Some of the best toys I had when I was a kid werent really even toys at all. There was a large rock by the edge a stream that ran along the back of our house. That rock was a canoe during my Native American play, a stage when I needed an audience, a fishing boat, a car, a planet, and of course, a rock in the middle of Nestaria, my beautiful make believe world where fairies came to play with me. A long stick had some great potential as did the long breezy leaves of trees and cat tails. Those memories are ones nobody could have ever purchased for me, and of course, the initiation of growing my developing imagination has paid off even today in the form of my career. As perfect as those toys were for me, I dont think many children would get overly excited to wake up Christmas morning or their birthday to find a large rock wrapped in bulky paper topped with a special stick.
At the same time, when a child is ranting and wailing and making one of those lusciously embarrassing scenes in public because they have been told that horrible temper tantrum word, No, I often want to suggest giving the kid a big rock and a special stick simply so they can learn that they really dont need...