When my siblings and I were kids, the most attention-grabbing gifts were the ones that really helped us imagine and pretend that we were doing something interesting or important.
In 1965, the year Mom and Dad got divorced, there was very little money for Christmas. But, because the toys we received that year were very thoughtful and invited us to use our imaginations, they helped our imagination and creativity to flourish. These toys ended up being loved and thoroughly enjoyed for several years.
One of those toys was a general store measuring approximately 4 ‘x 2’ x 5 ‘. It was made of cardboard. And you can’t believe how many hours the three of us played with that thing.
We had a showcase, with a window, clock, and brick walls. There was a counter, shelves, some items to sell, and money for transactions. We were ready for business!
You would almost think that thousands of dollars were invested in this “store”, that the brick was real and the wooden shelves and countertop were mahogany, if you saw how seriously we take our roles as customers and store workers.
Long after the store went bankrupt and disappeared, I thought about that and how much fun it was to play with.
Children love to pretend! They can’t wait to grow! Pretending allows them to feel a little of what it’s like to be older. And while kids can pretend they aren’t wearing anything, they really love being able to pretend with things that support the roles they pretend to have. This is why toys are so popular!
But what some manufacturers forget is the terrain. And, for certain gifts, especially those that in some way relate to a particular type of transportation, when you put the ground or terrain aside, you are missing a great opportunity to help children further explore an additional dimension of your imagination. Think how important tracks are to toy trains and race cars!
When some friends of ours invited us to their little one’s 4th birthday, which was going to have a farm theme with real animals, etc., I decided to find a small farm and a tractor as a gift for him. I discovered the Playmobil brand and found their adorable portable farm and tractor.
I don’t remember exactly when I realized that I just had to make a garden or growing area for this gift. But it was pretty quick. It’s almost as if the 1965 girl took control of me and said, “This will be good. But it would be so much MORE fun if we could have the tractor working in a field!” After all, without land on which to grow the food that the animals will eat or sell to the community, how can the farm function?
So with that, I started planning. I had to work fast. The gift had to be created quickly. The birthday party was the next day!
The land needed to be portable, as did the rest of the gift. So it would have to be a rug with a center crease and handles. The tractor had to be able to fit properly in the field in order to be able to till the land, weed and help with the harvest. And the more three-dimensional the garden, the better. So if the soil the vegetables grew in could be higher than the tracks the tractor passed over and if the vegetables appeared to be growing out of the ground, that would be great.
In fact, I already had a lot of the supplies, foam board, glue, silk leaves / flowers, ribbon and thread, some ink, paint, and brushes. I went to the local fabric store and bought a ribbon with simple brown and green patterns and some cool ideas that looked like vegetables.
The garden rows, tractor tracks, access to dirt roads and green areas were first drawn in pencil. And a good amount of time was allowed between steps for glues and paints to dry. The gift was easily completed in time for the party!
Despite the fact that everything was measured beforehand, I felt that I had to confirm the correct functioning of the finished present. Therefore, the tractor was carefully removed from its packaging to ensure it would work in the field. Yahoo! It worked very well. The girl in me was very excited for the birthday boy. She would love to be a farm labor if the new farmer needed her help.