Grasshopper New Media Presents...

As summer approaches a whole new toy buying period arrives. Suddenly, all of my local stores are filled with outdoor toys appropriate for summer fun. The seasonal aisle at my favorite drugstore features (along with the requisite beach towels and BBQ accessories), 15 different types of pool toys ranging from noodles to squirt guns (or “water squirters” as we call them), to various types of floats (12 at least), 3 different kinds of sprinkler attachments, slip and slides and sand toys- all clamor to be bought. Badminton birdies, waffle balls and sets for every conceivable lawn game abound.

And I hunger to buy.

It’s summer. Should I not buy some of these wonderful toys? They promote outdoor play and interaction with nature – a key goal in Waldorf education.

They are open-ended and require imagination, not batteries to use. They meet The American Academy of Pediatrics goal for toys in which children use their imagination fully over passive toys that require limited imagination.

For the most part, they are simple, nostalgic toys. OK- they are plastic, highly breakable, last one season toys, too, and…

We have too many toys already!

One tenet of parenting that I am guilty of forgetting is, too many toys are not healthy. And, we have too many. Children who have too many toys tend to go from one to the other without playing fully exploring any of them. Children who have too many toys tend to expect too much. I’m sure there are a few more reasons why I should cut back on my toys buying, but I’m already convinced. This summer I will resist. I won’t buy 10 new pool toys. I won’t buy yet another lawn game. I won’t buy something that reminds me of my childhood – OK, maybe just one.

[tags]summer toys, too many toys, beach, pool, parenting, spending[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by asterion1 via flickr, used under a creative commons license.