Childhood toys bring back carefree summers

By Andrea Ragni

Summers have become one of the most eagerly awaited times of year, especially for students. The feeling in the air when summer has begun is unmistakable. School has ceased and freedom allows us to play more than ever.

Since starting college, students may feel they have lost childhood summers, trading lazy days for workdays. But by remembering things you loved as a child, you can relive carefree days of childhood.

If you could think of one thing that defined your childhood summers, what would it be?

Things like Super Soakers, Slip N' Slides, water balloons and water toys permeated summer, leaving children everywhere blissfully happy. Just the thought of many of these things brings a smile to the face, a remembrance of a time gone by when the only care in the world was choosing what flavor ice cream to eat.

One of the most popular summer toys was the Slip N' Slide. Characterized by its pleasure, it was something that many kids loved to participate in, and it sometimes can still be seen near Graham pool here at Santa Clara.

"Every summer we would whip out the Slip N' Slide, and I don't think a day went by that we didn't use it," freshman Jill Piermattei said. "Whoever invented the Slip N' Slide is a genius!"

Another toy many enjoyed was the Super Soaker. It emerged as an awesome toy for drenching friends and has developed over the years into a soaking machine.

"Although they have really cool Super Soakers now, I prefer the original because it was light and compact which made it easier to soak people," sophomore Milo Bissin said.

Bissin says the Super Soakers now seem to be complex and that they should go back to their original design.

Slip N' Slides and Super Soakers were two of the more complex toys that we played with as children, but sometimes the simpler ones were most fun.

"Chalk was the absolute coolest when I was younger," freshman Mary Floretta said. "I would spend the whole summer outside with chalk, and by the end of the day the whole street would just be covered."

The simplicity of this fun is mimicked by freshman Kelsey Waples.

"My favorite thing to do during the summer with my sisters was we would blow up a little pool and see how long it would take us to splash all of the water out," Waples said.

Freshman Carrie Brecht's summers were spent at a lake where she would simply play with footballs and frisbees. "My friends and I used to play games in the water with a football, and making sand castles was also a fun thing to do," Brecht said.

While there may not be time for lazy days everyday, a day off can be spent doing things that remind us of childhood.

Getting a group of friends to do the things you did as a child could prove a great day. And if you feel silly in any way, just remember, the key to growing up is taking a part of your childhood with you everywhere.

û Contact Andrea Ragni at (408) 554-4546 or aragni@scu.edu.