Take a closer look next time at the toys your kids are playing with and you may notice just how out of date some toys are. And yes, there are some classics that will never go out of style, or at least have a nostalgic appeal to the parents, but those aside, there are some that haven’t aged well and could use a facelift. Here are just a couple of examples:
- Chatter Phone – a rotary phone with wheels that kids could pull around, but let’s be serious, it has a rotary dial, something your kids will never ever experience in real life and will not miss out on either
- Abacus – once a revolutionary device, today a relic that I’ve never witnessed being used in real life; fun colors and some motor skill value aside, I’m not convinced that it’s essential as a teaching tool or timeless as a toy
- Tea Set – who hasn’t oohed and aahed at the father/daughter tea set costume party. But honestly, when was the last time any of us observed this social ritual that was once, long ago, intended to be shared with friends and family over conversation? Nothing against tea. This could be said of coffee as well. Let’s just recognize that no one has time to engage in daily, quality conversation over tea or coffee in a way that our parents and grand parents commonly enjoyed. The best we can hope for is a quiet cup while scanning our Inbox.
My Dad grew up playing with nothing more than sticks, my daughter enjoys a good cardboard box just as many other kids do too. These stretch the imagination and curb the seemingly insatiable appetite for new toys that are then just as quickly discarded. The question I ask myself is how do you recognize a toy that has a timeless appeal and value? What are the new toys on the market today that will become old classics shared across generations of parents and kids?