Think back to your childhood for a moment. What were your favorite toys? Did you have the latest edition of every electronic toy, doll, or truck? Or did you play with simple things like blocks?

I got to thinking about all this when I opened a box of cereal this week and found a toy zebra in the box. It was called a Wacky Slider and was modeled after Marvin the zebra in the movie, Madagascar. This plastic zebra was laying on his back, with his legs curled up against his stomach, and his head held up. There was a small plastic wheel in his back so that when you pushed him, he “slid” on his back a few inches. It was entirely lame. I am still asking myself why the company didn’t make the zebra standing up, like a real animal so a child could add this toy to the rest of his “zoo.” Who’s idea was it to create such a lame toy?

My guess is, the toy makers know our kids have become used to toys that move. We’ve forgotten that simple is good. We’ve moved onto Better, Newer, Cooler things. Kids are no longer happy with Wooden Blocks and matchbox cars. What happened to toy soldiers? They’ve been replaced with action figures that are movable and pose-able. While some of these toys really are pretty neat, I’m afraid we’ve replaced our kids imaginations with gadgets.

My little boy’s favorite toys are his Hot Wheels and his MEGA Bloks
. He can build “houses” with those blocks, or he can lay them on the floor, end to end and make a train. He’s even figured out how to put the wheel pieces on so they roll. He’s not yet two years old. Yes, I could go out and buy the latest Thomas the train toy with batteries and a fancy whistle, but I enjoy watching my little man figure this out on his own. As his imagination soars, his mind reaches and grows.

I once read that children who are given plain sheets of paper and pencils or crayons end up being more artistic than those given coloring books. While I’m not against coloring books, I can see the logic in the author’s reasoning. If there is no picture on the paper, the child must create one of his own. He is then making his own artwork instead of merely adding color to someone else’s. It is the same with toys. When we take away the need for imagination, we limit our child’s potential for creativity. This in turn leads to a child needing more toys because the ones he has aren’t multi-functional. Take the wooden block set for example: My favorite toys as a child were the wooden blocks my grandpa made. They were all sizes and shapes, no two exactly alike. My brother and I would stack them to make towers. As he got older I helped him build fences for toy animals, then we built forts and sheds. They were primitive, yes, but they encouraged our imagination. The long triangle blocks were laid on their sides to create a gate in the fence and the small squares could be brownies on plastic dishes, there really was no limit to what these blocks could “be.”

I’ve been in houses where not only the children’s rooms, but also the living room and dining room were overflowing with toys. Apparently when the child got bored with one, another was purchased.So, there sat mountains of toys, over half of which were abandoned and forgotten at the bottom of the pile. How sad is that? Money spent and wasted.

Shopping for a child this year? Remember, simple is best. Get them something they’ll play with all year. You’re providing more than entertainment; buy something that encourages their imagination.

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