Toys not to get your kids

[Mr. Hallack]

All of these toys are so wrong in so many ways.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...kids_n_1143639.html#s537090&title=Also_On_The

 

[Connery]

I am going to poo poo this game...

[video=youtube;bvrxYoxyZ-I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvrxYoxyZ-I[/video]............lollollol

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Though I have to admit that the Play-Doh Dr. Drill and Fill looks interesting.

 

[Undertow]

Some of those are just bad. Who actually thought of that stuff?

 

[Retro_GI_Jane]

I remember seeing similar playsets like the McDonald's drive-thru back in the early 80s in the Sears catalogs my parents used to get around Christmas. Nothing new there. I'm actually kind of peeved that they thought the breastfeeding doll was bad...because you know, it's a terrible thing to teach children why mommy is holding their baby sibling up to her naked chest like that. We've come a long way since watching Big Bird on Sesame Street in the 70s learning about breastfeeding on tv.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

And from the wonderful folks who brought you Kackel Dackel

[video=youtube;eANUhzaCbQA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eANUhzaCbQA[/video]

 

[sheeplady]

I don't understand what is wrong with the cleaning setup (except for it being pink and therefore "suggested" for girls only). I've got a friend from high school who works as a custodian (for a high school) and he makes a decent living with very good benefits. Or is it just that no child should seek to be a custodian as a career, because it is not prestigious enough?

And I agree with Retro_GI_Jane about the breast feeding doll. Children with younger siblings who see their mothers breast feed often "play" feed their dolls the same way. There isn't anything gross or improper about breastfeeding.

 

[Edward]

Quite agree on the matter of the breastfeeding dolly. On the subject of baby dollies more generally, though, I always thought it rather bizarre that our society so pushes little girls to play with baby dolls and the likes from no age, and then wonders why we have a teen pregnancy problem. Not that I'd ever be daft enough to suggest such a complex issue has a single cause, but at the same time if you condition and prepare kids for one role in life...

 

[Juliet]

Quite agree on the matter of the breastfeeding dolly. On the subject of baby dollies more generally, though, I always thought it rather bizarre that our society so pushes little girls to play with baby dolls and the likes from no age, and then wonders why we have a teen pregnancy problem. Not that I'd ever be daft enough to suggest such a complex issue has a single cause, but at the same time if you condition and prepare kids for one role in life...

Actually, I have thought of the very same thing not tool long ago....

 

[davidraphael]

[video=youtube;pLCq7N9GcNs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLCq7N9GcNs[/video]

 

[kamikat]

And I agree with Retro_GI_Jane about the breast feeding doll. Children with younger siblings who see their mothers breast feed often "play" feed their dolls the same way. There isn't anything gross or improper about breastfeeding.

I totally agree! My older son "fed" his stuffed animals whenever I sat down to feed his younger brother. He was just mimicking what he saw. Keep in mind that most girls stop playing with baby dolls by age 5-6, so it's not like it's something that encourages teens to get knocked up. However, I wish it would encourage teens to breastfeed if they did get pregnant. Teen mothers have the lowest rate of breastfeeding among new mothers, in a country that already has a very low rate of breastfeeding when compared to the rest of the world.

 

[kamikat]

Though I have to admit that the Play-Doh Dr. Drill and Fill looks interesting.

I had a Play-Doh Dr. Drill and Fill when I was little, back in the 80s.

 

[sheeplady]

I totally agree! My older son "fed" his stuffed animals whenever I sat down to feed his younger brother. He was just mimicking what he saw. Keep in mind that most girls stop playing with baby dolls by age 5-6, so it's not like it's something that encourages teens to get knocked up. However, I wish it would encourage teens to breastfeed if they did get pregnant. Teen mothers have the lowest rate of breastfeeding among new mothers, in a country that already has a very low rate of breastfeeding when compared to the rest of the world.

And not only that, but considering teen's who have children are more than often not financially strapped, it would help out and free resources so that the mother could take better care of her own health.

