So, my mother sent us a care package for Halloween. She included a couple of little toys, called Squinkies. They are both CARS 2 versions, a 4 pack with a ramp. My son loves anything CARS, but when I gave them to him he wasn't that impressed. They are these tiny little rubber figurines that you put into a plastic ball and roll down a small ramp. So, do your kids have Squinkies? Are these a popular toy now in the States? We don't have anything like this in the toy stores here in Japan. We have several big Toys R Us here in our city. None of them have this toy. If your kids have Squinkies, how do they play with them? Or are they just for decorating? My son and I both thought that the little CARS figurines would make perfect markers for our homemade games that we use to practice ABCs and sight words. Guess I am just looking for some creative ideas on what to do with this toy.
Thanks for all the responses. I don't think that I would have bought this toy for my son simply because we don't really have a lot of space to have toys that are mainly just for collecting, no matter how small the toy is. Plus he already has two books based on the CARS movies that include little figurines and a play mat. So it is very similar to those as well. Those were also a gift from my mother. That is why I was looking for creative alternatives, and wondering how the kids play with them.
I did find one website that had a few cute ways to use squinkies. www.abcand123learning.com This website had one article on how to use squinkies as a learning tool. Just type in squinkies on their search. There was a link to a game using squinkies, as well as a few cute craft ideas. Since he has two ramps, I am going to make up some sort of game to practice reading sight words or practice reading numbers. I decided to make a 2x4 grid and put a sight word card in each grid. Maybe we will roll the squinkie down the ramp. Whichever grid your squinkie lands on is the card you must read. Collect cards and make a sentence with the words. Or whichever squinkie rolls the farthest wins the card. Not sure what we will do yet, but I will let my son help make up the game. We already used them as markers to play some of the other games we use to practice reading.
My daughter has some Marvel character squinkies from her Easter eggs. They pretty much just marry her My Little Ponies in elaborate royal weddings. (Which is always funny to me. I mean, honestly, Twilight Sparkle and Magneto would RULE THE WORLD.)
My kids play pretend with them.
Last year, it was the toy to get for Christmas.
Both my kids, boy and girl, got some.
They loved it.
But they are over it by now.
But yes, its just a little rubber figurine.... and the child just pretend plays with it, using their imagination. There is not much to do with them.
How old is your child?
Maybe your son is just not into it.
Each kid is different.
Its fine.
The bubble packs are strictly collectibles, not really a "play with" toy. There is nothing to them and I personally think they are a waste. Those that like to collect things, this is for them, as they come in a variety of sets.....Cars, Toy Story, Marvel Comics. As for the play sets, more for girls and in the theme of Polly Pocket. Tiny creatures and a house of some sort for pretend play.
They use the much like My Little Ponies or Pet Shop animals, just play with them as characters in their play. They don't leave them in the package at all. Those are just to hold them in the store. We throw the packages away and keep them in a tackle box with dividers in it.
They're pretty popular here, yeah... :/ They're one of the "collector" toys. As near as I can tell, they're not much good for anything other than just collecting them. Since they're rubber, I wonder if they would erase at all?? Who knows.
They have them everywhere here too. I don't buy them because I know they will get lost within 5 minutes of them being home. My nieces use them in little boats on their water table.
My daughter has tons of them, and little houses for them, and even has the smaller version. She plays with them the same way she plays with her polly pockets or petshop toys. Just pretending to do whatever.
They are very popular, but I don't see the point of them at all. I won't get them for my kids and, fortunately, they haven't gotten any as gifts. It is more of a collectible, but they do sell toys that you can use with your squinkies - things to roll them down and stuff like that.
My son and daughter both love them. My daughter likes to put the squinkies on the end of her pencils.
