The Leen

Our friend Rosanna made dinner for us last night, since I’ve been sick and Brett is gone. I was so thankful that she did; not only did it really help make the weekend easier since I hadn’t been grocery shopping, it was also a very yummy meal — a Moroccan stew of sorts, with all kinds of veggies, served with couscous and muffins. Yummy!

Rosanna’s husband Joel brought the dinner over, and they had put the pans holding the food in a big, sturdy apple box, the kind that is open at the top and has handles on either end. I left the box on the floor last night after I took the food out of it, not sure what I was going to do with it since it was sort of on the big side and it’s not the kind that you can easily break down to fit in the recycle bin.

This morning, though, I had an epiphany. Elanor was fussy and was acting (as usual these days) really bored with all of her toys, so I grabbed the box, plopped her in it, and proceeded to push her all over the house in it, much to her delight.

Elanor in her apple box. Sorry for the poor quality; Brett took the camera to Amsterdam with him so Noni snapped this with her camera phone.

She loved it, and she played with the box all afternoon, until she fell smack on her forehead while trying to climb out of it, despite having successfully climbed out twice today. Poor kiddo. She was fine, though, after a little snuggle with Mama.

Anyway, I can already tell it’s going to be a fun box to keep around for a while. I remember as a kid when we or one of our neighbors would get a big box that we could play in, how fun it would be making it a ship or a plane or a bus or a car or a house or any number of make-believe things.

As with Elanor now, it seems like most kids like to play with non-toys. Besides the box, she also loves the camera bag, hairbrushes, tupperware — basically anything that is not designated for her to play with, of course.

When my sister and I were little, we certainly had more than our share of toys as well as our own bedrooms and a playroom to play in, but I always enjoyed playing one of my favorite make-believe games in a very unlikely place: the back of my dad’s pickup truck.

I was extremely obsessed with the Oregon Trail and pioneers and wagon trains for about four years, and I would make my sister and our friends play wagon train with me as often as possible. My absolute favorite place to do this was in the back of my dad’s truck.

For starters, it was the perfect size and shape for simulating a covered wagon. We’d fold down the tailgate, put two bikes out in front of it to be the horses, and then one of us would sling a jump rope around each bike as the reins. In the bed of the truck, we’d make a sleeping area with blankets, a food area (which would hold a crate or two of play food), and then a storage area with things like doll clothes for our baby dolls, who were along on the trip as well.

We’d dress up in our play clothes, and then for as long as we could, we’d pretend my dad’s truck was a wagon and we were on the Oregon Trail. Sometimes the scenarios would last for days, although for the life of me I don’t remember much about the scenarios and what would happen to us on the trail. Getting set up to play was the most fun part for me, maybe because it was the part I could control the best. Once we started playing, everyone would get their own ideas about what we should pretend, which would annoy me. We had several very strong personalities in our little group.

Anyway, the back of my dad’s truck was my favorite wagon location, although we’d also use the picnic table in the backyard or even an area in our playroom that we’d mark off with blankets or whatever. But whenever my dad was home, we’d immediately take over the truck and head off on our pioneering adventures.

While I’m excited to give Elanor a few new toys I’ve picked out for her at Christmas and her birthday, since she seems to be so bored with her current toys, I’m also excited as she gets older to start playing make-believe with her and showing her how a box can be a spaceship, or how a truck can be a covered wagon, or how a 10-speed can be a horse. I love looking back and seeing how imaginative Melissa and I and our friends were when we played. I hope Elanor and her friends are as imaginative, if not more so!

So, what was your favorite non-toy or random place/thing to play as a kid? What about your kids now? What do they like to play with that isn’t a real toy, and how do you encourage them to develop their imaginations?