When it comes to imaginative play, you will often find my son amidst a sea of toy cars and building blocks. In fact, he has so many cars you could probably fill his bedroom with them from floor to ceiling. Okay, I'm exaggerating. But you get the picture. For the most part, he loves building roads and creating passageways for his vehicles which range in size from super mini to extra large. The largest in his collection is an accurate functional model of a recycling truck that he sometimes rides on, even though it wasn't built as a ride-on. His fascination with automobiles and all things on wheels was quite obvious in his toddler years and it seems to continue to grow over the years. Watching garbage collectors pick up our compost, yard waste and recycling just reinforces his excitement for public service vehicles, but it doesn't stop there. He loves playing with school buses, police cars, constructions vehicles, fire trucks and motorcycles, too. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, though, he mentioned being a garbage collector among other options. Not a police officer or a fire fighter. But that's okay because garbage collectors are cool community helpers, too! It still doesn't stop him from playing the role of these and other important workers in our community.

Recently, my son added to his collection the Ed Venture Imaginext Rescue City Centre by Fisher-Price. Included in the set is a neat little fire truck that launches bursts of 'water' to help combat fires. With "ActionTech" Technology, the playset can magically communicate with the fire truck and allows imaginative play to seem even more real. My son loves to save the day with his newest buddy Ed Venture, which is also included in the set, while also saving the city from the bad guy (also included) by locking him in the jail cell.