I'm somewhat convinced that if we didn't give baby dolls to children, the ones that want to play "baby doll" would make themselves dolls out of something else. I've heard about a similar thing happening to some families who don't allow "toy guns" (such as squirt guns)- the kids make sticks and rocks and things into guns and still do "gun play." I think kids just want to copy so much what they see and have such imaginations that they'll do anything to help facilitate their play, even if that means making a sweater into a doll or a stick into a gun.

 

[scottyrocks]

I'm not so sure about the 'encouraging' part. My daughter, from the time she could play with toys, was given both gender specific and neutral toys. One holiday season, she was given a very cool (in my opinion) toy truck. She played with it for maybe 3 minutes, and then went for the more 'feminine' toys. For the most part, I think boys are boys and girls are girls, the occasional outlyer not withstanding.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Most toys sold today are sold to the parents, not to the kids -- left to their own devices, kids don't need "directed play," and it probably does them more harm than good anyway. When I was very small, I was given an old spark plug to play with, and it was anything I wanted it to be -- from a doll to a car to anything else that came to mind. I slept with it for weeks until I dropped it down the register, and I cried all night when that happened.

The best toy to give any kid is an empty box. Just stand back and let them do the rest.

 

[scottyrocks]

Indeed, and the best empty box of all was an empty refrigerator box left at the curb. First it was a fort, and then when the bottom fell out, it was a tank until it was completely destroyed.

 

[MissMittens]

Indeed, and the best empty box of all was an empty refrigerator box left at the curb. First it was a fort, and then when the bottom fell out, it was a tank until it was completely destroyed.

Hey, refrigerator boxes are prime real estate in this economy! :lol:

 

[Miss Golightly]

There was a huge debate about the BFing doll on another forum I visit from time to time - some people thought it was a great idea and some found it a bit on the creepy side. If it's the same doll we are talking about there is a bib that has flowers on it that are meant to be nipples - I find that a bit unnecessary myself - if a little girl wants to pretend BF she will just put the doll up to her chest - I don't see the need for the bib as I don't think a small child would care about the ins and outs of what BFing is and what it entails - she just wants to copy her Mum - anyway I could see that part of it being discarded pretty soon after and the doll just being used as a regular doll. Another issue I have is the price of it - I think it was over €60 which I think is a crazy amount of money to spend on what is really just a regular doll.....

 

[bunnyb.gal]

I don't understand what is wrong with the cleaning setup (except for it being pink and therefore "suggested" for girls only). I've got a friend from high school who works as a custodian (for a high school) and he makes a decent living with very good benefits. Or is it just that no child should seek to be a custodian as a career, because it is not prestigious enough?

If you look at the box for the cleaning setup it says specifically "Girls only" on the box. There's a picture of a little girl behind the trolley, and of course the cotton-candy pinkness of the box is a dead giveaway. It's definitely the gender thing that is offensive here.

If it were re-packaged and re-marketed, in, say, a cotton-candy pink and pastel blue box with "For boys and girls of age blah-blah" emblazoned on the box and photos of a young boy and girl happily playing with the set, hell, I'd want to give it to all the kids I know! Learning to clean up, help out in the house and look after your things should be an essential part of the growing-up process regardless of gender.

I do agree with you that certain jobs, like custodians, or trash collectors, or street sweepers are viewed with a certain bias in our society which is pretty reprehensible. The bottom line is that if these jobs weren't done we'd be buried in our own detritus, end of.

 

[Mr. Hallack]

Indeed, and the best empty box of all was an empty refrigerator box left at the curb. First it was a fort, and then when the bottom fell out, it was a tank until it was completely destroyed.

A cardboard box and bubblewrap. I keep trying to get my wife that's all the kids need, but nooooo.....let's spend money!! (I'll probably get hit for that remark) We do encourage our kids though to use their imaginations with the regular toys they do have. My oldest has a toy barn with animals. He'll bring the animals together with toy people, a couple of dinosaurs and a car, and sets them up like they are having a meeting!! (The cow is usually the main spokesperson) Usually he will just mumble when they are speaking, but this is the type of play we encourage with the kids.

I thought about a spark plug like Lizzie had, but I'm afraid it will be thrown at a mirror or window.