I often wonder, with all the video games and DVDs and Blu-Rays and smartphones and augmented reality and assorted other whatnots available today: how do kids cope with play that is purely imaginative?
I don’t have an answer to that question, but it occurs to me upon contemplating the impending festive season. Some of my most fondly-remembered toys were, I think, the ones which encouraged imaginative play. I mean, obviously the Super NES was frickin’ awesome, but besides that, I mean.
One of my favourites of all time was a line of toys called Manta Force. There were three sets: the titular Manta Force, who were made up of a huge mothership containing air, sea and land vehicles; their rivals Red Venom who had an equivalent, more angular, spiky mothership; and the Manta Force Battle Fortress, which was by far the best bit.
These toys didn’t come with anything battery-powered — no lights, no motors, no nothing. Any “life” they were to have had to be provided by you. Without you, they were just inanimate lumps of plastic. But add one or more humans with a good imagination and no sense of shame, and suddenly Manta and Venom’s conflict came to life.
The battle escalated with the addition of the Battle Fortress to the lineup, which was a large mountainside base with several landing pads for aerial vehicles, several working guns and, rather inconveniently, some targets painted on the front which, if hit with a plastic disc launched from the conveniently-provided plastic disc launcher, would cause the spring-loaded launch pads to catapult anything standing on them up into the air. I only remember playing with it a few times as it was meant to be — with a friend attacking, and you defending with the Fortress’ working guns, all of which fired plastic pellets of variable sizes. But I remember it being a lot of fun.
I’m sure kids still do have “imaginative play” toys these days. It’s something you kind of lose focus on as an adult, since you’re supposed to be concentrating on grown-up things like savings accounts, tax returns and grocery shopping. But I’m pretty sure that in most of us exists the potential to play with our imaginations — sometimes with a little help from something like Minecraft.
The imagination is indeed a great and powerful thing. Have you used yours lately?
Discover more from I'm Not Doctor Who
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
