Pogs, Trolls, Giga pets, Skip-it, Pokemon
The days of Giga Pets are long gone, and Pogs may not be available in stores, but most children of the ’90s can remember the good ole days when the toys they played with helped them be more creative.
According to students, the toys and games of today are quite different from what they grew up with. Ryan Shaw, a junior in business, said one of his favorite childhood games that isn’t played much anymore is “butt ball,” a game in which the players throw a ball against a wall and catching it until someone misses a catch. Then the rest get to throw the ball at the backside of the person who missed.
Emilie Thompson, a parks and recreation junior, said some of her favorites were night games. These included classics like hide-n-seek, kick-the-can and flashlight tag. Both Shaw and Thompson agree that many of these games they used to play are becoming extinct.
“You don’t see the whole neighborhood getting together to play these games much anymore,” Shaw said.
Like the games that students have grown up with have changed, so have the toys that remind them of their younger years in the ’90s. The popularity of toys like Erector Sets, trolls, Giga pets, pogs, Care Bears and My Little Ponies, some of which can still be found, have all come and gone with the decade, according to students like Angie Nielsen, a junior majoring in elementary education. Nielsen has loving memories of her childhood playing with her collection of Care Bears and Cabbage Patch dolls.
“My dad used to give me a Care Bear or Cabbage Patch doll every birthday, Christmas and Easter. I’m kind of a daddy’s girl,” Nielsen said.
Thompson loved playing with her Barbies with her friends and cousins, giving them all a chance to get together to have fun. She said like the night games, little kids don’t play together much like they used to – things have turned from toys to video games.
Besides having sentimental value, students say some of the toys and games from their childhood help the mind be more creative. Chris Young, a junior in business marketing, said, “Things back then helped kids to become more creative. Some people have crazy imaginations probably because of the games of the past.”
Some students believe the games they played as a child with family or friends have shaped how they think now. Jon Kidd, a junior majoring in psychology, said he used to play a lot of analytical games that dealt with strategy.
“I think because of these games my sisters and I now are able to analyze things more,” Kidd said.
Nielson, who also works at an elementary school, said she believes the games and toys
“Sometimes at recess the children will ask me to come up with games for them to play. When I was their age, we used to come up with all sorts of fun games at recess,” she said.
These students agree that the toys and games they played with when they were younger helped them to be more creative, something they say is being lost with the toys of today.
-dwkoecher@cc.usu.edu