Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site eneevax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!pyramid!ut-sally!seismo!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu From: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Newsgroups: net.kids Subject: Re: educational toys that inspired you... Message-ID: <481@eneevax.UUCP> Date: Sun, 12-Jan-86 02:06:26 EST Article-I.D.: eneevax.481 Posted: Sun Jan 12 02:06:26 1986 Date-Received: Tue, 14-Jan-86 03:49:26 EST References: <1330@mhuxt.UUCP> Reply-To: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Organization: Imperial Widget Research Center, Kingdom of Maryland Lines: 64 Summary: lemme try to remember now... In article <1330@mhuxt.UUCP> evans@mhuxt.UUCP (crandall) writes: >*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** >Once again my wife and I have supplied our nieces (ages 6 and 8) with lenses, >tools, prisms, and the like and one again we have been told by other >relatives that we should stick to more traditional toys (Cabbage Patch dolls >and other very sex-rolled objects). Based on an admittedly small sampling >it seems like many people who have ended up in technical work remember >wonderful mechanical toys, puzzles, and the like. I would like to hear >comments (particularly from women) on toys that "made a difference." My >wife fondly remembers a small microscope, old clocks (junkers to play with) >and tools. I built telescopes and model airplanes. What did you do? What >are kids doing today? > >send me mail and I'll post a summary... > > Steve Crandall Well, being among the younger readers of this group (18, the oldest of 4 about the house) and still having some fascination with toys (please, no shrinks need reply) I'll try to remember now...lemme see... Legos were number one on my list, lincoln logs high up on my friends'. Erector sets never seemed to cut it because, although they were motorized, they were a bear to construct properly. I still have each and every (small) stuffed animal I was ever given, and from the stats, I'd say bears outnumber turtles about 2-1. Also, I disassembled an astronomical number of watches, just to see what made them tick, although I can't admit to ever understanding them. Throw in the requisite Tonka Toys, one I especially remember, a tractor- trailer car carrier with two cars. Giant Tinkertoys always made me want to build a car, even though I paid little attention to real cars. Didn't really get into electronic things until I was 12, when I first got my hands into the school computers (dying OSI Challenger 2's). Learned to enjoy Chess and Go early, although never became any good at either. As for a microscope, well, invariably for every useful slide I made, I produced two useless ones, and broke 4 cover slips to boot, so I can't really say I got too much out of it. On the other hand, Scouting probably represented the best times I'd had up to that time, primarily the weekend hiking overnighters. Almost too much fun in fact; after the first hike, I ignored a pulled tendon in my left foot for almost three days. As an aside, I also watched an almost excessive amount of PBS, shunning the lesser-quality amusement of common cartoons. i.e. I think I saw just about every Sesame Street and Mister Rogers episode shown between '69 and '74 or so, and to date, I still tune in for amusement periodically. There are some things in life which, although you may outgrow their message, remain timeless. Of course, it's a bit late now for your nieces, but other shows such as the late Vision On and Nova gave me lots of insight. Also, around that time I used to read a lot; the three-book set The Answer Book, Answers and More Answers, and Still More Answers probably fed me more knowledge than anything else at the time. My brothers and sister were fed the Childcraft books from the people who publish the World Book Encyclopedia, I'm afraid I can't comment on those since I was pushing 9 with a short stick when my parents sprung for the set :-) What toys would I liked to have had? An Etch-a-Sketch, motorized Lego pieces, one of the old, big, GI Joe's (oops, sexist militaristic toy) and a dog. Well, maybe not the dog. -dave -- David Hsu Communication & Signal Processing Lab, EE Department University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 hsu@eneevax.umd.edu {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu CF522@UMDD.BITNET "Buckle up." "Hey, let's all be careful out there."