TOYS FOR OUTSIDE PLAY

Outdoor toys from HABA makes summer come alive with imaginative possibilities SKANEATELES, NY and BAD RODACH, GER. – Every kid, no matter what their view of winter, looks forward to and enjoys summer for all the possibilities it presents. Forests, sand boxes, the beach, parks, bugs, kickball, running, swimming, jumping, exploring, adventures. Long days. Bare feet. Freedom. For all of the kid-friendly things to do, summer is the best season simply because there is so much more of it to just be a kid. There’s a reason we call the cold season “Old Man Winter,” and it suggests that the opposite should refer directly to the kid in everyone. The biggest possibility for summer for every kid is the opportunity to play outside, get a little dirty and play games and with toys that are okay inside, but come alive with wide open summer spaces. The chance to let the imagination soar opens up much wider when the playroom is the great outdoors. HABA Toys, of course, makes wonderful, educational toys for kids that cover imagination activities year-round, but the line of toys made just for outdoors adds in even more wonder to the most wonderful season, summer. Chief among the HABA outdoor toys is a line of water and sand toys that make experimentation not only fun, but educational as well. These sand toys are made of sturdy polypropylene which is tough enough to withstand rough play and is scratch-proof and impact-proof. The heart of the collection is the Starter Set Archimedean Screw, named for an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer who lived approximately from 287 B.C. to 212 B.C. The screw is a machine that transfers water basically uphill, used by the Greeks and the Egyptians to take water out of a river to flood irrigation ditches. For kids, the HABA Archimedean Screw comes with a series of chutes and tracks that allows children endless possibilities for inventing games in the sand. Couple this toy with water see-saws, sand trowels, fun sand funnels, watering cans, digging bucket, digging claw, and other accessories in the line, and a child has endless possibilities with a complete sand-water workshop. What could be more educational than a 2,200-year old invention? Other fun and imaginative outdoor toys from HABA include a Block and Tackle hoist that attaches to a tree and lifts objects up and down in baskets, a Parachute Aerolo that is tossed into the air and then wafts down to earth, a Flying object Rotello, which is a soft disc for throwing and catching, the Fliffix Catch, which is a frisky catching game with two baskets and a soft ball, and the Comet Shower, which involves throwing soft darts, or comets, that stick to a fabric target. And, of course, there are a lot of balls for endless fun. All of these toys are age-appropriate, non-toxic, soft yet durable, so they will last through a full summer of safe, fun and imaginative play. HABA makes a full line of quality toys, with a particular emphasis on wooden toys, the launchpad of the company in the Bavarian woods back in 1938. The company also makes wonderful children’s furniture, games and books beginning with infant accessories and toys and going on through the formative ages. Check out the company’s extensive catalog on the website www.HABAusa.com.