Flashlights

Looking through the best toys of the last decade, I was more than a little surprised to learn that the humble stick, yes that’s just a normal wooden stick that may or may not have fallen from a tree, was entered into the toy hall of fame last year. It now sits along side such classics as the cardboard box and the kite, yet one classic toy remains ominously absent – activity toys. The classic ride-on-toy doesn’t get so much as a mention, yet surely this juggernaut of the playtime world deserves a place in toy history.

Of course the “ride-on-toy” is an umbrella term to describe many different things, from the classic four wheel go-kart to the more extravagant motorized model car. But which child doesn’t have the memory of desire, of envious lust for the plastic vehicles that were pushed forcibly down the nearest hill. Those children lucky enough to own one were the immediate champions of the slowly developing social arena, not to mention the champions of the steepest hills. With so many fond memories existing in so many minds the ride on toy deserves its moment of limelight.

They’ve developed hugely during your absence from childhood. For example, did you know that now, in this modern age, not only are ride on tractors available, but ride on planes are a stock toy. I wonder if, upon the plane’s arrival, the child would be under the dizzyingly exciting illusion that if pedalled fast enough, the ride on plane could fly him to never land… Dreams crushed?

If lashing your childs hopes and dreams isn’t your thing you’re probably best to stick to the electric ride on toy. Forget the Flintstones era, we’re ushering in the era of the Jetsons. Pedal power was SO last decade – the decade that never saw the ride on toy get its rightful place in history.

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