The Magic Power of Play & Toy Box Giveaway

And even though I don’t love playing with toy “guys” or having another tea party, I still feel guilty over the lack of time I spend actually playing with my kid. I am not alone, according to a playreport issued by Ikea, 48% of parents feel like they don’t have enough play time with their kids and 26% said they felt too stressed to enjoy the playtime with their kids.

Often parents can overcompensate for their lack of time by over-buying toys. Marketers will happily fill in any gaps by parents by coming up with some strange items. We were in New York recently and the next wave of fads were thrown at us at every corner. And of course, we fell for them.

So now my kids are outfitted with the new craze: Silly Bandz which are so hot in the U.S. right now that many schools had to ban them. They are shaped sillicone bracelets that kids trade and wear. They are one of those “wish I thought of that” fads.

Then, my older son fell in love with Myachis which are essentially flat hackey sacks. The “professionals” at the toy store did incredible tricks with them which I doubt will ever be be replicated at home. My daughter just wanted yet another stuffed animal, which will soon be turned into a dog toy if she wants to or not.

The best toys are the ones that have a gap between imagination and play that allow kids (and parents) to fill in with their own stories. When I was a new parent I read in an ancient parenting book that building blocks were the most important toy to have because they taught dexterity, math, and imaginative play. So of course I invested in three different types, only one of which got played with. When my oldest son was a preschooler he would categorize all the building blocks and count them, my second child used them to build zoos and castles and third child makes them into a path for her animals – or just throws them at her brothers.

Sometimes we parents want toys to be educational or to have some kind of purpose. We forget our own childhoods were filled with free-ranging play which did not have a phonics card or math equation in sight. The report had the surprising statistic that  over half of all parents want kids play to be educational. 

The playreport said that kids would overwhelmingly choose to play with a friend or a parent over anything else: including TV or video games. So, I guess it’s not a surprise that my son is playing with his friend using his 24 Silly Bandz as props in some kind of elaborate pirate-ninja game. When you have the gift of imagination and time – anything can happen.

IKEA (which is not really Swedish for commonsense) has generously given us a toy box filled with IKEA toys, valued at $100. All you have to do is leave a comment here or retweet this tweet by July 22 and we will do a random draw on July 23, 2010.

Rules: Contest ends July 22, 2010 11:59 p.m. Residents of U.S. and Canada only .  Leave a separate comment per entry and a valid email address or retweet this tweet. Winner is chosen at random and will be notified of their prize.

Sorry, the contest is now closed and the winner will be notified soon.

What is your child’s favourite toy to play with?