It was a sad day when Toys R Us announced it was going out of business a few weeks ago, and when I drove by my neighborhood toy store and saw the huge sign the news hit home. There will be no more “Toys R Us kids.” A beacon of my childhood is becoming a memory of the “good old days.” People blame the closing on Amazon and the rise of online shopping. I blame it on electronics. Kids don’t play with toys as much as they used to. Â All my kids want are video games or gadgets, and I see the same trend with their friends. Gifts of board games, remote control cars and science kits sit unused while the Xbox and PlayStation stay lit up from dawn ’til dusk unless we order them to hit the off switch. Go in any restaurant and you’ll see a baby or toddler entranced by a Peppa Pig or Sesame Street YouTube video on the iPad, or tweens and teens sharing on Snapchat, while their parents scroll through phones. Â Where are the blocks, Barbies and board books? Â On the Island of Misfit Toys? A good friend went to use up some old Toys R Us gift cards while they are still valid and could find NOTHING in the 35,000 square foot building full of toys that her elementary and middle school kids would want. “Guess I’ll just grab some soccer balls or sports equipment,” she said. Tragic. I had the same experience looking for Christmas gifts for my 12 year old this year. He struggled to find options when we took video games off the table. I guess times change and just like I wasn’t playing with hobby horses or whatever my mom was into at my age when I was a kid, each generation will have it’s own “It” thing to do. Still, it makes me sad.
Tonya Duncan Ellis is the author of the Readers’ Favorite “Five Star” rated Sophie Washington children’s books series, geared toward readers ages 8 to 12, and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
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