Tech toys and imagination collide over one controversial brick. Your kid gets a Lego set where the plane makes its own flying sounds. Swoosh. Pew pew. Automatic. You panic: what happened to using your imagination? What happened to making the noises yourself? The toy just handed them the creativity on a circuit board.

Ryan O’Donnell: upset, this dilutes childhood magic. Michelle Parnett Dwyer from the Strong National Museum of Play counters: tech innovation challenges makers, not just kids. Furby did it. Tickle Me Elmo did it. Ryan’s moment of clarity: kids ignore designer intent entirely. They take the brick off. They use it differently. They play how they want. O’Donnell admits: “I am not a child anymore.”

Discover why adult nostalgia distorts what kids actually need. Learn how children have always repurposed technology beyond its intended use. Understand the difference between protecting imagination and protecting your memories.

Originally aired on2026-01-14