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Show Gifts should spark creativity in children It's Christmas morning, and two-year-old Ralphie has opened all his presents. His bright-eyed Mom and Dad watch expectantly to see which ones will excite him most. Ralphie scorns the stuffed bear. He examines the plastic dinosaur. He toys with a wind-up toy. Then he settles down with something some-thing that arrests his attention for fully 15 minutes. It's the pile of discarded Christmas wrapping paper, boxes and ribbons. There's a lesson here. It's that many children don't have a lasting interest in some high-priced playthings play-things because they don't get involved in-volved with them. Sometimes the simplest gift will bring a child more pleasure and education value than one that costs ten times as much. Therefore, some parents give their children such gifts as stacks of paper and a box of crayons. Or a package of modeling clay. Those simple items heighten the children's chil-dren's creative instincts and may develop talent. For that reason, a stack of paper may be a better gift than a coloring book that requires little imagination, imagina-tion, except for the choice of crayons and marking inside the lines. A Cub Scout leader pulled off a highly successful pack meeting when he handed the boys a "genius bag" filled with such unexciting items as paper cups, a plastic spoon, empty thread spools, nuts and bolts. The Cubs were instructed to use those items to create things, and the kids were more absorbed in that activity than any they had that year. Sure, the holiday season is a time for gift-giving. Many parents want to give the kids something special. But remember, sometimes tf'- i most special gift is the simplest,. |