My favorite ladies (hi Kay! hi Natalie!) down at Mass Ave Toys of downtown Indianapolis sent me word that their birthday is tomorrow. Well…whadda you know…as it turns out, shopping local means your favorite stores stay open! That’s good news! As you know, I’m a huge fan of Mass Ave Toys, where the toys are engaging AND pretty, and the staff knows everything there is to know about the science of toys. Natalie has been in the business of selling toys for 3 decades (an estimate based on my own childhood memories of shopping at her store), and she can tell you how a toy plays into a child’s development, and exactly why she chooses to carry this doll, or those blocks. It’s engaging to chat with her, I promise you. I can still remember Kay promising me the girls would make Calico Critters their go-to toy for years, and wouldn’t you know? She was right. STILL playing with the entire set, years later. You can play with their toys for years because they aren’t junk and they don’t break. They sell REAL toys, if you get my drift.
If you’re out and about tomorrow, stop by and wish them a Happy Birthday. I know the girls will flip when I tell them they can have their picture taken with a Calico Critter character. And a special Happy Birthday wish from us. You’ve made our children’s playtime wonderful, and really, aren’t the memories of your favorite toys some of the childhood memories you treasure most?
Just a few of my Mass Ave Toy Blog Posts:
Play Silks (STILL playing with these, 4 years later)
Sandbox Toys (I wrote this post 4 summers ago, and we’re STILL using the same sandbox toys, which have never been wintered. They look EXACTLY the same.)
The Day I Discovered Mass Ave Toys (our own little “Shop Around the Corner“)