Black Friday morning, and in some cases Thanksgiving night will find many people fighting off their Turkey coma and heading out to the stores in search of a holiday deal that their kids will love.  Typically Black Friday sales take the shape of an electronic gadget or a plastic toy that will be oohed and ahhed over for a few minutes, mainly while seated or laying down, and then forgotten in a drawer.  Or even worse, the item requires additional purchases to make it work in the way that it is portrayed in a commercial, or to store the 1,000s of little pieces that come with it.  Only very rarely are these items a toy that will involve large motor play, or that will get kids outside and into the open air. 

I admit, we do have a house full of toys-- with my son being the only grandchild on my folks side and a portion of my husband's position in sales comprised with selling toys we do tend to accumulate more clutter than I would like.  However, we have made a conscious choice to limit Noah's toy consumption and to select toys that leave options for open ended play available for him.  Mommie and Dada also try to restrict purchasing items labelled with cartoon characters (a rule which we ourselves and many grandparents have broken.)

How do we as parents fight this?  It seems like every year the sale creeps earlier and earlier, and even now people are lined up to get I know not what at stores around my neighborhood.  As this holiday season begins I don't have an answer for you on how to handle your child's gift giving, but over the next few days I will be offering a few of the insights I have learned, as well as a few picks of my personal favorite possible Christmas presents for your kids that will encourage their imagination, as well as encourage them to participate in active play.