A couple of weeks ago, the shops here in Zurich started with the Christmas decorations, the Bahnhofstrasse has its Christmas lights and Santa Clause is turning up in every second advertisement. I was eating a mediocre Kebab in town a few days ago, standing in front of a department store window which was decked out in what the decorator must have imagined was “old fashioned Christmas”. There were toys, presents, lots of glitter and champagne glasses. What was odd though, was that the toys were obviously designed for decorative purposes only. Not to be played with. They were fake. Some years ago, we visited a toy museum with our son, thinking he would enjoy it. It turned out to be boring for him, because everything was behind glass. They were mostly toys to look at, not to play with. Also it was a bit sad: forlorn and forgotten teddy bears, crayon scribbles and doodles by children long grown up, grown old and passed away. But what I personally remember about that museum visit was the simplicity of the toys from the end of the 19th Century and first three quarters of the 20th Century. Kids used their imaginations in play back then.

Fast forward to Christmas shopping in the last few years: I remember playing for hours as a kid with Fisher Price, Lego, Playmobil... But a few visits to Toys ‘R Us turned out to be rather depressing. Simple toys, toys which let kids’ imagination roam free, toys which don’t tell the whole story but which let the children invent it as they play – real toys – seem incredibly difficult to find. Expensive yes flimsy plastic Ben 10 / Transformers / Power Rangers / you name it laser masks / swords / shields / transmogrifiers / you name it once again... Even Lego and Fisher Price have become more elaborate. Instead of selling a basic “Farmyard” or “home” set, they sell specific kits with specifically-designed figures and specific little accessories which do specific things. If you want to do anything beyond what the designers specifically designed, then you have to go back and buy the specific kit designed to do that. I understand that toy companies need sales to stay in business, but is it really necessary to stifle kids’ imaginations with toys they will try out once, twice, maybe three times – and then put aside once the batteries run out because they’ve “seen it”?

There are – thankfully – still wonderful toys to be had. But not at giant chains of toy stores. Looking on the bright side, this is a chance for smaller toy stores to sell original toys. Creative toys. Fun toys. A good toy, I think, is a toy which gives a kid possibilities, options, potential. A good toy should let a kid play. Should let have the child coming back again and again, perhaps playing a different game the each time. I’m not saying that old-fashioned toys are the only good toys. My issue is with toys which limit instead of expanding a child’s imagination horizon. But still...  Childrens’ books  – which created pictures in the readers’ minds – have lost ground to DVDs. Family board games – which at least had the family sitting together for a while – have lost out to Playstations et al. Generic wooden building blocks have almost disappeared and been mostly replaced by high-tech building kits designed to let the child build one particular object only. Fun first time around, maybe. But that’s it. I am all for technology – also in the toy area. But I demand toys which provide free space for trying things out. Toys which let kids discover things. Toys which allow kids to create objects or achieve goals they can be proud of and which give them a sense of fulfilment. REAL toys, please.

Some time back, I was building a Lego helicopter with my son. It was fiddly. It was a specifically-designed kit (see above). After a time, he got frustrated at all the instructions we had to follow and said: “Why do we have build someone else’s idea? That’s boring. That’s not playing. That’s work.” He had a point.

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