overheard this conversation in toys r us today

[LUCYlastiKATEdchristmastocking]

was standing in front of the leapster display with ds and dd. dd has a leapster and we are thinking of getting her a new cartridge for it. a man and a woman arrived, shopping trolley full of toys and they both pick up a leapster each, man puts one in the trolley, woman stands and reads the box. she puts her's back, and then starts picking up all the girl orientated cartridges and putting them in the trolley too. conversation goes like this :

man - she won't need all those, it comes with a game
woman - yeah, but it says on the box that the game is educational
man - all the games for a leapster are educational
woman - are they?, well i'm putting it all back then. not getting it if it's just educational, she'll get bored.

JUST EDUCATIONAL!!!

Heh but some educational toys - let's face it - can be dull as shit.

Sorry for the rude 'Heh' - it was supposed to be doubled up and a grin at the end too...

yes, she'll get bored and they might have to play with her - OMG some people

i dont like leapster, books are for sharing not for zapping with a little pen

i know that people may have mixed feelings on things like leapsters, but its been a godsend for us. we do alot of travelling in the car and its a great way to keep dd occupied in the car. 7 hour trip back from cornwall would have been a nightmare otherwise

my kids would puke in the car

also mine arent into that stuff, they would get bored of it, not because its educational, but because they just dont like it.

I hate that kids aren't allowed to have toys for fun any more though. Almost every single toy is sold somehow for its educational value. WTF? Let them play!!

I reckon most toys have educational value, I prefer to think of play value as playing is the best way to learn anyway.