Rediscovering Meebie
All my toys tell a story.
Each one brings up a case, a child, a moment in therapy, and some evoke a
visceral sensation. So it’s hard to retire a toy from my playroom, even though
it may be worn out or has outlived its usefulness. Well, I finally got
around to re-organizing and retiring some toys. I added a See, Store, and Take Long Cart and additional shelves, leaving me with more room and
the opportunity to add to my toy collection.
As the owner of a toy company I have a lot of choices. But as I contemplated all my choices I felt kind of immobilized. There were just too many choices! I confess, I have always tended to be a minimalist and like to keep my playroom simple. On the other hand, I love adding toys to my website and imagining how therapists might use them. I accept that I can’t have all of the items in my catalog. My playroom is too small and some just don’t fit my style of therapy. As I wandered around our warehouse I saw lots of things I thought would be useful and cool to have. But there was one particularly cool item that stood out and lack of space had previously prohibited me from getting it: the one and only Meebie!
Meebie is almost two feet tall and can be any doll you need it to be. It comes with a folder full of features that Velcro to Meebie to create the face you want to have--one week happy, the next time surprised, and maybe a little sad. Meebie is non-gender and is not race specific and Meebie and all of his/her accompanying parts are fully washable. Meebie is now sitting on a newly cleared shelf and I’m looking forward to introducing Meebie to my clients. There’s nothing quite like the excitement of rediscovery. I’ll let you know how it goes.
If you have a similar toy story, or would like to share a play therapy toy that you consider a real classic, please share it with us in the comments section.
As the owner of a toy company I have a lot of choices. But as I contemplated all my choices I felt kind of immobilized. There were just too many choices! I confess, I have always tended to be a minimalist and like to keep my playroom simple. On the other hand, I love adding toys to my website and imagining how therapists might use them. I accept that I can’t have all of the items in my catalog. My playroom is too small and some just don’t fit my style of therapy. As I wandered around our warehouse I saw lots of things I thought would be useful and cool to have. But there was one particularly cool item that stood out and lack of space had previously prohibited me from getting it: the one and only Meebie!
Meebie is almost two feet tall and can be any doll you need it to be. It comes with a folder full of features that Velcro to Meebie to create the face you want to have--one week happy, the next time surprised, and maybe a little sad. Meebie is non-gender and is not race specific and Meebie and all of his/her accompanying parts are fully washable. Meebie is now sitting on a newly cleared shelf and I’m looking forward to introducing Meebie to my clients. There’s nothing quite like the excitement of rediscovery. I’ll let you know how it goes.
If you have a similar toy story, or would like to share a play therapy toy that you consider a real classic, please share it with us in the comments section.
For boys, the classics seem to be the blocks (I have large EVA foam ones), army men, and of course the foam swords. Girls tend to gravitate toward the domestic items, dishes and food. They also seem more interested in board games. I hate to say it, but it seems that gender stereotypes still get played out in play therapy.
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