Why on earth has Barbie become a Mega Bloks construction set toy? Barbie's great strength lies in her peculiar mature figure. Yes, there are all of the arguments against giving girls unrealistic images to which they should aspire (and, inevitably, fail). But the other side of Barbie's grown-up look is that she allows a girl to dip her toes in the shallow end of adulthood, dating and sexuality, all from the safe setting of her own home. Wondering about a steamy passage in Forever, by Judy Blume? Act it out with the Barbies. Intrigued by the prospect of breasts? Try bodycon dresses on your Barbie for size. Surely, Barbies are a safer way to play at being a grown-up than posting provocative photos of yourself online. Having loved the versatility of my Barbies as a girl, I was intrigued at the prospect of "creative" Barbie dolls, in the form of Mega Bloks Barbie, a series of build-and-play figures in themed settings. In a "Build "n Play Tropical Resort" (target age: four to 10), children can assemble a hoop through which a tiny dolphin can jump, and place deck chairs under a canopy. But the dolls are tiny - just two inches tall - and have (skimpy) hard plastic clothes that don't change. Plus, how many young girls dream of a tropical resort? Or a "mega-yacht"? The Mega Blocks/ Barbie yacht, fully built The Mega Bloks/Barbie partnership is designed to "inspire girls to express their creativity in a fashionable way," in a "build and play" format reminiscent of Legos, but I found the toys depressing. These sets are the opposite of open-ended, and seem typical of an insecure toy industry which insists on trying - and failing - to "update" or "improve" on classics. The small plastic figures, which include characters like "art teacher Teresa" and "Dance Fun Barbie," are tiny, feature hard plastic hair (or "hats," as my daughter suggested), and really only have one narrative - either you build the intended structure, or you stare aimlessly at the assembled tiny pieces. Barbie's partnership with Mega Bloks destroys the best part of the absurdly long-legged American doll, reducing her to a pink plastic lump, and killing the very creativity the spin-off is intended to foster. So many toys try to "make" children be creative. Baby Einstein will help your child "discover the world" when you plop him down in front of the company's DVD. Children keen on art and drawing are so often given colouring books. Last week on Desert Island Discs, Sir Ken Robinson, the English author, spoke eloquently on the way our increasingly rigid education system is killing creativity in children and teachers. "Creative" toys like this seem to me to be an extension of the standardisation of education. Surely we can trust our children to have the confidence to do the creating themselves?