Big Kid Little People Bonanza

Mr. Trouble on Feet is getting to be the perfect age for Little Poeple toys, I thought to myself.  I should bring those up and rotate them into the cabin room.  We have quite the collection of plastic goodness, after all, mostly the result of garage sales throughout YaYa’s preschool days and the generosity of grandparents.  The Little People collection has mostly been in the basement for the past few months, so I mentioned to YaYa that it might be fun to bring them up and surprise Mr. TOF when he woke up from his nap.  She was all over the idea, hauling up everything from the basement in a jiffy.

What I didn’t expect was the absolute glee of all three of the big kids when all the stuff came up.  The three of them went through all the stuff, finding their favorite pieces and remembering what they liked to play with best, and then they spent the rest of “nap” together dividing up all the stuff and setting up “agricultural compounds with a zoological museum next door” and “evil mysterious kingdoms” and “a sweet little neighborhood house.”  They laughed and giggled and had such a great time, trading pieces back and forth and setting up all sorts of complicated scenarios.

I sat back and loved, LOVED that the three of them, school aged kids, could still find open ended things to do with the Little People.  They took toddler toys and gleefully played at their own developmental stages and had fun doing it.   Long ago we got rid of almost all the electronic sounds from these toys, and in fact, the kidlets love the very oldest and simplest of them, the vintage pieces, the very best, which makes complete sense doesn’t it? I loved Little People as a kid too, and set up dramatic scenes well into my late childhood with those toys that in my childhood home were referred to as “peg people.”  The best part about playing with them was imagining all the details:  the personalities of the people, their (at that time) nonexistant limbs, their relationships and drama.  A good toy always leaves room for great pretending and growth.

When the toddler joined in, he had a marvelous time as well.  FOUR kids playing together made me feel great about postponing household chores and homework.