Park Toys
post by jefftk (jkaufman) · 2023-06-23T16:00:01.482Z · LW · GW · 5 commentsContents
5 comments
The park closest to our house has a lot of "park toys". These are toys that people brought to the park for everyone to play with. They're usually somewhat broken when they show up, and eventually get thrown out when they're so broken that there's not much interesting to do with them anymore (which is hard!) This isn't something I experienced growing up, and I see more of it this park than other parks in the area. Walking around the park today, here's the current assortment.
A fire truck. It used to have a ladder, but that fell off a couple weeks ago:
A smaller fire truck. Also used to have a ladder. I think it used to have doors too:
A very small bike. Julia pumped the tires up a few weeks ago. Probably the nicest toy here? Mildly surprised no one has wandered off with it:
Some sort of standing trike? Maybe for teaching someone the leg motions before they're ready for a balance bike?
A Minnie Mouse themed riding airplane. Missing a wing and part of the flight controls. Nora still loves riding it, though!
A basketball that won't stay inflated (we've tried):
A tricycle. It's designed to have the option for an adult to push it, and the pedals freewheel when you're going faster than you're pedaling. The handlebars are loose and older kids like turning them around so it's a reverse-only trike, but today it's in its designed forward-only configuration:
A digger. I think this is a front-end loader, or at least it was before it lost its bucket:
A haul truck:
Another haul truck, with better build quality. Currently transporting fake icecream:
Less sure about this one. Maybe a skid-steer?
A car. The front wheels are clearly the least sturdy component. At one point Lily had a go at fixing one of them. Since then it broke again, someone replaced them, and it broke again. Bonus: a ladder from one of the fire trucks in the background:
These all get a lot of use, and I'm really glad we have a culture of people bringing their old toys to the park!
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comment by RomanHauksson (r) · 2023-06-24T02:22:31.389Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I find it interesting that all but one toy is a transportation device or a model thereof.
comment by Nathan Helm-Burger (nathan-helm-burger) · 2023-06-24T01:03:42.209Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Something about seeing the broken wheels on that car at the end make me feel so tempted to fix it. If I lived nearby, I probably would. I think I'd buy a couple of big caster wheels, bolt them to boards the size/shape of the wheel wells, and then bolt&glue the boards into place after removing the original wheels. It'd no longer be steerable, but it'd be a bunch sturdier.
Replies from: jkaufman↑ comment by jefftk (jkaufman) · 2023-06-24T01:33:57.290Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
The original design is already not steerable, fwiw
comment by Gunnar_Zarncke · 2023-06-23T16:08:39.198Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Wow. These are big. At the sand pit here, people also leave shovels and forms and such, but not something like this.
Replies from: Viliam↑ comment by Viliam · 2023-06-25T11:33:14.228Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
An idea: You could organize a toy exchange in the neighborhood, something like: "if you have toys you no longer want, bring them here, and take home anything you like". Some toys will probably remain in the end. Leave the weather-resistant ones at the sand pit, offer donating the rest to the nearest kindergarten, throw the unwanted ones away. Do this regularly once or twice per year.