Batteries Not Included
I can still remember my childhood toys. I loved my Strawberry Shortcake dolls, my ponies, and most of all my Cabbage Patch Kid. I spent hours dressing them up and combing their hair. I would think of names for all of them and line them up for show. These toys were so much fun, and none of them required a single battery.
I had a college professor that warned us about battery operated toys. His words were something like this. “Toys requiring batteries leave very little room for imagination. They are often played with far less than the other toys and children hardly have to think while playing with them.”
After hearing this I have tried hard to give our children toys that do not require batteries. If our son pulls out his Matchbox cars he has to push them around the room and make a “vroom” noise as he goes. He has to imagine what a car sounds like, and how it will make its way to the fueling station or to the car wash. When our daughter gets out her baby doll she pretends the baby is crying, she pretends her baby calls for her, and pretends her baby says “Nite-Nite!”
I’m not saying that our children do not own anything requiring batteries, because they do. In fact it’s been a family joke on my side of the family to get the loudest and craziest toy just to annoy my husband. I think on my oldest son’s first birthday he was given at least 8 wild and crazy toys. I will say though, those toys seem to sit on the shelf far more often than the cars, blocks, and Legos. Especially when the batteries are dead!
Now that my childhood favorites are starting to show up on toy store shelves again, I can’t wait to get them for my daughter. I hope she will enjoy playing with them as much as I did, while letting her imagination grow. As the holidays approach, try to pick toys that will get used. Choose toys you may have played with as a child. Giving gifts like blocks or pretend food will encourage your child’s brain to “work” while playing. You’ll help your child learn to be imaginative and develop language skills at the same time.
