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Every parent has had the experience. You have spent a fortune to buy the latest, whiz-bang, toy for your child, only to see him almost completely ignore the toy but spend hours playing happily in the box in which it came.

Kids come equipped with imagination, creativity and curiosity. These God-given attributes allow them, at best, to discover their world, assess it, react to it, and find their place in it. Used and developed properly, these attributes will help them to become well rounded adults who know who they are, and are not afraid to stretch beyond their comfort zone.

Kids also come equipped with boundless energy. Mostly, they know only two speeds - flat out or sound asleep. This energy enables them to use their imagination, creativity and curiosity to the fullest.

Commercialized toys tend to stifle all these areas. The more complex the toy, the more the child's natural attributes are stifled.

For example, if a little girl is given a basic doll, her imagination will take over. The doll may become a princess or a fairy or a bride. It may be a ballerina or a lone sailor on a yacht. Her creativity will cut in to make up outfits for the doll and settings in which to place it.

If, however, she is given a doll that is already dressed as a princess, complete with its own palace, then her imagination and creativity are not needed. She has no need to think up in her own mind what character the doll could be. It is a princess. There is nothing else it could be. It would be quite unthinkable for the princess to be a sailor.

This is even more pronounced if the doll is not merely "a princess" but "Princess So-and-So." The character, behavior and adventures of Princess S&S have already been defined through books and television. There is no room for deviation from the script, no room for creativity or imagination.

Left to their own devices, children will naturally explore and ask questions. Too many commercialized toys will dampen this curiosity. Rather than being encouraged to find out things for himself, the child is presented with a distorted picture of reality and encouraged to accept it as it is.

Whilst not needing to imagine or be creative or curious might be fine once in a while, if it is the ongoing pattern of the child's play, sooner or later that child's imagination, creativity and curiosity will begin to wane. The principle of "use it or lose it" applies here as in every other area of life.

Occasional commercialized toys will probably not harm your child. For the most part, however, generic toys will better help them grow into happy and creative adults. Even better if you can offer activities such as art, craft, music and science, which will actively help to develop their creativity and curiosity.

Learn more about this author, Lynn Fowler.
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