Spring is here, and that makes this grandparent think of buying special toys. Winter holiday gifts are over-used, never-used, chewed up by the dog, or simply gone. This year I will try to remember the lessons I have learned. Too often I have given the WRONG TOY. Well, it’s not that the toy was wrong. It was the wrong time.
For Junior’s first birthday, my husband (aka PopPop) and I eagerly assembled the black plastic workbench with a battery driven power “saw” built into it. It made a great noise. Junior pounded the hammer, threw the wrench climbed the bench. Pop Pop attempted to show him how to screw in a plastic bolt. It was the right toy at the very wrong time.
Fast forward to Junior’s third birthday. I ordered a toy medical cart on little wheels. It featured places to store and hang implements. It was a tall (for him) cart with a mock EKG monitor on its top level. It looked gorgeous in the online ad with its 42 little accessories: pill bottles, stethoscope, a pointy ear probe (never to be given to the child), and a beeping toy thermometer that had a red blinking light in it. Plus 30 more things. The top weight of the toy monitor caused the flimsy cart to tip over often enough to scare a dog. And the toy thermometer became the absolute favorite piece. Four days later it was flushed down a toilet. Wrong choice for that age.
I could tell you more tales of toy traumas, but you get the idea. What I probably needed was some solid advice from my daughter and son-in-law, from grandparents of older children, or from a friend who could tell me to can the enthusiasm and restrain emotional buying.
So I set out to talk to those in the know, and those who are local. I've asked for advice from local toy experts at small businesses. And asked them to share with us the answers to, “ What toys are going to be big this spring?”
Stay tuned next week as I feature their answers and their top toy picks! [Spoiler alert: outdoor games and toys that help children increase their ability to focus are all the rage]
Have a story idea? Have a tip for Nani? naniscornernh@gmail.com
[Judy Massey is a retired middle school foreign language teacher, now teaching English to international students at a university. She is a journalist who wrote a shopping column for local newspapers. Most importantly, she is Nani.]
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