Children are like sponges and as such their always eager to learn and are constantly soaking up information from their surroundings.

Toys can seriously affect the imagination of kids because they're one of the first things that they're allowed to freely come in contact with, and whether they know it or not, this shapes their imaginations as they grow up.

I'm a huge DC and marvel comics fan and alot of things I imagine stem from that. My very first toy was a superman action figure, I know because my old man doesn't let up on how I wouldn't let anyone come between that action figure (even though it belonged to my elder brother) and me. Till today I still own alot of superman merchandise from the belt to a couple of shirts (Yes I'm a girl and I have superman shirts, cool right). What I'm trying to say is that my imagination was moulded from that single encounter I had as a child with my superman action figure.

I once had a biology teacher who was actually a medical doctor, who told us that her parents basically programmed her into becoming a doctor because from when she was young, all her toys seemed to be medically related. She'd get toy stethoscopes and be checking peoples heart beats, she also had a 'kiddies medical kit' which she used to play with as a child. Eventually, her mind was streamlined and before she knew it she was a doctor.

Toys most definitely have a strong effect on a kids imagination, it serves as the building blocks for what type of imagination children are going to have.