Brilliant Sky Toys & Books

The Cardboard Box Effect

Jul 20, 2010

If you've been around many middle school kids this year, you've no doubt seen lots of arms graced with a collection of shaped rubber bands.  The number of these highly affordable yet utterly enchanting little bands that have crossed retail counters in the last six months is staggering.  And with almost every sale, I hear a parent say "who would have thought something so simple could cause such excitement?  They're just rubber bands!"  And therein lies the beauty...

There is nothing revolutionary about a rubber band (at least not since the original one was invented), and these "new" rubber bands don't do anything unusual.  Put one on the table and see what it does.  Nothing, right?  These bands are nothing at all until they capture the imagination of a child.  From searching for the newest styles, to inventing new color combinations to wear, to figuring out how many guitars equal one mermaid in a lunch room barter session, it is the engaged mind of a child that makes it all "work".  Only the passion and imagination of millions of children can turn a loop of silicone into a phenomenon.  And that's exactly how it should be.

It's as classic as the tale of a child who gets a gift and only wants to play with the box.  They don't play with the box because it's a box, they play with it because of everything it becomes once they turn their imagination loose.  At their very core, children need to be engaged.  They need playthings that encourage them - even force them - to do something.  These are the toys they'll turn to over and over, and it's this very "doing something" that holds the promise of education, enrichment, and enlightenment.  So, as simple and inexpensive and "low-tech" as they may be, perhaps at least for now a rubber band is more than just a rubber band...