I remember my fascination for creative building toys like Legos, Linkin’ Logs, Play-doh, Etch-a-Sketch, Spirograph, Lite Brite, and lots of things that encouraged kids’ imaginations. Somehow, as I grew up, the focus shifted away from creativity and more into just the reverse: breaking things down and figuring out how they tick. Ever wonder why?
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I remember Legos for sure. And my nephew still love them to this day. 
The local 99 cent store sells a Chinese version of Play-Doh. I’ve given it to my youngest nephew for the last two Christmas holidays.
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For Christmas a couple of years ago I got a lego monster house to build with over 2000 pieces.
It took eight hours. But I did it solo. And it rocks my world.
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I used to take big cardboard boxes and cut a hole for a flashlight and pretend the thing was a car. Had to push it along the carpet, but fun. Also, I would make a fort out of a card table, a piano bench, and drape blankets and afghans over it. And hang out and watch TV.
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My parents didn’t mind. Down the street with friends, we’d play “house” by playing roles or with little dolls in my Tonka fifth wheeler. It was a lot of fun, and we did it all afternoon – right out of our little imaginations.
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I remember when I stepped on Legos and it hurted a lot lol.
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Yeah, sharp edges. Also, breaking them apart was pretty tough sometimes.
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I had a chemistry set, an erector set, slot cars , hot wheels, army men, Slinky’s, G.I. Joe. Tonka Trucks. And Yo Yo’s.
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I used to do puzzle’s a lot
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That’s the spirit! I played GI Joe with my nephews for hours, even days. We were the same age. Remember Eagle Eye GI Joe? And Mike Powers, the Atomic Man?
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I just had a plain old G.I.Joe. What’s an Eagle Eye G.I. Joe?
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He was clean-shaven, with a slider in the back of his head that made his eyes go from side-to-side. I scared a little kid half to death with it. Poor boy thought the doll was alive!
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I used to make prisons for my GI Joes from Legos. Did any of you have the Atari 2600 video game console?
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I think so; with Asteroids, Defender, Night Driver, Phoenix (ruined my eyesight), etc.
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What kind of prison breaks did you imagine for your GI Joes?
I used to enjoy building anything I want with the Lego bricks. Nowadays because pop culture is taking over the brand I feel like the creativity aspect of Lego is lost when you need to follow instruction manual with the limited and specific bricks for the design they’ve provided.
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I agree. I used to try to build my own “Ark II” designs using odds and ends of parts from specific models. I didn’t care what the parts were specified for. I had a friend who actually motorized a home-made toy using some sort of battery. I marveled at that.
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Imagine harnessing the power of a battery with a wire to make a car go – from scratch! Or to turn a wheel in a gear, and so on. His name was Todd Mack. He was in 4th grade when I started 1st. We all admired him as Mr Cool. Funny how we all lost that enthusiasm for inventing stuff as we grew up. Also, I find from my own experience that often it’s women who never lose that. Dunno. Soon I wanna publish a book of poems on Amazon or someplace with more conspicuousness.
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The only thing I remembered about Leggos is that I could never build anything with them and I hated stepping on them while barefoot.
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I could never build anything either. My brother or I also had meccano. I couldn’t make heads or tails of that. I never was any good at anything constructional. Also can’t do jigsaws.
I had an action man and a GI Joe but didn’t know how to play with them. At the front of my mind was the fact they were just inanimate pieces of plastic.