Does it 'do' anything?

     Working in the eco-friendly toy business is a lot of fun, but there are a ton of people who just don't get it.  Every day, over and over again, customers say, "Well yes, it's recycled, BUT does it do anything?"

     "Do the doors open?  Are there lights?"  and my all-time favorite, "Does it go?"  Of course there are lights, and the doors open to a magical world, and yes, when powered by creativity and imagination, it does 'go.'  Does it take batteries, no.  Are it's many features visible to the adult naked eye?  Probably not.  But to a child, this truck does all of these things and more.  The recycling truck doubles as an ambulance, and the dump truck often brings a load of extra fire fighters to the scene of the emergency. 

     Now lets set aside for a moment, that the trucks in question are made entirely of recycled plastic from Milk Jugs.  Lets set aside that they are minimally packaged in recyled/recyclable cardboard; and set aside that their durable construction will mean this toy will last for generations.  Lets set aside that every pound of recycled plastic used by GreenToys to create these trucks saves enough energy to run a laptop computer for a month, or a television for three weeks.  Lets set aside also, the fact that this toy saved countless Milk Jugs, the non-refundable beverage containers, from a landfill.  Lets get back to whether or not it does anything...

     As adults, we forget what imagination is.  We don't give kids enough credit for what they will dream up when left to their own devices.  Unstructured play is an essential part of childhood, and we are robbing our children of it when we turn on the television, or set them up with electronic toys programmed by an adult to provide the same response/reaction every time the button/switch is activated. 

Studies by the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center

state that since the late 1970s, children have lost 12
hours per week in free time, including a 25 percent drop in play and
a 50 percent drop in unstructured outdoor activities.

An article witten back in 2002, by Karen McPherson also outlines the necessity of this:

Parents, do you want to increase your children's
academic potential, social skills and creativity? Let them experience
boredom.
That's the advice of child development specialists who want to see
American children spend more time in unstructured play and less
time in structured activities or zoned out in front of an electronic
screen.
Giving your children a break from organized activities and
electronic baby-sitters could very well mean sentencing them to
boredom, at least at first.
But experts say that when deprived of anything else to do, children
will find a way to amuse themselves -- even if it means simply
daydreaming.
And that's exactly the point: letting children use their own creativity
to fill some of their time. In the process, they will be giving a
workout to their mental, emotional and social skills.
"Parents worry about kids' boredom, so they schedule their lives to
keep them busy," says Alvin Rosenfeld, a child psychiatrist who is
co-author, with Nicole Wise, of "The Over-scheduled Child."
"But empty hours teach children how to create their own
happiness."
Richard Louv, senior editor of the Washington, D.C.-based group
Connect for Kids, adds that "children need adults in their lives who
understand the relationship between boredom and creativity -- and
are willing to set the stage so that kids can create the play."
Parents can help children get the most out of unstructured play by
ensuring their safety and keeping the electronic screens turned off.
Parents also might provide materials (paints, clay, etc.) and even
gentle suggestions, if necessary. A good new source of ideas is the
book "Family Fun Boredom Busters," edited by Deanna Cook. Other
books can easily be found in a local library.

     Did I ever tell my parents I was bored as a kid?  Oh yes.  Many times.  But now, as an adult, do I remember any of the boredom, remember ever not having something to do, or remember wanting the latest, high-tech flashy toys?  Nope.  

This is what I remember....

      As a kid, and with embarrassment I say, into my 'tween years, I played constantly with the old-style Fisher Price Little People.  I would use my wooden train set (taken apart) and a stack of music-cassette cases to build classrooms, and pretend the people were in class, and choir, and all sorts of things.  I loved it.  Controlling 20 tiny people all at the same time.  Dream come true.  Did I play with the countless LP playsets my parents bought me? Once in a while.  Did I drive them around in the LP cars?  not usually.  Did I line them up and sort them based on hair colour, shirt colour, height, and gender?  Yep.  Did I ever get bored of it?  Nope. 

     My other favourite thing to do was play at the beach.  I had all sorts of pretend games.  I would use rocks to crush plants and shells, and pretend I was a medicine-woman, healing all the sick children.  I would make salads for my family from all of the greenery along the shore.  My older brother and I would build elaborate sand castles complete with bridges and tunnels, roads, rooms, and caves.  We would race matchbox cars around our sand 'race tracks.' And my dad, Oh my Dad.  He would use his huge steel shovel to build kid-size castles and forts on the sand bars, and we would spend the whole day building them, perfecting the design to accomodate more kids, or more sand, and then spend an hour trying to defend our creation from the returning tide.  In vain of course, as well-designed as our structures were, they only lasted the day, and that was alright.

     I could speculate that the unstructured play skills I learned as a child have shaped who I am.   I still love the beach, but now I am the one building the forts with the giant shovel.  Now, instead of my toy cars racing around the sand, it is my dog, and it still gives me the same sense of joy.  I still compile local greenery into salads for my family, and cooking gives me a great sense of pride and caring.  My siblings and I still create elaborate plans, but now they are for successful businesses.  And allowing my creations to be washed away with the tide every day, well maybe that is where I learned my ability to let things go with the flow.

      All of that time spent at the beach has given me a passion for the Ocean and environmental activism.  I want the next generation to learn the same way I did, by teaching themselves.

So, "Does it do anything?"   It does something for me, does it do something for you?