On Imaginative Play

We all know the cliché: you spend how much effort choosing the present, which is the new, hard-to-get, "hot" toy with all the special effects…then after opening it, the kid spends more time playing with the empty box.  Parents laugh, but know it is true. Those boxes seem so full of possibilities, don’t they?

This is our take on it:

Lots of toys use batteries, but the greatest power for making a toy work is between a kid’s two ears.

Think about it. An electric toy, exciting though it may be, can only do what it is programmed to do. A kid-powered toy can “only” do what the kid can imagine. And that is pretty big.

There are certainly good, well-designed computer games for kids, but even the best ones can only guide a child through a limited set of activities. Now think of a crayon. Get paper, and anything can come out of it.

See what we mean?

A great toy will delight the senses and spark a child’s interest. Then we can stand back and watch when the child plugs it into that unlimited, renewable power source – imagination – and you’ll see exactly what that toy can “do.”

We think that the resulting light on a child’s face and the sound of laughter are the best special effects of all.

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