Confession: I Still Play Pokémon

Last weekend, millions of people of all ages went to see the action movie “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” This is a film based on a children’s cartoon, which itself was based on a popular line of toys, yet adults are embracing it openly. That's right: we as a nation are refusing to put aside childish things, and we at SparkNotes like this. We think everyone should feel free to play with action figures and Easy Bake Ovens well into their 40s!

And the immature fun doesn't stop there. Let's not forget about...

Star Wars
The great thing about the original trilogy (aside from Chewbacca) is that the movies make sense when you’re six years old, and continue to make sense a decade later, when you’re watching “A New Hope” for the 42^nd time. (Unfortunately, endless re-watchability is a quality mostly lacking in episodes I, II, and III.) So why not celebrate your proud love of Jedi and TIE Fighters more openly? Every time I see an adult wearing a Yoda t-shirt, my heart smiles.

Amusement Parks & Zoos
Decades from now, we’ll look back and regret the weekends we spent loitering around shopping malls and trying to get kicked out of Hollister. In contrast, nobody ever thinks "what a waste of time" about hours spent upside down on roller coasters or watching spider monkeys scuttle around. In short, no one is ever too cool for amusement parks and zoos.

Movies Based on Toys
Transformers, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…recently, studios have been making 100-million-dollar movies about action figures like it’s going out of style. Somewhere right now a screenwriter is putting a script for “Legos: The Movie” into an extra large envelope and addressing it to Michael Bay. So what’s stopping millions of people from breaking out their actual Transformers and writing dozens of imaginary sequels on their bedroom floors? Nothing, that’s what.

Pokémon
Pokémon has taken its place alongside Super Mario as the series of games you can start playing when you’re 5 years old and keep up for the rest of your life. This is largely because Pokémon is amazing. I hope I’m still playing it when I’m 80.

Dinosaurs
A lot of kids start to drift away from science in school when they find out they have to study igneous rocks instead of Velociraptors. If school districts were serious about improving their graduation rates they’d keep the focus on Tyrannosaurus Rex until students were at least 18 years old. Of course, the best way to do this would be to bring back actual dinosaurs—and why scientists haven't figured out how to do this yet is a mystery to us. If we’d focused our resources correctly over the past decade, we’d all be riding around on Stegosauruses right now instead of hunching over iPhones.

Imaginary Sports
Purely imaginary sports like Calvinball are seriously hard core and seem to result in plenty of fights. But don't give up, buy ugly shoes, and start golfing or something—just dream up a less complicated game. When I was 9, my favorite sport was “Full Contact Basketball.” Sure, we got hurt a lot, but what I’ll always remember were the concussions.

What childhood games and toys will you never give up?  And do your friends know?