violent toys/ "learning toys"
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Kristi,
I've found that my 4 yr old boy who I don't buy guns and what not for, makes
them himself anyway. Lately it's been wrapping paper cardboard tubes that
seem to make great guns and cannons when he's fighting the British (he loves the
PBS show Liberty's Kids). We were at the Dollar Store last week and in the
toy aisle there are tons of guns, he was jumping up and down yelling "they have
guns, look at all the play guns!". So I did get a few odd looks, but I don't
think he's ever seen "real" toy guns before.
As for the educational toys like puzzles and stuff, I have a weakness for
buying these. The electronic ones like Leap Pad don't get any use (the inlaws
bought that one), but we did take it along on a 6 hour car trip & he used it
then). He uses the computer occassionally for a few games he has, and he likes
some fun kids websites about volcanos and castles.
The blocks, wooden puzzles, etc, do get a lot of use. I try to rotate what
we have out and build or play with him which increases the use the items get.
We've had the Mega Blocks put away for awhile and now that they're back out,
they've been getting a lot of use. We also LOVE the large cardboard blocks
that many nursery schools have (they look like bricks). We have 3 laundry
baskets full of them and you can build huge things out of them.
We also have Legos, bristle blocks, wooden blocks, lacing cards, alphabet
games, board games, matching games, tons of ABC & animal magnets, write on wipe
off boards, etc. It gets used if it's out in the open and looks like fun. We
might do Lincoln Logs for Christmas this year, hmmml, I loved those as a kid.
Check out Sandra's "strewing" page or look in the archives under strewing,
which in short I'd say is leaving interesting things out where your children can
happen upon them if interested in checking them out.
We frequent garage sales, the Salvation Army, and discount stores like
Marshall's or TJ Maxx which often have great "educational" toys (aren't they all)
for pennies on the dollar. There I usually let them pick out something that
looks good to them. My son loves the Salvation Army & is crushed that our
favorite one just went out of business.
Good luck.
Amanda
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I've found that my 4 yr old boy who I don't buy guns and what not for, makes
them himself anyway. Lately it's been wrapping paper cardboard tubes that
seem to make great guns and cannons when he's fighting the British (he loves the
PBS show Liberty's Kids). We were at the Dollar Store last week and in the
toy aisle there are tons of guns, he was jumping up and down yelling "they have
guns, look at all the play guns!". So I did get a few odd looks, but I don't
think he's ever seen "real" toy guns before.
As for the educational toys like puzzles and stuff, I have a weakness for
buying these. The electronic ones like Leap Pad don't get any use (the inlaws
bought that one), but we did take it along on a 6 hour car trip & he used it
then). He uses the computer occassionally for a few games he has, and he likes
some fun kids websites about volcanos and castles.
The blocks, wooden puzzles, etc, do get a lot of use. I try to rotate what
we have out and build or play with him which increases the use the items get.
We've had the Mega Blocks put away for awhile and now that they're back out,
they've been getting a lot of use. We also LOVE the large cardboard blocks
that many nursery schools have (they look like bricks). We have 3 laundry
baskets full of them and you can build huge things out of them.
We also have Legos, bristle blocks, wooden blocks, lacing cards, alphabet
games, board games, matching games, tons of ABC & animal magnets, write on wipe
off boards, etc. It gets used if it's out in the open and looks like fun. We
might do Lincoln Logs for Christmas this year, hmmml, I loved those as a kid.
Check out Sandra's "strewing" page or look in the archives under strewing,
which in short I'd say is leaving interesting things out where your children can
happen upon them if interested in checking them out.
We frequent garage sales, the Salvation Army, and discount stores like
Marshall's or TJ Maxx which often have great "educational" toys (aren't they all)
for pennies on the dollar. There I usually let them pick out something that
looks good to them. My son loves the Salvation Army & is crushed that our
favorite one just went out of business.
Good luck.
Amanda
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]