Toys seem to exist only in our childhood memories.

The era of colourful building blocks, shiny bright balls, and action figurines is buried under a layer of dust in the attic, remembered with only a sense of nostalgia. Our desire for toys is replaced with glimmering jewelry, high-tech phones, and trendy new clothes.

But childhood creativity hasn’t faded into the background of our lives—it’s simply changed its shape.

Our worlds of make-believe and fantasy have entered new unknown stages of our life. Our energy has matured and moved along new pathways as we too have grown along with it.

Yet, despite this change, our creativity still retains the resonant spark so familiar from our childhood.

Adventure and the ability to be lost in a world of our own making—how we manifest these ideas into reality are how toys remain present in our young adult lives.

The physical shape of our current toys looks different, yet the attitude towards the concept of play remains the same. The passion we got from toys is now focused on our current adventures.

Toys in young adult life are the force behind our dreams for the future. Toys encourage creativity and a sense of individual focus, and so these core values are the things steering us towards the end of our degrees. Our ambition fuels our drive to be innovative, while our pleasure from doing all these activities is why we still, in a sense, play with ‘toys.’

Where you go on your path towards wonder and creativity is a decision made only by you. Nonetheless, the reason why toys are still present in our daily life isn’t weighed down by the expectations and the anxieties for the future. They persist by evoking lighthearted pleasure, inspiring curiosity within us for new ideas and actions.

As well, the desire for toys and their ability to encourage creativity during childhood was a familiarity—one that could comfort you if you felt alone or had no one else to speak to. While playing, we’re able to be alone without the feeling of loneliness overshadowing the space around us.

Toys offered us a space to be social. Toys gave us the chance to grow independently from others. Furthermore, toys gave us the opportunity to expand our individualities.

From the worn-out stuffed bear to the favourite toy car—toys all represent a unique identity, an unconstrained freedom. We may think we’ve replaced this sense of comfort with our current new tech devices, clothes, or other material items. However, they don’t offer a complete peace. They may provide a momentary comfort, a quick instance of weightlessness, but what is left is a constant sense of anxiety.

Toys remain present in our daily life because they remain unconstrained. They allow us to have fun without anyone’s judgment and open up new spaces for creativity to flourish.

Suzy is a third-year English-History medial student and one of The Journal’s Copy Editors.