You don't need expensive toys to have fun

You do need imagination.

The four Arab kids, who live in the house across the street, are all on the street playing. The family does not have a lot of money, nor do the kids all under 11 have many toys.

They are also required to get good grades, be polite to neighbours and each other, etc. It is seldom I hear the mother yelling at them. The youngest is Downs Syndrome and the older three look out for her like she is a treasure.

The houses on each side of the street are almost in hand-shake distance so the street is their playground. When the houses were built in between 1400 and 1700 there weren't large cars to worry about. The kids are bilingual, Arabic and French and their English is improving. I doubt if they have any real understanding of the word deprived in any of the languages.

I imagine if you put all their gifts for their entire four lifetimes together it would not match one middle's class child's Christmas gifts.

Their latest game involves an old rug which is magic carpet and they sit on it and go places in the imaginations. The rug has also served as their own version of Twister, a bed when they play house, a table for picnics, etc.