Submitted by P Lee

Fun things to do with Power Wheels:

Make ‘em loud:

Race them:

And last but certainly not least, WRECK THEM:

Submitted by C Travis-Groves

Oh, man. Can you believe we used to play with these and think it was cool? Remember getting a bunch in your Halloween goodie bag? They tasted awful-it didn’t matter if it was the gum or that white chalky stuff.

Firing up the Way Back Machine, here’s a delightful candy smoke assortment:

Photo via candyfavorites.com

Forget Camel Joe, here’s Popeye! Nosiree, not marketing to children at all.

Photo via gasolinealleyantiques

Wow. Things sure have changed! Yes, you can still buy these, but who would give them to a kid NOW?

Submitted by M Haun

What is it about this bubble gum that makes people want to cram as much of it as possible into their mouths, and then blow a bubble the size of your head?

I had a very unfortunate haircut one summer because a friend dared me to do this with some Big League Chew. *sigh* childhood.

WARNING: THIS IS THE STICKIEST STUFF KNOWN TO MANKIND. Do not attempt this unless you don’t mind gum in your hair for weeks.:

Submitted by M Block

Ah, the humble Pop Rock–it managed to fizz in your mouth and taste vaguely stale at the same time. Also, you could die if you ate Pop Rocks and drank Coke at the same time! DIE!!! The Pop Rock story was kid urban legend, and it was always “my friend said some kid died from these.” “Some kid” had a really rough time of it, didn’t they? Anyway, legend had it that if you did this, your stomach would explode. EXPLODEY DEATH!!!

As much as I love a good urban legend, it’s simply not true. See for yourself:

It turns out that the reason Pop Rocks were pulled from the market wasn’t EXPLODEY DEATH, but the fact that they had the shelf-life of your average fruit fly. Bummer.

Submitted by D DeRonde

Remember when you’d wait in line to play on these in the summer (while wearing shorts) and you’d risk third-degree burns just to land in an unsafe pile of who-knows-what? The slide at my playground had nothing but cement, cigarette butts, and maybe even broken glass awaiting me at the end of my journey. Like this:

Survival of the fittest, baby! We learned to avoid some nasty stuff.

Nowadays, playgrounds have safety features. WTF? This is one of them, and it’s called rubber mulch, or “playgrass.”

Boooooooo!!!! Where’s the injury potential if you slide into a pile of this? Oh, right.

Metal slides have evolved as well:

I like how the roasting of one’s thighs on a hot day doesn’t hit until the very end, thus proving that you can’t make a slide totally safe. If I didn’t think I’d get my adult self seriously somebody-call-the-fire-department stuck, I’d totally try it.