Written by Josh as a part of the We’re Kids Too series.
Let me get this out of the way. I turned 30 a few years ago. What did I get as gifts for that milestone birthday? Nerf guns and Legos. What did I get for my wife for her birthday this year? An adult coloring book because, secretly, I wanted to color too. I still try to find Hanna-Barbera cartoons online for my lunchtime entertainment and my desk is guarded by Imperial Colonel Quack. I really have yet to grow up completely. I guess that is why I went into a creative field. That is why I love being at Step2.
Growing up, most of my free time was spent creating. I had (ok, have) a Lego collection that was is expansive. I doodled all over everything, including test papers and all of my homework. I would lie awake in bed at night and create life stories for the spider on my ceiling because I was bored. If I wasn’t creating, I was destroying. I wasn’t just doing it for the sake of destruction, but meticulously pulling apart to discover how everything worked. Even if it made no sense, I created ideas in my head that would make sense of how it worked. The normal kid stuff. The only problem is, I still have yet to stop.
I can thank my parents for that. My parents never discouraged me from any of these things. Occasionally my father would get a bit mad at me for pulling apart a tool while he was at work, but he would always explain how everything worked as we put it back together. My mother would always find a way to make sure I had some way of finishing the Lego bridge across my room, even if it did mean balancing (rather precariously) a chair on top of my dresser. My parents were amazingly patient as I tried and failed at many things. They were always willing to let me try and learn on my own, rather than just teach me from the onset. I still have a curiosity about the world around me, just as I did as a child.
Step2 toys help to encourage that curiosity in a new generation. I am ecstatic to play a part in creating these tools for today’s children. Being part of the creative team means I get to work with kids during photo shoots. I love seeing the look of excitement in a child’s eyes when they discover how to make a wheel spin when playing with one of our water tables, or when they learn that smacking one side of a board makes a figure fly off of the other end. They don’t know the specifics of the physics, but they are on their way. With every little bit of discovery, they are farther along their way of understanding how the world works.
Step2 toys give kids a platform to expand their imagination and explore what is possible. They are toys that encourage children to create their own worlds. I have played with children that turn products into the same things I would have at a younger age. Climbers became castles. Playhouses became spaceships. Desks became race cars. I can see it the same way they do.
Kids will find a way to bend reality to fit what they want it to be. The only things stopping them are the limits of their imagination and their curiosity, and I love to see them push those limits. And if these kids are anything like me, I hope they never stop.
About Josh
Josh is the Manager of Wow at Step2. He is also a husband and a cat dad of two. In his spare time he works with many non-profits and tries to learn as many new things as possible, from making video games to repairing appliances.
