Kids who are interested in art, even a bit, which is most kids, like them enough for them to be a worthwhile present. They’re different to drawing with just pens and paper or on a computer. they’re a gimmick more than anything else, but then, IME, a lot of presents you can get for neices and nephews are gimmicky, because they already have all the stuff they actually need.
My daughter had one, but then we have more art supplies than most art supply shops, so she might not be a good example, but her friends always enjoyed playing with it.
My mother didn’t want to get me one because she was one of those types who thought it would destroy my creativity. (WTF? If a toy destroys your creativity you never had much to begin with.) She eventually gave in and I used it a lot but soon drifted off into painting pictures and lost interest in the Spirograph, which was later inherited by my step-neice.
My Spirograph was my favorite thing when I was 8-9. I carried it everywhere, for awhile, in case I died so I would go to heaven with it. Really.
My daughter liked hers too, but not to the same degree I felt for mine. She’s more of a Legos girl.
ETA: She was very creative with it- took the drawings she made and turned them into crafts, stationary, wallpaper for her doll house etc. It’s a totally creative toy- you choose colors, designs, mix-and-match patterns, fill a page abstractly etc. It’s great for budding math and engineering kids who find beauty in its patterns.
Another Spirograph fan checking in. Loved it, loved it, loved it!
We have a Spirograph knock-off at my Mom’s in Mexico. My niece (who is very artistic) loved it too. I think any kid who is even a little bit artsy/craftsy would have a lot of fun with it.
I liked my spirograph too. I’m not too creative though. I never could get the circles that go around the long oblong things, to work right. (that makes no sense but I don’t know how else to say it)
It was one of those toys I played with a lot at first but then went into my closet. I would find it ever six months or so, and bring it out and play with it again, then back to the closet.
Not having any children, I tend to think kids are far more sophisticated now-a-days, but then I go past a park and there’s a kid, pouring mud all over himself and laughing and having a great time, so I guess they still like kid things
I’m intrigued by this persistent belief among many people that children today don’t like toys. I assume the assumption is that kids now only like video games.
It is complete nonsense. Kids love toys, they love simple toys, and any good toy will appeal to a lot of kids - not all, since every kid has their own tastes, but a lot of them.
Of course Spirographs would appeal to many kids. It’s a great toy.
Spirograph led me to a long lasting love for mathematics.
The entire concept of simple repetition with minor variation leading to such beauty intrigued me.
I haven’t even thought about this for more than 40 years.
KUDOS to the aceplace57 for reminding me!
Thanks.
I had a spirograph as a kid and it fell into the “gimmicky things that are fun for maybe 10 minutes” category. I wasn’t very good at predicting how designs would turn out; It was always trial-and-error (with a lot of error) leading me to just use it for drawing lots of random scribbles on paper in hopes that I’d get a cool one and then proceed to forget which wheel and hole I used. Combine that with the holder pegs that punched some spectacularly obvious holes in the paper, and it was a massive frustration for my artistically anal self. I liked the pens that came with it, though.
Being older and smarter, I think I’d be able to appreciate a spirograph a little more now.
The spirograph is my house hold actually belonged to my big sister, but I think I got more use from it. Then I got Spirofoil for Christmas. Wow. Like spirograph, except the patterns made raised lines on foil and then you could fill it in with special liquid paint.
I loved crafts when I was a child and I’m not a bit artistic. I had Spirograph, Spin Art and a rather lame pottery wheel that I loved anyway. To make and create something is awesome! We had crafts at camp, too, and I loved painting ceramics and making tie-dye T-shirts.
Hm, tie-dye. My daughter and her girls on the Colorguard in band tie-dyed a bunch of stuff and they love it. Even sports bras!
After giving up on where you plug the damn thing in at; they’d probably lose interest pretty quick. Kind of like those monkeys at the begining of “2010 a Space Oddessy” they’d throw rocks at it, hit it with a stick and then give up.
