Quicky Kids Spade Sled, by TSL Sleds, is a tiny, half-pound, durable sled (shaped like a shovel) that offers high speed on the slopes. (for boys) Inline Skates, by K2 Skate, feature a "vibration-absorbing composite frame" on the company's comfy, trademark "Softboot." With 5-size adjustability, kids can get years of wear from tearing around. In this 40-page book, Bad Bart, "the biggest, burliest boy pirate in the Atlantic," challenges Mean Mo, "the maddest, mightiest girl pirate in the Pacific." Ages 4-8, $16.99, Flying Pig Books.Īnnika Jr. Pirate: The Terrific Tale of a Big, Blustery Maritime Match, written by Mary Quattlebaum, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. Ages 3+, $44.99, Kids Town, Learning Express.Īn autographed copy of Pirate vs. Before kids are ready for the real thing, the Spooner offers a preview of what board sports have to offer. Kids can pretend they're hitting the slopes, seas and streets without leaving the safety and warmth of the family room. So remember the words of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, "You'd better shop around." Speed Demonsĭoes your tyke like physical activity? Is he or she on the go and game for anything physical? Explore these suggestions to inspire, and tire, your indefatigable offspring.įreestyle Spooner Board for young snowboarders, skateboarders, surfers and riders in the making. I simply mention the store or stores where I saw or heard about it. *Nota bene: Many regional retailers may carry the toys highlighted in each category. Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or Winter Solstice, I hope there's something here that also makes you feel like a kid again while you shop for memories yet to be made. Here's a preliminary guide to presents that have the potential to reach into our children's heads and pull out a never-ending story. (For more background on Barbie's cultural significance, check out The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us, by Tanya Lee Stone, $19.99, at Flying Pig Books and Phoenix Books.) Ultimately, I gave them a burial at sea from my rubber inner tube. I discovered that even if I switched Barbie and Ken's heads, they fell at roughly the same speed. I liked to test the rules of gravity by dropping the dolls out of my tree house - another treasured gift from my parents, built by a local carpenter. One of my friends, who grew up to be a novelist, used her parents' paperback-book collection to build houses where Barbie and Ken could kiss. Like it or not, she popped into many minds of the people I polled. They mentioned paper dolls, handmade wooden stilts, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Fisher-Price Village, blocks, Colorforms, a baseball glove, a doctor's kit, a red wagon, a Davy Crocket raccoon hat and crayons. I asked some of my friends about their most memorable presents, and the answers all had a similar theme: toys that helped bring their own stories and selves to life. That simple, beautiful gift spawned another memory of a lifetime. Two decades later, we took a safari in Kenya - one of the very first places my finger touched on the globe. We swore to visit every place we landed on. We'd take turns spinning and stopping it.
Remember the toys that had a lasting impression on you? I delight in recalling the lighted globe I got from my father when I was 8. Maybe we'll get back in touch with our own playfulness in the process. Let's make physical contact with the playthings our children will hold in their hands. Let's talk with local shopkeepers about the smartest, silliest, sturdiest, cutest, warmest, coolest, happiest, quirkiest, funniest toys and games available. Instead, let's go shopping in our hometown. No more hitting "enter" on the keyboard to order cheap plastic stuff from China. What I want more than anything is for us parents to go out and look for just the right gifts for our children. It's neither a Crock-Pot nor a trip to Fiji. I have one thing on my holiday wish list this year.
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