A toy survey!
Feb. 15th, 2010 12:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kathy_fraggleA rare real entry from me, yay! Anyway, my frend [Unknown site tag] created a great survey regarding childhood toys. Here are my answers, and I'd love to see yours!
1. What was the first doll or toy you received as a child?
Hmmm, I couldn't say what my very first toy was, let alone remember getting it, so I'll talk about some of the earliest ones I remember. Well in truth, my very first toys were probably baby rattles. They were all different textures and made different sounds, so of course they provided baby me with many smiles. But also, some of my earliest memories involve me sitting in the middle of our sofa-bed surrounded by stuffed animals of every size and discription.My favorites were a beanbag koala, and a rabbit with some sort of hard inner core that thumped when I shook it. There was also a giraffe, but I'll talk more about that later.
2. At what age did you stop playing with toys?
I think I was about 12 or 13. I was about 11 or 12 when I stopped playing with tradditonal toys, and started playing more with figurines, porcelain dolls, and even a wine glass from the china cabbinet. Don't worry, I never broke anything doing this!
3. Did your parents ever make you give your toys up at a certain age? If so and if you feel comfortable sharing, what was their reason or reasons?
No, it was never even mentioned. Every now and then my mom would make me go through my toyboxes, (yes, I had more than one), and see what old toys I wanted to give away or throw out, but it had more to do with me moving on to other interests, or the toys being too old or broken to play with than anything else.
4. At what age do you think children should start giving their toys away or at least donate the ones they aren’t playing with to charity?
Hmmm, I know for me when I was made to go through and evaluate my toys, so to speak, I hardly gave away any at first, and it became a little easier as I got older. I think overall the system Mom used with me was good, to circulate your toys every so often, and I think the process should begin around age 10, when most kids still play with toys, but are also old enough to be more anilytical about what they want. Of the toys they're getting rid of, the ones that are in better condition should be given to charity or to goodll.
5. If you have children, will you make them give their toys up at a certain age?
Absolutely not! I think that's a violation of privacy, and if they're keeping their toys as I have kept jut 1 or 2 special ones, I trust ther would be a very good reason for it. Also as their mother, I'd probably be well-acquainted with tht reason.
6. Do you believe children should have to give their toys up at all?
As I said before, no. Of course as kids grow older I'd expect them to stop actually playing with their toys, but I understand the great memories certain favorite childhood toys can hold, and these often lead to special places on shelves. Of course, I've always been very sentimental, and I realize everyone's not like that. Honestly I expect, at least some of the time, when my kids decide to get rid of their toys, it may affect me more than them!
7. How did your parents feel about toys when you were growing up?
They never really minded, and apart from Mom encouraging me, as I said before, to thin out my toys every now and then, no one ever said anything even remotely negative about them.
8. Do you still collect toys today?
Well, the stuff I collect now is a bit different for the mostpart than the stuff I had back then. Besides a stuffed seeing-eye dog I got at a walkathon and a tiny plush fox I picked up somewhere just after I'd seen the Fox and the Hound for the first time in years, and was reading a bunch of related fanfiction, all my plushes consist of Sababa fraggles, and the Vets Hospital set. I also have a handful of random Palisades muppet figures, still in their boxes, on the shelf of my closet, that I may display when I get a satisfactory display space. Then again, maybe not. Also a few other random muppet toys that I've found. There's also a bag of random toys, some of which look like game pieces that my mom found, that even though I don't know what they originally belonged to, I'm keeping because they're muppets. Also on my shelf are 2 toys from when I was a tiny tot, that I said I'd gointo more detail about, so here it is. I've got a MR. Gerber rattle that I remember playing with wen I was small, and somehow survived my less-than careful childhood. Also, I've got a rubber graffe that is special as I said. I found it just a few years ago actually. I forget why mom and I were going through some of my old toys again. It wasn't for the express purpose of getting rid of them like when I was a kid. Anyway, I came across the giraffe, and knew I had to keep it. I remembered it being very important to me as a kid, and playing with it a lot. What I didn't know, and what Mom told me, was that this was Giraffe II. The first one got lostwhen I was 2, and according to Mom I had a fit. wouldn't calm down, so Mom and Gramma went down to the same store where they bought the first one, and fortunately they had one exactly like it. I remember there being several other rubber animals with it, (the only specific one I remember being an elephant), but the giraffe was the one I clung to the most, and was the only one to survive. Despite the fact that I was afraid to touch him at first for fear he'd fall apart, he now is standing proudly on my shelf among all the other miscellaneous, often strange items which illustrate so much of my life.
Hope you enjoy, everyone!
