Before Giant Plush Toys

Before Giant Plush Toys

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Long before giant plush toys ever came along, children found other things to amuse themselves with. Items, such as the plain, old stick, could easily be found in their environment. The stick, in fact, is considered no less than a classic toy and as is the case, has been added to the National Toy Hall of Fame. The stick is nothing if not practical it's easy to snap off a tree or a bush and it's always around.
Dogs have been using them to play catch for years, so why not children? Sticks essentially have ended up as important pieces of sports equipment baseball bats and hockey sticks come to mind. And, with a little more design and finesse, they have also turned into mallets for croquet and polo as well as clubs for golf. Real or imagined, a stick easily turns into a fishing pole catching a real fish or dreaming of catching one. It's also a terrific imaginary horse, one that with just the right 'bounce', will give a child the sensation they are on a real bucking bronco. When horse riding is done, the stick can be left in the bushes for when it's needed at another time. For decades, the stick has been a powerful sword in the hands of make-believe pirates, a broom to ride on for the wanna-be witch, and even a more updated electrified lightsaber, warding off enemies as a Jedi knight would do.

For anyone that grew up on a farm or in a small town, nature provided everything a child would need to pursue the time-honored tradition of playing. The common theme of outdoor play in rural environments was incorporating everything you saw into a game of fun. Louise Dickinson Rich, a rural writer, born in 1903, used dandelions to blow off every bit of white fluff from the head of the weed. She and her friends would also hold buttercup flowers under each others chins to see if a golden reflection would indicate they liked butter. Picking the petals off of daisies to see if he loved me, he loved me not, was another amusement. Opal Whiteley, the American nature writer and diarist, born in 1897 and raised in an Oregon lumber camp, amused herself by looking for animals in the woods and then gave them names so as to match their appearance. Southern writer Frank Conroy, born in 1936, spent his time with friends in the woods. Their first project was building a tree house in a very tall pine tree. The boys would laze around there in the sun and tell each other stories while picking the black pine tar from the tree off of their hands and feet.

One could argue that none of these things in nature could ever take the place of giant plush toys, since all children have figured out that soft toys are much more than plush fur and stuffing. Passionate attachments are formed to what they know to be loyal confidantes and even members of the family. And as is the case, many children want their giant plush toys to accompany them wherever they go.

Giant plush toys are no less the perfect friend and comforter and even as children get older, they remember them with great fondness and nostalgia. Of course, for those not lucky enough to ever have a giant plush toy, a backyard stick, a few flowers, and watching some real wild animals, may do just fine.

About the Author:
Angeline Hope is a collector of giant plush toy animals. You can view a selection of giant plush toy animals at MyBigPlush.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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