My children were not allowed to bring toys to elementary school (or preschool). It never occurred to me to send them either! The kids spent recess either playing on the playground equipment, playing basketball or 4-square or hopscotch etc and in the winter they played in the snow. There was a lot of imaginary play and social stuff going on at recess.

This is one of those rules that I'm guessing is mostly in place because it would be a huge time sink for the adults responsible for watching the kids at recess to deal with if everyone was bringing their own small toys - and I'm ok with that. There's always time after school to play with toys.

polarbear