Let us face it. Toys are expensive. And there always seems to be another new toy that you have to have. The new toys are then abandoned for newer toys, and your playroom fills up as your wallet drains. But you want your kids to have happy childhoods and to learn and develop. Toys can help with these desires. The trick then, is to be able to provide the fun and education without spending a fortune for toys.
When your children start to outgrow their toys, see if you can use them in new ways. Honestly, your children may beat you to it, coming up with ideas of their own. A baby toy may turn into the instrument panel for a homemade rocket ship, for example. Stuffed animals can be made into puppets. For even older kids, toys can be taken apart and used to build new things. May sure that all electrical power sources are removed and be careful about items that might contain hazardous metals.
This brings me to my next suggestion. Provide plenty of free materials that the kids can use for play. Cardboard boxes, especially the appliance kind that you can usually find for free at appliance stores or wonder for building rocket ships or other things. Provide old blankets for forts, oatmeal canisters for drums, and whatever else you can come up with for free.
When you do purchase toys, invest in the creative type. A minimum of electronics is key. Play-doh, art supplies, blocks, balls and stacking toys are all very inexpensive, but they have a lot of long-term play value in them. The simpler the toy, the more play value it usually has, believe it or not. This has to do with the suggestion above. When you can do different things with a toy, it can hold more interest even as a child grows.
Check back later today for the second part of this article.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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