Battery-operated Imagination
As I was making up the Wish List for the site, I came to notice that none of the toys that the boys played with were battery operated. Well, okay, using “none” is a bit of an exaggeration, for they have a few books that play little classical tunes, some of their Fisher Price LittlePeople toys have the buzzing of a fire engine and the sounds of gushing water… lalalalala. But the majority of their toys, mainly their Thomas Tracks and their farm animals, require their imaginations to keep the toys alive.
Play is serious business. I often find myself crouching over the train tracks, manipulating them so that they fit (the bridge frequently becomes a problem as it is a 3-piece set that falls apart when not aligned properly) because Ty frustrates when he can’t do it himself.
“You just gotta try different ways, Ty.” He gets excited when everything looks okay, grabs the trains, attaches them together, and mounts them on the track. OFF THEY GO! His small hands – and Kyle’s even smaller hands – are experts at guiding the train engine up the bridge, around the Crib’s Leg and under the Footstool Tunnel.
“Wheeeesh!” blows the whistle. Batteries didn’t make that scene come to life. It was his own will.
I like the Waldorf philosophy of playing with natural toys – by “natural,” I mean the full, literal meaning of the word. Shells, sticks, rocks, leaves, pine cones. GREAT!! I love it!!
My boys could learn wonderful things about their world, invent magnificent ways to use these toys. But I couldn’t possibly be 100% non-plastic.
But I can live without the batteries.
