Great Toys?

We spend a lot of time this time of year talking about toys in my classroom.  We talk about what is new and popular.  We talk about how many toys kids get these days.  We talk about how hard it is to resist getting kids what they want, even when the toys they want are too old for them, too expensive for us or just more clutter to cope with for all of us. This is Frankie, one of several dolls in the "Monster High, Dead Tired" collection.  Frankie is a zombie who packed her sewing kit (for her own face apparently), her iCoffin docking station and her diary for the slumber party.

I feel a great responsibility to small children. They play with toys, they sort their world with toys, and when a toy is great, they connect with them in very real ways. We talk about the value of toys that allow children to create the script, rather than the character toy that automatically comes with one. Frankie is recommended for children ages six and up, most likely because her hands fall off and could become a choking hazard (she is a zombie after all) for smaller children. Frankie lives at my house only because I don't have children living here. I bring her to my classes to begin a discussion about toys.  I don't think Frankie belongs in a home with small children, choking hazard or not!