My Nephew in the Forest; His stick lines the waterfeature
This year “The Stick” made it into the Toy Hall of fame. I found out about it when my sister emailed to tell me and my Toy-guru stepmom that she’d heard it reported on NPR.org. She reminded us of my nephew’s one request when they moved to a new neighborhood recently: “Mom, its got to be a house with good sticks.”
Fortunately for him, it is a house with good sticks. They live in a deciduous forest in Virginia, and it is filled with sticks — tiny, twiggy magic wand sticks to huge lichen-covered branches to perfect walking sticks for kids of all sizes and ages. Everytime I visit, my nephew and his sister are guaranteed to be outside trolling the grounds for this year’s natural hall of fame toy — the Stick.
I’m sure my sister is thrilled with her kids’ choice of “found” objects to play with. These toys literally rain from the sky at her house like pennies from heaven (when you think about what a trip to the toy store costs!) And if the kids don’t get’m, the garden will!
Now, lest we forget the old-timey hall of famer “the cardboard box” let me remind you that when its time as a train, spaceship or castle comes to an end, it too may enter the garden to join sheet mulching or the compost bin.
Now how “green” is that?!
That’s hilarious! I thought it was going to be some nifty plastic gizmo. Real sticks are my daughter’s favorite toy too. She has a “collection” of them that pile up on the porch (and from time to time end up in the compost, when she’s not looking and the pile has become too large).
What about Strap? All the parents I know say the top three toys are Box, Strap and Stick. Maybe next year…??
…and then there’s “wrapping paper & bow”…another perennial fav.
Of course, “mud ‘n rock” and “water” should make the list someday too.
[...] on the bright side, this homeowner is now the proud owner of many iterations of this year’s hall of fame toy, the stick. But, really, it’s not that bright at all. rhaglund posted this entry on Friday, November [...]