My husband thinks our daughter has too many toys, but I sometimes think on rainy weekends like this stormy one, it's nice to have something new to occupy long indoor stretches. Do others do this or do you have other ideas? FYI, since our daughter is young, the "new" toys are sometimes gifts we haven't opened yet or small things like an echo microphone, etc. Not really big toys. Just want to see what others are doing. She'll usually occupy herself with her current toys too, but for two or more days, this could be long...
Great to hear so many ideas! I too find that at this age, too many presents gets overwhelming. We too try to make them educational. I just bought a Battat shape sorter with a key that I saw at a preschool we were visiting. It's more advanced than the typical one that most people get from Fisher Price. Besides that we also do the cardboard box fun and kitchen, water, etc. exploration. Thanks guys!
to get "new" toys I just dump the toy box all the way out and put the stuff that was hidden on the bottom on the top....
we break out the playdough as a last resort.. but for this nice stay in weekend i did go out and buy candyland and a lightning mcqueen operation game..
If your child has a lot of toys, and you want to make things seem new, rotate the toys. I used to do that when my kids were little. I had 3 rotations of toys and tried to switch them every couple of weeks.
Nope! We only get the kids toys on their birthday and at Christmas. I do put toys that they haven't played with in awhile away and then on a rainy day bring them back out again. I don't like purchasing many toys. I prefer that my kids grow their imaginations rather than their stockpile of toys.
We don't have any extra toys stashed away...well I did get some stocking stuffers on sale but I want to save those! On long indoor weekends we plan lots of activities. We make forts, we jump on the indoor trampoline, we get out some bigger toys that are stashed in closets (like the tent and tunnel you can put together). We bake cookies. We make bisquits (my little one loves to help cook). If it's raining we will go out in raingear/boots to splash in puddles. Then we come in for hot cocoa. We also like to make newspaper structures (http://monstersciences.com/challenges/44-challenge-c02-bu.... We do art projects. We make homemade play do or homemade silly putty. We do finger painting...or pudding finger painting for my little one who likes to eat it. We string beads on string for necklaces. We "sew" --- with toddler sewing supplies (cardboard with holes in it). We make a house with a large cardboard box (or spaceship, or car, or airplane). We get out the sticker books. We read. We make marble tracks. We have even done paper mache! It all depends on how much energy I have, haha. Sometimes I randomly google toddler or preschooler activities for cool ideas.
No. The only un-opened toys I have are stashed away fro Christmas.
To mix things up I have an art and craft box. There's always something new to create with arts and crafts. Ususally we spend some time, take a break and do something else, then come back to it.
But my child is 2.5 so this is what works for us.
Stay safe!
Yes! I used to have a closet that always had several toys left in the packaging that I would break out when I needed a break for whatever reason. It would keep him busy while he was having a bad day or I had to get something done.
If I had any extra stashed away, I might do this. We usually end up doing art projects, baking cookies, or something in the kitchen to keep busy on long days like snow days.
I was going to, I even bought that moon sand kit and those fun melty beads to do as an activity that my kids have been wanting. But today, while I was decluttering my craft room, they destroyed the entire house and even smeared moonsand everywhere, then threw water on top of it. It literally looks like a flood was in here. So, instead, the kids are bagging up all their toys and they will have the chance to earn back maybe 10 or so IF they are good. Everything else is going in our estate sale in two weeks.
I too have brought out new items for long car trips, stay at home days for illness and bad weather days. My new items are usually something educatioal--the next area to encourage. Items could include books, wood puzzles allowing kids to make patterns, or some scientific experiment. Right now, she doesn't need anything new, so I wouldn't bring anything out. I like the baking cookies idea, but if the child is sick, that may be too taxing.
I was never organized enough to do it, but some people rotate the toys, so that they seem new every once in a while! They box up some of the things they haven't played with, and bring them out in a month or so.....
I always rotate my little guy's toys, and did the same thing with the older ones. I keep the extras on top of the closet so that way there's always something "new" when he gets bored with everything out ; )
We do this. My son just turned 3 and got a ton of presents at his party. He opened his presents, but not all his toys -- he got overwhelmed poor guy! So we stored some in the basement.
We are also in the red zone for Irene and will all be sleeping in the basement tonight... and are planning on putting some of those new toys to good use this weekend!
