The Big Toy

I'll probably write a few stories about the Big Toy because it was a Big Deal at Riverside Elementary.

The Big Toy was a set of playground equipment installed in 1961; I was in the 5th grade.

This was not just any playground equipment. No sirree! We had swings and we had the jungle gym and we had the baseball diamonds, but we didn't have the Big Toy.

As it was explained to us, the Big Toy wasn't a toy. No, no no! It was an Obstacle Course designed by (educational scientists?) someone to improve our fitness, agility and spatial coordination.

OK. Yeah. Right. Spatial whatzis.

The Big Toy took a month to install. There were holes to dig, pipes to set, concrete to pour. But, finally, it was done. As I recall it consisted of 6 or 7 pieces of playground equipment designed to work different parts of our body. In fact, the Big Toy came with an instruction manual and that's where the fun really began.

Unlike the concrete pipes, galvanized jungle gyms and swings, the Big Toy was galmorous. Tubular steel, bright colors in enamel and quite something to look at.

Finally, at long last, the Big Day came and we would be allowed access to the Big Toy. However, that day was painful beyond our wildest expectations because we were told we had to follow the guide. You see, the Big Toy wasn't just a toy, it was something to improve us and blah, blah, blah, so we had to do it right.

What is right?

Right is like the guide says to do. You start at the left side and work your way to the right, then circle around and do it over again. The Big Toy consisted of a climbing tower with chain linked ladders, balancing beams, a horizontal bar and other bits and pieces that I can't remember. The climbing tower and horizontal bars constitute my most vivid memories.

According to the "guide" we had to line up in single file, then follow the course in order: walk the beam, climb the tower, do the next thing, cross the bars, and blah, blah, to the end.

We did that once.

Once.

After that it was a free for all! We climbed! We jumped! We balanced! And most of all we didn't follow directions because we were kids and there were "rules."

In the end, kids win and rules lose when it comes to something like the Big Toy.

Postscript: When I visited Riverside in 1993 the last part of the Big Toy was being removed. I think it was one of the balance beams, but I can't be sure. I do know that thousands of kids had a great amount of fun on the Big Toy and I am grateful to whomever funded it and had it installed. Of course, as kids we never think of those things.

We just have fun.