Best toy ever?

Anywhere there’s a tree, there’s a fallen stick. And anywhere there’s a fallen stick, there’s a toy. A versatile toy that gets you outside and encourages exercise and imagination for grandchild and grandparent—for free! 

Maybe your grandkids would like to use little sticks to make a caterpillar house. Other found objects can make the house cozy and welcoming: grass for warmth, dandelions for beauty, or small stones for a path. 

Kids can use big, straight sticks as walking sticks. A neighbor near us trimmed a hedge and left a dozen straight sticks in her yard with a sign, “For little adventurers.” We took two, and have walked with the same sticks for over a year, gradually wearing the ends smooth. Those sticks, and others found along the way, reside outside the front door, ready whenever we go out.

The walking sticks aren’t just for walking! They morph into drawing tools for use in mud, sand, or snow. They become digging tools and hammers. Sticks work as baseball bats or hockey sticks, or to propel a rock or chunk of ice down the sidewalk. 

Under hard use like this, even a strong stick might break,  but repairing it with wood glue and a clamp is a fun project.

Sticks also become weapons, of course—real-life and pretend. Real-life use as weapons—like running at each other—or you!—with the stick, or using it to hit people or animals—obviously needs to be off limits. Pretend use as weapons? I’ll think about the pros and cons of redirecting kids’ imaginations in a future post. My current practice is to mostly let the grandkids enjoy the excitement of their imaginary weaponry, but I do put a stop to grisly trains of thought and to talk of hurting specific people. Once in a while, I get them to think about what they are imagining by asking questions. For example, when the kids were excitedly (pretend) shooting (real) airplanes from the sky, I asked, “What happens to the passengers when you shoot the planes?” They assured me that everyone in the planes was a bad guy. Or that no one got hurt. 

Whether as weapons or not, sticks make a great prop to act out a story. With an assortment of sticks, the kid can become a construction worker who has multiple tools and projects. A stick tucked down the back between jacket and shirt transforms the kid into a warrior ready to do battle with dragons, Guardians (Legend of Zelda), or whatever other enemy they conjure. Next up: Magic wand? Scepter? Baton? 

Sticks can be elaborated, too. In the photos, the kids are transforming some found sticks to “firesticks” with tempera paint. The water-soluble paint won’t last through rain or mud, but that’s okay—we can touch them up later. 

What more could you ask of a toy? One more plus—when you watch and listen to how your grandchildren play with sticks, you learn a lot about what excites your little ones. Have fun out there!