Memories of my “home-made” toys

As a young boy growing up in the hills and hollers of southwestern Virginia, most of the toys that my fellow youngsters and I had to play with were of the “homemade” variety. For example, I remember how we used to make ”baseballs” by tightly wrapping a walnut with tape, then spend an entire afternoon playing a 20 inning game with worn-out mitts and a bat fashioned from a rough sawmill slab. And you know what? We always seemed to have a great time.

Another example: Our basketball goal was a 20″ bicycle rim with the spokes removed that we had nailed to the side of the barn. The “basketball” was usually one of those cheap plastic balls that you could buy at most any retail store for 50 cents or so. Compared to a real basketball they were almost as light as air, making it quite difficult indeed to make a basket if there was even the slightest breeze blowing. But still, we had loads of fun every time.

We also had the best “toys” in the world at our disposal at any time: our vivid childhood imaginations - and man, we sure put them to good use! As long as we kept our imaginations at the ready, we could always find a way to entertain ourselves. Unfortunately, many of today’s kids are probably growing up without using theirs. Instead of thinking up creative ways to occupy their leisure time, they usually just sit around playing video games or watching TV, making little use of one of the most amazing gifts that our Creator has endowed us humans with.

Times were hard in my neck of the woods when I was a kid, but I thank the good Lord that He allowed me to grow up in an environment in which I was pretty much forced to use creative thinking instead of my daddy’s wallet to keep myself entertained. Somehow I believe that a great number of the kids growing up today are being shortchanged.