Ethan has built cars, tractors, and such out of Legos for a while now, but Tinkertoys, being a bit more abstract, had been a playset where Ethan would ask me to make combines, garbage trucks, and such, for him to modify and play with.
So it came as a surprise to walk into his room and see a full-size, from-scratch creation. He built a model of the gym that he goes to at the YMCA for gymnastics lessons, with enhancements inspired by carnival merry-go-rounds. His model features a couple climbing ropes, a “round-around tower for swinging on” and a “spinning tower”.
Shortly after he completion, I played an evening game of glow-stick Ultimate Frisbee, afterwards promising the players that if they had no use for their glow sticks, my four-year-old would put them to good use. Indeed he did, both on his model and, after its destruction, all around his room.
