As a child, I can remember playing for hours with wooden toys. It was always a new adventure to build forts and other projects from wooden blocks. Looking back, those were some really fun times. Wooden toys allowed us to use or imaginations. Nowadays, it seems all the toys on the market are electronical. This is to keep up with the demands of our children in today's society.



When it comes to toys, technology may be hindering the development of our children's imaginations. Don't get me wrong, the graphics on the video games and laptops for children are quite amazing. However, I just don't see that many children in this age are able to enjoy playing with much of anything that isn't electronic. This is even for the older children with the iPods and MP3 Players.

The saying everything old is new again is true of the fashion industry over and over again. I would definitely love to see it apply to toys. Finding the return of wooden toys to the market for our children to experience and explore would bring a smile to my face. For smaller children, the wooden rocking horse comes to mind. They could find them to be pretty and fun. It seems parents have replaced them with electronic gadgets even for the smallest of children.

I think little girls would enjoy a wooden doll house for Barbie to live in. Then again, it wouldn't have the refrigerator with the light and small ice cubes, the doorbell, or the working lamp as the doll houses on the market now do. For boys, wooden trains could be fun. They are used to electric ones now that run around the track with the push of a button. For both boys and girls the wooden play cub with the bent wires and colorful blocks to move around would really help them develop hand and eye coordination in a much more meaningful way than playing a Gameboy.

Sadly, wooden toys are a thing of the past. As parents, we tend to indulge our children with what they want, and that continues to be the latest electronic toys in the industry. Heck, even good ole stuffed animals and dolls have electronics in them to allow them to sing, dance, walk, and cry. I think technology is good, but it has taken the fun out of the toys on the market.