Top Ten Everyday “Toys”
October 8, 2006 by Kerri Aldrich
Filed under Children's Toys, Toy Creations
We have a ton of toys in our house. I can admit to that. I honestly have to because I spend too much of my time stepping on them or tripping over them to deny their existence. We have toys.
Still, for all the toys that have made it into our house, some of the everyday trash objects that collect in our home seem to entertain the kids as much, and sometimes more, as the high ticket items. So, here is my top ten list of non-toy toys that my kids love to play with.
- 10. Plastic coffee can. I think this particular container has been in our home for about a year. I know that because that is about the time we switched to a cheaper brand. We even still have the lid. There are toys that haven’t lasted this long in our house! Sturdy.
- 9. Paper towel rolls. My oldest two actually argue over it when a roll is finished. Crazy. But, hey, there is no better pretend spyglass.
- 8. Adult t-shirts. They can be instantly transformed into dresses, capes, veils, and all sorts of fun for little bodies.
- 7. Blanket and pillows. By themselves, a great start to a pretend (or real) picnic on the living room floor. Add a few chairs, and you’ve got yourself a comfy fort for snuggling and sharing a book.
- 6. Plastic party cups. They love to stack them, collect them, and fill them with toys, water, etc.
- 5. Metal pots and wooden spoons. A particularly favorite combination of my two boys, without whom I might have a little more of my hearing left. I guess it’s better than metal pots and metal spoons, and it certainly does keep them entertained for long stretches.
- 4. Ziploc/GladWare containers. You know what I’m talking about, right? The new, cheap Tupperware substitutes that are popping up everywhere? Well, the advantage of them being cheap is that you can alter them without feeling as if you’ve thrown a bunch of money down the drain. Take a pair of scissors, cut a hole in the top, find objects in the house that can slip through the hole. Great object for sorting and such.
- 3. Old computer keyboards. You get a new computer, and it comes with all the accessories. Hold on to the old keyboard and let the kids plunk away on it while you’re working. Our library has one in the kids’ room, and the kids always head straight to it.
- 2. Rocks. Yes, I advise that you monitor the kids when they are using rocks as toys. I wouldn’t recommend using them as pretend baseballs, but rock collections seem to be a big thrill in the 5 yr. old girl arena. I don’t get it, but it keeps them entertained!
And the number one non-toy toy…..“drumroll please”
- Boxes. Big boxes, small boxes, TV boxes, shoe boxes, jewelry boxes. You name it, some kid will want it, and some parent will get a few minutes of peace while the kids are entertained, right up to the point that they start arguing over it….
What are your favorite household object suggestions for toys?
So, does this mean we can throw out the toy toys?
And when it comes to t-shirts, don’t forget ninja masks. I had lots of fun with those… until I learned how cool pirates ARRRRRRRR!!!!
Dream on, Bald Man, dream on….
A good list. My kids would slide their toy cars through the paper tubes and roll marbles through them too. Masking tape was also a big thing, we have laminate flooring and they’d tape out hopscotch boards and roads and pictures. We go through a lot of rolls.
Balls of yarn are popular around here. They can be telephones, explosions, utility belts, fishing lines, you name it.
Michelle: Never thought about making tape on the linoleum. Good idea! Indoor hopscotch and such will be a good distraction as we’re headed into winter. Thanks for the idea! I enjoyed checking out your blog. Good luck at Memory today.
Hsien: Yarn! We’ve only so far used it as a craft item. Maybe we could tie some to the ends of the million and two rhythm sticks that we have and steal your fishing pole idea! Nice.
Kerri,
Love the post. It seems my little one always starts acting up when I’m trying to cook and cannot give him attention. I break out the pots and pans, spoons, food storage containers, and other kitchen stuff. This always keeps him distracted . . . for a while!
Karen: Thanks! Yep, those are my best tools for actually getting anything done in the kitchen!
My 1-year-old is fascinated with a shoebox full of colorful chiffon scarves (from my grandma’s estate).
Pull them out of the box.
Wave them in the air.
Play peek-a-boo with Mom with them.
Stuff them back in the box.
…and on and on.
Cell phones and remote controls are quite popular too, although I do my best to keep them out of reach.
Kim: Thanks for visiting and commenting! The scarves idea sounds like a great one. The kids do love the old cellphones here, as well. And our remote seems to be MIA. I’m suspecting a little one of the abduction.
Our remote is always MIA too. And I have to keep a toy box in front of the cabinet that the tv sits on to keep my son out of the VCR and DVD player. I also keep the Dora house in front of the fish tank cabinet. We keep the fish food and internet router in there. My son knows all our secrets!!! I try to keep the lock on the cabinet with the plastic storage containers, but the one time I forget, you can be sure he’s in there too! I wouldn’t mind it so much, except he wants to put his mouth on all of them. He’s cutting 4 incisors now.
Karen: Those are great tips for trying to keep the kids out of things, OBSTACLES! I do try that at times, but I’m about the worst one in the house at putting things away (I think my one year old even has more of a natural bent toward that than I do!), so it’s usually pretty easy to access things to hide from me.
We’re in the midst of the teething, too, and it seems everything around is covered in drool. Yuck. But not as gross as big sister wiggling her baby teeth at me. Bleck.