FOOD for thought as parents and grandparents grapple with the prospect of providing expensive children’s toys this Christmas.

The wooden stick — something that has provided entertainment for imaginative children throughout history — has been inducted into the US National Toy Hall of Fame in New York.

Around 35,000 Americans wrote in with nominations to add to nearly 40 items already honoured in this way, including the bicycle, the yo-yo, the teddy bear and the board game Monopoly.

The stick, the Baby Doll and the skateboard were the three chosen in 2008.

Three years ago the cardboard box was celebrated and quite rightly too — it has provided lots of fun for kids over the years and left parents wondering why they bothered spending money on the things inside.

There is something fundamental going on here — just close your eyes and conjure up your own playtime memories.

I bet most of you can remember the fun you had with the humble stick.

In my case I see a trusty sword swiping the heads off nettles and — much later on — a knobbly substitute for a bat during a game of woodland cricket involving pine cones.

Sticks and cardboard boxes under the Christmas tree, neatly wrapped.

Now there’s a plan for tough financial times.