Last week I babysat for my cousin while she went to the doctor. Her two daughters came over to my basically toyless, zen house and wondered what we could do. I thought about my own childhood which was computerless, gadgetless, and very imaginative... I loved weird dress up games. Not just dressing up, but costumes which lead to dramatic performances & games like "hail to the queen" and "make the grandma laugh". I pulled out my vintage clothing box and asked them if they wanted to have a FASHION PARADE, where we could walk around the neighborhood waving to people showing off their fashion creations... immediately there was a resounding "YES"!I really believe kids need so much less junk then we think, and in such a consumerist expensive world sometimes it's a great thing to just play with some old junk that's been around forever.
As a veteran of both "hail to the queen" and "make the grandma laugh", I couldn't agree more. They are some of my fondest memories and still make me giggle when I think back to those summer days that seemed endless.
ReplyDeleteDown with afluenza! Up with imagination!