Recently, I came across a blog called Made by Joel. Joel's a dad and an artist, and this blog is full of great homemade toys he has created for his kids. It's absolutely inspiring and I can't wait to try out some of his ideas. This will be the first one made at our house, seeing how my son is a Lego fanatic.
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| Made by Joel Branch Forest (Legos not included) |
. I bought this for my kids for Christmas, and we've had fun punching out and assembling these adorable paper toys. 
Speaking of toys, I had to carry over this previous post from an old blog I had. My Hall of Fame for toys. I can tell you that the toys on this list have stood the test of time! These have been played with the most by both our son and daughter (ages 6 and 4), time and time again. They are extremely durable (most still look like new), entertaining, flexible (in terms of how they can be played with) and timeless. I know I haven't included some obvious ones - bubbles, play dough, etc. But I think this is a pretty good list of what makes the most rounds in our house at playtime.So (drum roll), here is our short list. (I would love to hear from you about yours, so be sure to leave comments.)
Both of my children are crazy about animals, and these miniature ones are the best out there. I always pack them when we travel or go out to eat, and we use them on an almost daily basis in lots of ways. Our kids love to sort them by color, size, habitat, or other characteristics (climbers, swimmers, jumpers, etc.). The animals make regular appearances in block forts, our wooden Melissa & Doug farm, the bathtub - just to name a few. Average cost: $2-6 per animal.
Remember these? Well, they never went anywhere - you just grew up. My son has new cars and plays with my husband's Matchbox car collection from 35+ years ago. Another great, inexpensive and portable classic.
If you could take only one toy with you on a long car/airplane/camping/family reunion trip, this would be it. I've never seen both children and adults (maybe adults mostly) become so obsessed as they have trying to find the list of items hidden within Find It! tubes. The idea is so simple, thus brilliant. Tiny objects (listed on the lid and on a pad of checklists) are hidden in foot-long clear tubes of tiny beads, and your objective is to find them all. Sounds easy enough, right? You would be amazed at how difficult it is to move the beads in the very center of the tube, which usually houses that last handful of items you need. If you're lucky enough to spot the penny, go onto Find It's website and log it in. Since these games are not cheap (about $16-20 each), we hand them on to friends when we've found all of the items and swap them for other themes.
I can't believe how many hours and ways my son has come up with playing with his Fisher Price castle. But I shouldn't be surprised. I can't forget my Fisher Price farm, school bus, etc. from when I was a child either. His usual inhabitants of the castle these days are Lego people - Indiana Jones, Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker to name a few. My daughter now has her own castle - the Melissa and Doug Fold & Go Mini Castle
. I love that both castles fold up and have handles for carrying with us.
. I love that both castles fold up and have handles for carrying with us. A great runner-up to the castle is the wooden Melissa and Doug Fold & Go Barn
, where the Schleich farm animals live on a regular basis.
, where the Schleich farm animals live on a regular basis.
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Magnetic toys: these are our two favorites. We put two sheets of magnetic steel from Ikea on Hayden's wall, so that he could play with all kinds of magnets but mostly these. We all feel like engineers rearranging the marble run and gears into all kinds of configurations. Just don't tell the kids that they are learning math and science skills!
Many educators will tell you that the most beneficial toy that your child could play with is a set of blocks. In fact, if you do a Google search on "block play", you'll find many wonderful articles on the benefits of block play for children's development. I love these - simple, well-made wooden blocks from Melissa & Doug. Our latest use: building the movie sets from the Indiana Jones movies, so that Hayden's Lego people can go treasure hunting through them. I'm not sure that's what educators had in mind, but I know that it gets the kids thinking about spatial relationships, geometry, etc. (Again, just don't tell them that!)
Playmobil is up there with Lego in our house, though not as generic (and therefore flexible). But we all love Playmobil sets (particularly the zoo) and individual figurines. There are some tiny pieces in some sets and they are not cheap, but they are definitely something that the kids will play with for many years and not tire of easily.
How can you go wrong with good old crayons and blank paper? (Yes, blank paper, as opposed to color-in-the-lines coloring books which require far less imagination.) All crayons are good as far as I'm concerned, but I do have some favorites. I love the triangle-shaped ones from Faber-Castell the most, because they are easier for small hands to grip. Again, inexpensive, portable, flexible...you're getting the idea.
Hands down, the best scooter out there. It is far more manageable and safer to operate than other scooters. Sure, it costs twice as much, but far less than a trip to the E.R.
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