1. What was the first doll or toy you received as a child?
Hmmm, I couldn't say what my very first toy was, let alone remember getting it, so I'll talk about some of the earliest ones I remember. Well in truth, my very first toys were probably baby rattles. They were all different textures and made different sounds, so of course they provided baby me with many smiles. But also, some of my earliest memories involve me sitting in the middle of our sofa-bed surrounded by stuffed animals of every size and discription.My favorites were a beanbag koala, and a rabbit with some sort of hard inner core that thumped when I shook it. There was also a giraffe, but I'll talk more about that later.
2. At what age did you stop playing with toys?
I think I was about 12 or 13. I was about 11 or 12 when I stopped playing with tradditonal toys, and started playing more with figurines, porcelain dolls, and even a wine glass from the china cabbinet. Don't worry, I never broke anything doing this!
3. Did your parents ever make you give your toys up at a certain age? If so and if you feel comfortable sharing, what was their reason or reasons?
No, it was never even mentioned. Every now and then my mom would make me go through my toyboxes, (yes, I had more than one), and see what old toys I wanted to give away or throw out, but it had more to do with me moving on to other interests, or the toys being too old or broken to play with than anything else.
4. At what age do you think children should start giving their toys away or at least donate the ones they aren’t playing with to charity?
Hmmm, I know for me when I was made to go through and evaluate my toys, so to speak, I hardly gave away any at first, and it became a little easier as I got older. I think overall the system Mom used with me was good, to circulate your toys every so often, and I think the process should begin around age 10, when most kids still play with toys, but are also old enough to be more anilytical about what they want. Of the toys they're getting rid of, the ones that are in better condition should be given to charity or to goodll.
5. If you have children, will you make them give their toys up at a certain age?
Absolutely not! I think that's a violation of privacy, and if they're keeping their toys as I have kept jut 1 or 2 special ones, I trust ther would be a very good reason for it. Also as their mother, I'd probably be well-acquainted with tht reason.
6. Do you believe children should have to give their toys up at all?
As I said before, no. Of course as kids grow older I'd expect them to stop actually playing with their toys, but I understand the great memories certain favorite childhood toys can hold, and these often lead to special places on shelves. Of course, I've always been very sentimental, and I realize everyone's not like that. Honestly I expect, at least some of the time, when my kids decide to get rid of their toys, it may affect me more than them!
7. How did your parents feel about toys when you were growing up?
They never really minded, and apart from Mom encouraging me, as I said before, to thin out my toys every now and then, no one ever said anything even remotely negative about them.
8. Do you still collect toys today?
Well, the stuff I collect now is a bit different for the mostpart than the stuff I had back then. Besides a stuffed seeing-eye dog I got at a walkathon and a tiny plush fox I picked up somewhere just after I'd seen the Fox and the Hound for the first time in years, and was reading a bunch of related fanfiction, all my plushes consist of Sababa fraggles, and the Vets Hospital set. I also have a handful of random Palisades muppet figures, still in their boxes, on the shelf of my closet, that I may display when I get a satisfactory display space. Then again, maybe not. Also a few other random muppet toys that I've found. There's also a bag of random toys, some of which look like game pieces that my mom found, that even though I don't know what they originally belonged to, I'm keeping because they're muppets. Also on my shelf are 2 toys from when I was a tiny tot, that I said I'd gointo more detail about, so here it is. I've got a MR. Gerber rattle that I remember playing with wen I was small, and somehow survived my less-than careful childhood. Also, I've got a rubber graffe that is special as I said. I found it just a few years ago actually. I forget why mom and I were going through some of my old toys again. It wasn't for the express purpose of getting rid of them like when I was a kid. Anyway, I came across the giraffe, and knew I had to keep it. I remembered it being very important to me as a kid, and playing with it a lot. What I didn't know, and what Mom told me, was that this was Giraffe II. The first one got lostwhen I was 2, and according to Mom I had a fit. wouldn't calm down, so Mom and Gramma went down to the same store where they bought the first one, and fortunately they had one exactly like it. I remember there being several other rubber animals with it, (the only specific one I remember being an elephant), but the giraffe was the one I clung to the most, and was the only one to survive. Despite the fact that I was afraid to touch him at first for fear he'd fall apart, he now is standing proudly on my shelf among all the other miscellaneous, often strange items which illustrate so much of my life.
Hope you enjoy, everyone!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 08:01 am (UTC)I still play with toys in a way, my parents never forced me to give any away, I do nearly have every single toy I ever had when I was little (and then some), I would not touch my child's toys or make them give up anything even if they wanted to play dolls at eighteen, and yes, I do collect toys.
Why should playing with toys even have an age limit if it makes you happy? It's not hurting anyone but some unseen judgmental mindset anyway :P
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 08:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 08:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 03:38 pm (UTC)