Santa, NOOOOOO!!!
The other day I came across an interesting story. Before there was Silly Putty there was Flubber. I dimly remembered the Disney movie, but I didn’t know that Flubber was ever a real product. It did the same sorts of things that Silly Putty does now, but it also gave kids rashes and sore throats. Hasbro stopped selling it and buried all the unsold product in a field. Then the field was paved over and turned into a parking lot. Problem solved, except that thirty-five years later, the Flubber started oozing through the cracks of the asphalt on hot days. It may be buried, but it is not dead.
The story made me wonder about other hazardous toys. Of course, there are toys like lawn darts, but the danger there is obvious, so that’s on you should you buy a set. But there are plenty of other dangers in the history of toys, enough that I’m wondering if parents should just give their kids boxes of matches and call it good. First, I found the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory from the 1950’s. This kit enabled kids to create and watch their own nuclear reactions, with four different kinds of uranium and accompanying radiation included! I would have loved one of these, but it was discontinued before I came on the scene. However, I would bet money that my grandfather, a scientist, got one of these kits for my dad. How much Dad was impacted and how much he passed on to me I don’t know, but it’s a fact that my watch batteries always have a much shorter lifespan than my husband’s.
There’s also tremolite, a carcinogen that you could find in the CSI fingerprint kit from 2007. But more dangerous than either uranium or tremolite, are magnets. The more I read, the more I’m convinced that what magnets really attract are children. Apparently, given a choice between eating magnets or eating candy, children will eat the magnets every time. Once inside, the magnets will stick things together, causing blockages, tears and even death. Since the human brain doesn’t fully develop until about age 25, you may wish to wait until then before allowing your children to play with them.
A toy that surprised me first because it wasn’t really a toy, were the toddler dumbbells one could buy in 1945. These weren’t just rattlers in a dumbbell shape. These were real weights. What surprised me more was that you can still buy them now. This made me wonder if I had missed something? I had failed to give my daughter, Catherine, her own dumbbell set and Nautilus machine when she was born, but maybe it’s not too late for my nephew who just turned one. Last time I saw him, he was wearing a onesie, so it was hard to sneak a look to see if he had yet developed a six-pack. Really though, weightlifting for little kids seemed unnecessary and possibly harmful to me. So I checked the all-knowing internet. It pointed out that very small children would lack the training and technique to make weight-lifting safe, so maybe wait on the formal strength training. This sounds like good common sense to me. On the other hand, Catherine always loved lugging around the heaviest objects she could find. When she was in kindergarten, I was forever emptying her backpack of rocks and giant books. So I guess some kids are going to find weights to lift whether you buy them for them or not.
Another problem toy I had limited fun with when I was a girl was the Easy Bake oven. The fun was limited because the little mixes that went with the oven cost a fortune. This hasn’t changed. I don’t remember ever having any problems, but maybe the design has changed because when I tried using a newer version to bake with Catherine, we always got burned. It was far more dangerous than the real oven. I promoted her to ‘big girl’ status and just taught her how to cook. Ever since, the house has been filled with delicious calorie-dense treats, so there’s that danger.
I think that no matter how careful you are, the next generation will be horrified by whatever you did. I think the moral here is to do the best you can to keep everyone safe, and if you happen to buy the equivalent of Roller Blade Barbie that shot sparks out of her feet, or a cute little pedal car with a built-in ashtray. Just enjoy the fun while it lasts.
The story made me wonder about other hazardous toys. Of course, there are toys like lawn darts, but the danger there is obvious, so that’s on you should you buy a set. But there are plenty of other dangers in the history of toys, enough that I’m wondering if parents should just give their kids boxes of matches and call it good. First, I found the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory from the 1950’s. This kit enabled kids to create and watch their own nuclear reactions, with four different kinds of uranium and accompanying radiation included! I would have loved one of these, but it was discontinued before I came on the scene. However, I would bet money that my grandfather, a scientist, got one of these kits for my dad. How much Dad was impacted and how much he passed on to me I don’t know, but it’s a fact that my watch batteries always have a much shorter lifespan than my husband’s.
There’s also tremolite, a carcinogen that you could find in the CSI fingerprint kit from 2007. But more dangerous than either uranium or tremolite, are magnets. The more I read, the more I’m convinced that what magnets really attract are children. Apparently, given a choice between eating magnets or eating candy, children will eat the magnets every time. Once inside, the magnets will stick things together, causing blockages, tears and even death. Since the human brain doesn’t fully develop until about age 25, you may wish to wait until then before allowing your children to play with them.
A toy that surprised me first because it wasn’t really a toy, were the toddler dumbbells one could buy in 1945. These weren’t just rattlers in a dumbbell shape. These were real weights. What surprised me more was that you can still buy them now. This made me wonder if I had missed something? I had failed to give my daughter, Catherine, her own dumbbell set and Nautilus machine when she was born, but maybe it’s not too late for my nephew who just turned one. Last time I saw him, he was wearing a onesie, so it was hard to sneak a look to see if he had yet developed a six-pack. Really though, weightlifting for little kids seemed unnecessary and possibly harmful to me. So I checked the all-knowing internet. It pointed out that very small children would lack the training and technique to make weight-lifting safe, so maybe wait on the formal strength training. This sounds like good common sense to me. On the other hand, Catherine always loved lugging around the heaviest objects she could find. When she was in kindergarten, I was forever emptying her backpack of rocks and giant books. So I guess some kids are going to find weights to lift whether you buy them for them or not.
Another problem toy I had limited fun with when I was a girl was the Easy Bake oven. The fun was limited because the little mixes that went with the oven cost a fortune. This hasn’t changed. I don’t remember ever having any problems, but maybe the design has changed because when I tried using a newer version to bake with Catherine, we always got burned. It was far more dangerous than the real oven. I promoted her to ‘big girl’ status and just taught her how to cook. Ever since, the house has been filled with delicious calorie-dense treats, so there’s that danger.
I think that no matter how careful you are, the next generation will be horrified by whatever you did. I think the moral here is to do the best you can to keep everyone safe, and if you happen to buy the equivalent of Roller Blade Barbie that shot sparks out of her feet, or a cute little pedal car with a built-in ashtray. Just enjoy the fun while it lasts.