Last week I visited the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY with my two young sons.  It pleased me to no end to see these boys, in an era of non-stop TV and video game obsessions, be perfectly content to spend hours playing with these simple toys.

We started with one of their favorites, the wooden train set.  I never thought I would get them away from that table.  But I did, and then we moved on to what I called the "construction area."  My 8-year-old dove right into these colorful bricks and played with him until he started seeing spots.  We spent the rest of our time tinkering and acting presidential.  But occasionally I needed to spell it out for my 4-year-old.