Kid’s
today have such a diverse range of toys to aid learning in fun inventive ways,
kid’s tablets, camera’s that actually take photos and a whole range of battery
operated toys that would well and truly go on to make a very long list.
The toys
Leo has to play with today pale in comparison to back when I was his age, my
tech savvy 2 year old knows exactly how to un-lock my iphone and swipe through
the photos. Heck he even has Luke’s old cast off iPod Touch!
Research
has shown that the average child today has around £1,200 worth of toys in their
home. As I look around Leo’s ever expanding toy collection I have to say I am
inclined to agree with this.
In my
immediate sight I spy an InnoTab Tablet, a toy washing machine, the Bubble
Guppies Rock and Roll Stage, his favourite toy tractor with authentic sounds
and lets not forget his army of stuffed toys, most of which have plenty to say
thanks to the voice box in the back of their stuffing!
In the
past 20 years toys really have become far more sophisticated, but we used to
play very differently.
Once
upon a time there were no batteries, toys relied heavily on the imagination of
the child at the end of the strings. There were no flashy lights and no
computer generated sounds, and absolutely anything could happen in the make
believe game you dream up.
npower recently launched an energy archive on Historypin.com called 'Remember How We Used To...' www.historypin.com/rememberhow - They have launched this archive to take us back over the years and to show us all just how much energy has transformed our lives.
Leo and
I took part in a very interesting challenge assigned to us by npower to help them see how a child would feel about toys from back in the day.
The
challenge was to put away all of our electronic toys for one whole weekend and
play with toys from back in the day. Interestingly enough many of the toys we
were sent for the challenge are still in existence today, or the idea at least.
Of course they have been modified for use in 2013 but they have never been
forgotten.
In our
challenge set we had:
-
A
wooden Puppet
-
A
tin Cash Register
-
Play
dough
-
Kaleidoscope
-
Mr
Potato Head
When the
toys arrived I was discussing the challenge with Leo’s Granny and I was
intrigued to discover just how far back Mr Potato Head went. Back in the day of
my Mother’s childhood he was merely a potato (a real one!) that you stuck body
parts in. Of course today we have the very well-known Potato Head that many of
you will recognise from the ever popular Toy Story series!
Not long
after the box arrived we were packing up to go away to Devon and to be staying
in an old barn conversion. I saw the opportunity to take the toys along and
take part in the challenge, so I simply took only this box of toys along with
us. I knew this way there was no chance of one of Leo’s many electronic toys cropping
up on us…
Leo
didn’t take long to get his hands into the very lovely tin cash register, he
loved playing with it just as much as he does his electric one at home. It has
lovely big buttons that he can push in and even make the register ping open. This
is a toy that will never loose it’s place in the grand scheme of things, kids
love to role play. Many of the most popular toys are simply toy versions of
general day to day objects.

The
wooden puppet was really fun to dance around the lounge, admittedly Leo was a
little scared of it…For what reasons I will never be completely sure of. He did
however say ‘No Mumma’ through the screams that ensued shortly before I
listened to him and put the puppet back in his box.
Granny
was telling us all about the puppet she had as a child, how back then a puppet
was the kind of toy you would receive as a main Christmas present. That alone
shows you just how far we have come, todays bigger Christmas gifts come in the
form of tablets and computers, but back in the day…Puppets were the current
fad!
We had
great fun with the Play dough, this was Leo’s very first experience with it and
I did wonder whether he may try and eat it or not. In all honesty though, Leo
has always been pretty good with the whole not putting things in his mouth. Leo
adored the play dough, even though all he really did was roll it around in his
hands. When I was little Mum would always make the play dough from scratch for
us, we could then colour it with food colouring and make it as bright as we
liked! I think maybe soon Leo and I will have to have a go at making up some
home-made play dough.
I feel
that the challenge was a big success, Leo didn’t mind the fact that the 50’s
style toys were not electronic, he didn’t mind one bit. I think that many of
these listed above are classics and that is why they are still in production
today. One thing is for sure though, and taking part in this challenge really
opened up my eyes to how many toys my little guy has, how much technology has
come along over the years and just how tech savvy kids today actually are.
Disclaimer: I was provided with the above toys to take part in the npower challenge. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
What a brilliant challenge! Dylan is absolutely engrossed in the toys at my mum and dad's house and they haven't bought anything new in the last 20 years or so. No batteries and nothing fancy and he will play for hours!
ReplyDeleteI also have a great playdough recipe if you need oneas we love it!
It was lots of fun! Some great toys from back in the day x
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