Suddenly fun toys

I mentioned last week that Sydney suddenly couldn't get enough of a toy she's ignored for months. Whatever caused this new-found appreciation for previously unappreciated toys seems to have been passed on to her brother.

AJ suddenly loves Matchbox cars. Never mind that he's had some of them for two years, playing with them - on average - maybe once every couple months. Now they're the coolest thing since... pirates and knights (I needed a more age/gender appropriate analogy than "sliced bread.")

Race them. Crash them. Attack them with dinosaurs. He's even got his sister in on the action. For this version of the game, the cars have to race down the ramp and try to avoid being eaten by the dinorsaur.

Of course, since Sydney is a girl and is only a preschooler, she couldn't possibly understand the intricacies of the game and the fine art of lining up the cars just right, according to AJ's very exacting standards. All it took was the threat that I was going upstairs, which meant Sydney would want to follow, ("What?" Screamed AJ's thought process, "but that would mean I'm downstairs by myself. I'm not brave enough, though I'll never admit it, to play downstairs by myself!") and suddenly AJ was able to adapt the game so both he and Sydney could have fun.

I'm going to be watching him closely in weeks to come. If this interest holds, I see some great potential for Christmas gifts. He's always pointed to car sets in the stores, but I've learned to ignore him because I didn't want more toys collecting dust.

I'm trying to think if there are any other toys of his that he's yet to show interest in. If I find them, they're coming out of the toybox because who knows what the next greatest toy will be.