Friday, December 10, 2010

Simple Toys...Simple Joys!


Remember When Children's Toys were Unplugged and Simple?


Before we communicated via iPhones...




Before the uncontrolled spending on Black Friday?


Before Barbie and Ken?


When we would take time for a tea party with our friends.


Yes, some activities were stereotyped, while others were just...


Preparation for life.


My children spent many happy hours in their Playroom (formerly a second floor kitchen of our first house). There, amidst an array of art materials: pots of paint (finger and tempera), big fat brushes, and long rolls of newprint, they were free to create. Daddy's old Brooks Brothers shirt, when worn backwards became a smock, and the old white ceramic sink was perfect for washing up. On rainy days, a large cookie sheet filled with cornmeal became an indoor sandbox. Early recyclers - we cut cereal boxes into jig saw puzzles. And of course, we mixed up our share of big batches of play dough. Bath time was fun too - when, with the addition of a few drops of blue food coloring, it became a dip in the Ocean. Good Times!

Please play with me, and Share your memories of your favorite Simple Toys.

Marjorie

P.S. Take a peek at the blog A Femme d'Un Certain Age. Tish asked me to contribute to her Christmas post on Gifts that Cost Nothing. (In my case almost nothing!)

8 comments:

  1. Oh lovely!
    I think kids need to get bored a bit more, that's when they start to really play, to imagine and create. We moved out to the country 2 years ago and have a huge garden full of olive trees and places to hide and build dens, it's wonderful!
    I grew up in the UK in the 60s / 70s at a time when kids were able to play out safely - I spent my summers playing street games, kick the can, skipping (with twenty or so playing), elastic, hopscotch, cat's cradle, clapping games... these are all coming back in fashion here in France, "trendy games" now. They were good times!

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  2. My childhood memories are filled with dollies, books and climbing trees. Riding bicycles, creating forts, and more books. Skipping, racing, swimming - we didn't even have a television until I was 7 or so.
    I came over from A Femme - thanks for your post about soaps, I'm going out to get some this afternoon and make them all pretty as you did.

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  3. I adored Playdough, jacks and jump ropes. Lovely post. Thanks for the memories.

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  4. Sometimes I think these times are the best.

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  5. I DO remember those simpler times! I loved pickup sticks, crayons & coloring books, and building houses for my dolls out of books and other odds and ends. Oh, and of course, riding bikes and building forts.

    Thanks for bringing those memories back, my friend! xo Gigi

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  6. Crayons and paper, bikes and skates...all indoor and outdoor favorites. When I learned to sew (7th grade) I LOVED being able to buy a yard of fabric at the '5 and dime' for $1.99 a yard and make a new outfit to wear the next day. No one I knew could do that, it made me feel so lucky! Now I know...it was necessity in our home. Friends now (I'm 50!) tell me how envious they were that I could sew and have cute clothes!

    Holiday blessings, thanks for the memories!
    Mandi

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  7. You reminded me :) of the daddy's shirts I wore backwards to paint! And of the piles of cornmeal I played in!
    I colored my kids' bath water :)
    I cut out lots of paper dolls from catalogs and wish books and stored them in shoeboxes!

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  8. Merry Christmas Dear Marjorie..
    Love and best wishes to you and your family!!!

    Don't miss the Aussie Christmas too much.. it's going to be a stinker here today!! haha... My kingdom for an airconditioner!! xxx Julie

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