don’t know how much of this has to do with the quantity and quality toys we give our children, the amount of “tube time” they have, or the way parenting has changed in the last few decades, but it’s something I find myself thinking about often. The wheres, the whys, and the hows it can be different. Here is an interesting article on parenting in The Atlantic I found via Liz Stanley of Say Yes to Hoboken. More food for thought.
And, finally, I can’t think about toys without going back to this article in the New York Social Dairy about Lisa Mahar of Kid O. (via Oh Happy Day.) I read the article nearly three years old and still think about it often. I don’t agree with everything Mahar espouses, and laughed outright at her choice in bedtime reading material, but I respect her passionate convictions and find her childrens’ well edited and organized collection of toys inspiring.
(photos by the Mister)
I come more and more to this with my children (now 9 and 5). The idea of removing the “toys” and giving them materials. I find that now they treat even the “toys” that they have as materials, almost never playing with them in the way that the manufacturer intends. Often this means that they are technically broken, but become part of something larger and infinitely more manipulable. It was difficult for me, for quite a while, to accept the broken part of this process but now I see how they challenge what’s possible with things and don’t take them at face value.
Very interesting article about Lisa Mahar – thanks for sharing. I just read it, and am still sort of astounded, but also inspired. To me, she represents an extreme end of the spectrum, but she makes me want to nudge my family a little closer to her side. I agree that “materials” like blocks, art supplies, or natural objects foster more creativity than battery operated “Toys R Us” of-the-moment toys. But, I still let my kids have both – and like Kathryn said above, I’ve found that my boys rarely play with them in the way the manufacturer intended. They get creative and turn an action figure into a rocket or a car into a boat. Maybe the key is to focus on being outside, and providing opportunities for natural play. If “modern” toys creep in, that’s okay. Shunning them completely, or living under such strict absolutes, is not for me. But it is kind of nice to know there are people out there who do.
I loved the spirograph! Interesting articles, thanks for sharing. Much like everything else in life I imagine it boils down to balance–getting that balance right may be tricky, for sure. As for toys, I think anything that sparks imagination is good. I remember summers long ago, my mom set my brother and I down with a blank tablet and a tape recorder. The lady on the cassette was taking us on a tour of the states; we could hear the helicopter, as she decribed the scene below. Then she’d tell us to shut off the cassette and draw what we “saw.” We had a blast! And while I may not have children of my own, questions such as this has been on my mind a lot as well; it started right around the time I noticed most of the kids in the neighborhood were either talking on phones or listening to ipods. What happened to play?