Letter - Look closely at toys you are buying

To the editor:

With Black Friday right around the corner, take a second and ask yourself: are you the type of person who buys a child the latest toy advertised on TV thinking that it’ll make him or her happy and make you the “cool” adult for awhile? Or, do you look more closely at what you’re buying; or, should I say, buying into?

The problem with, not all, but the majority, of these toys is that they’re made so you can only play with them a certain way and I use the word “play” loosely.

Although this isn’t a new issue, toy companies continue to create toys that are taking realism too far. Whatever happened to using your imagination? When the toys move by themselves, make their own sounds and have lights that turn on and off, all the child needs to do is press a button and watch it do its thing.

Also, how long do you think a toy that does everything by itself and only has so many catchy phrases going to keep a child’s attention?

On the contrary, toys that children have to interact with and that require their imaginations to bring it to life, never get old.

Even though the thought of being the cool relative is tempting, before you choose toys for children this Christmas, think about when the newness of the toy you gave them wears off; what will they be left with?

Angie Morton

Alexandria, MN

Tags: opinion, letters