The roller-coaster we’ve all been riding for the past couple years has certainly changed our daily conversations; we’re all worried about the “bottom line”.  While businesses continue to rethink their financial bottom lines, we recognize that customers are scrutinizing their purchases more closely too.

As our customer, you know that the “bottom line” for us is much broader and more meaningful than the current economic reality.  Our “bottom line” is about the meaning and purpose of the products we sell and the kind of community we want to promote.  Out goal is to make sure the store demonstrates our understanding of how play is essential to a child’s development; it’s not: “here’s a whole bunch of toys,” but “here are carefully selected toys to enable play that builds and establishes relationships, develops physical, cognitive, emotional, and social skills, all while stimulating life-long learning and quests for fun.”  So… it go us thinking.  We offer all these activities for kids, why not some for the parents?

On October 22, 2009, Geppetto’s Toy Box collaborated with local psychologist and mother, Dana Flynn Schneider, Psy.D., to host a conversation entitled: “Why Play?!”  In our busy world, it’s important to remember that play is purposeful, meaningful, and necessary.  Play is the language of children and is how we, as adults, fully connect with our families and those around us.  It is a language that can be “spoken” by all ages and it has an incredible impact on individuals, families and communities – nothing builds better relationships than having fun together!  So on October 22nd, we talked about how spontaneous, imaginative (and “unplugged”) play could lead to happier, healthier children and better-connected families.  We also discussed facets of our children’s development so we could better understand the real “bottom line” of play in the life of our children and families.

So get out there and explore, play a bit, and make sure you take the time to enjoy the beautiful fall weather with your families.  We’ll have lots of fun games and puzzles waiting to keep you busy over the winter!