Friday, August 5, 2011

The Best Toys in the World

I've been here almost 6 months, and at this point, the girls' favourite things to do (the favourite books, the favourite games, the favourite toys) are really beginning to wear thin. SO, I've been digging around in the bottom of boxes, under beds, out the back of cupboards to find the less-loved-slightly-weirder-but-more-fun-toys around.
Today was a bonanza.
First of all, we had the neon green Hungry Hippo. Now, everyone knows Hungry Hippos, but this was a 'free-standing' Hungry Hippo. It wasn't attached to the playing board, meaning that I could run it across the floor towards the Little One's feet yelling, 'nom-nom-nom', which left her in helpless screams and giggles.
Secondly, we found a box of 'Magnetrix'. This was a completely unknown and inexplicable game. There were no instructions, no diagrams. What there was was a pile of magnetic balls, multi-coloured plastic tubes with magnets at either end, and great big long metal sticks which could be used to pick up said magnets. We spent an hour hanging over the side of the bed, fishing for collections of magnets and squealing at the crazy patterns that were created as the magnets jumped up to meet the metal sticks. I made a collection of jewellery (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, tiara and wand) out of the magnets, which I'm sure was not the original intention of the toy-makers, but amused me, and then spent a good 20 minutes watching the magnets either attract or repel each other, depending on which way I turned them. I'd forgotten how fascinating magnets could be, sort of like fire, in that they're things that are not 'alive', per se, but through their constant changing behaviour and movement, they almost seem to be.
Finally, there is this toy -

Which is probably my favourite thing ever.

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