The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

saturday nov 29 2003 15 the economist sunsuntribune diversions finding the right toy problem solvers capture childrens interest by simone joseph staff writer fiveyearold rachel runs a little train along a wooden track chaga choo choo she sings a short time later her eight- yearold brother brett stands near his sister clutching four brightly coloured trains close to his jacket m of these trains arent yours says bretfs father blair morgan so none of these are hers brett replies mr morgan hands two of the j trains back to his s young daughter ji and continues g watching his chil- dren wind the blue and red trains along wooden tracks in the toys r us store in newmarket j about five years ago the morgans bought a 500 train set for brett he played with it for a short time and after that the youngster didnt want to touch it anymore most of the stuff they dont play with a week after christmas mr morgan says ah the ageold gift buying frustration parent buys child expensive present child tosses gift aside barely before the christmas tree has been dumped at the curb so how can you find gifts chil dren will keep coining back to try toys that require problem solving says todd mccauley founder of einstein toys if it is too focused on enter tainment will be flashy for a couple of days but then it just becomes boring theres no sub stance no sense of accomplish ment when the child is playing with it back in the days when chil dren were expected to help out on a farm or at a family business problem solving opportunities cropped up all the time he says but these days toys are responsi ble for providing children with stimulation taking the place of those activities to capture childrens interest mr mccauley recommends do- ityourself kits such as a camera talking clock or neon flashing phone the child can build him self these toys are on mr mccauleys website that is a cata logue of smart toys for smart kids divided into categories such as educational soft- ware reading and lan guage and technical i skills ft construction toys such as building blocks that can be built taken apart and rebuilt are a good choice says 1 penny zielinski pri- mary grades curriai- fljf him consultant for the f york region district ip school board and a f mother of two boys for young children i choose toys they can role i play with such as pup pets she says ms staff photomike barrett despite all the expensive toys he has had through the years brett morgan 8 plays mostly with simpler ones that pique his imagination such as these dinosaurs his dad blair enjoys too evelyn wolf dirty knees winter wait opportunity to prepare there are still a few things that could be done in the garden but mostly late november is the time to pat ourselves on the back with a firm job well done were grateful our backs will finally get a rest but the satisfying routine of garden work will be missed this is the beginning of what we northern gardeners know will be an excruciatingly long wait before well again be able to touch the warm earth and experience the excitement of some thing new coming into bloom take heart though like all garden ers im an eternal optomist so heres the positive spin on the long five months ahead our long winters offer us much more time than our southern neigh bours to become better gardeners we have more time man they do to read learn go to meetings take classes write to gardening columnists etc and thoroughly research plans for the com ing season we are the ones thathave the advantage this forced cheerfulness is just one of the games i play with myself to help riilt cope with the long wait ill give you more tips on staying sane as the winter wearson so more than ever keep your books open and your questions coming q some gardeners just leave frost killed plants in their garden over winte but others say this promotes disease which is correct a the best answer to this is perhaps that happy middle ground of compro mise basically the less tidying you do in see garden page 17 i jss2pj3 muni v jvuv hf ptyttr i mwmwwn thcrffr syaeivcs ijv niiureckcr j returns v stcc vh tauftiftri rfwccntyhv cvhiformg wuhws and sets this fcuitasyuih tidrjht m mtdmkts i i cs canafos own rate sri h- toured ibh iibwiovs wsxxi scfxss nvth mhcnt ihc fhmiav season uith magk- tues dec 30th at 730 pm wa wed dec 31st m 230 pm adult s2so0 child 2400 call today for tickets vvt gift certificates are available in denominations of 20 and up