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Posts Tagged ‘toys’

  1. Speaker Speaker!

    July 13, 2014 by admin

    IMG_6736“Speaker speaker!”  That’s our son’s adaptation of the CB lingo “Breaker Breaker.” He likes to give it his own spin.

    Our Bluey recently found some walkie-talkies among our old toys.   With a new set of batteries, he was all set. What a great find!

    The walkie-talkies give Bluey a way to communicate with his friends and family from different parts of the house, and a fun new way to play spy/detective/superhero.

    A great discovery for him was that he could pick up other conversations from around the neighborhood. He loves to chime in with his own completely random commenatary into the goings on at the local high school, or among workers on a nearby construction site. We’re not sure if they can hear him, but he loves to chat with them anyway.

    (No worries: they are not channel adjustable, so there’s no risk of him breaking in on a police/ ambulance channel and interrupting something important.)

    For just a few dollars, he turned an unused toy from the basement into a portal for hours of enjoyment and imaginative adventures. So don’t throw out those old walkie-talkies- give them a new purpose.

    And when you hear “Speaker Speaker!” on the line, you know who’s calling.


  2. Shall we Lego?

    November 19, 2012 by admin

    A lot of our indoor playtime is spent manipulating Legos.   Regardless of the numerous options available within our home’s play space, the kids have a definite, well established preference for their Legos.  It amazes us that such a simple toy can appeal equally to a 3 year old and a 10 year old.  And yes, even we TR parents enjoy playing with Legos.

    We love that each Lego session veers off into its own direction.  There are bakeries and veterinary clinics.  We create robots and sea creatures.  Or we mix all of it together for one crazy Lego world.  Legos allow our children’s creativity to explode!

    Lego sets can be costly.  We save money by steering our kids towards the small plastic wrapped bags of Lego vehicles found on the check-out lines of Target (around $3.99,) or the small boxed items within the Lego aisle (around $4.99.)  You can also pick up a solo Lego character at Target for $1.99.  We purchase the larger sets for special occasions only.  We rarely find Legos at garage sales; but when we are lucky, we snatch them up!

    We have learned by trial to always save the directions that come with a specific Lego purchase.  One of our kids will inevitably ask to have the original structure put back together and without the directions, it would be a hopeless task!

    We spend the majority of our Lego time constructing wonderful little worlds, vehicles,or characters that interact with each other.  Our kids make up delightful stories around their unique structures.  The hardest part of the day comes at bedtime when everyone insists that their Lego creations should be saved for playtime tomorrow.  Even though we have a large stash of Legos, if you don’t consistently break the blocks down, the play will become stagnant.  Most of the time, our requests to take things apart are accepted with little argument, and our future play is enhanced.

    Tip:  We keep our larger Lego bricks (Duplos) in a see-through plastic bin.  Our smaller Legos are in a garage sale purchased Lego table.  If you don’t have a Lego table, we recommend that you find a shallow container for the smaller Lego bricks so that you can be easily sift through it for that perfect piece.

    It is this big mix of Lego pieces, augmented with our collection of penguins, dinosaurs, cars, etc. that allows our kiddoes to really be creative and to produce truly original projects.  We don’t really appreciate the gender specific line that Lego decided to market recently.  We don’t think you need to appeal to girls with pink blocks and cupcake shops.  The girls we know gravitate towards Legos regardless of the color of the bricks.  We don’t consider Legos to be a “boy’s” toy, so we don’t see the need for a ‘girl’ alternative.

    We hope to have Legos as a steady play choice in our home for many years.  What is your favorite toy?

     


  3. The Museum Gift Shop

    November 15, 2012 by admin

    Our trips to a museum inevitably involve a discussion about whether or not there will be a gift shop.   While a default of, “we won’t go to the gift shop,” might work for some families, we find that we enjoy offering a small treat to the kids.  An inexpensive item purchased at the gift shop usually makes a lasting impression.   A gift helps to boost enthusiasm for the trip and it assists with building memories.  Bluey and Plum both have toys or knick-knacks that trigger the happy recollection of our various experiences.

    He was all Yellow…

    Tip:  Having something new to play with or look at also helps to speed along the journey home.

    Since we are in favor of a museum shop stop, we have established a set of rules that helps keep the gifting under control:

    > Limit of money:  We typically offer $5 for gift shop purchasing per kid.  The kiddoes can augment this stipend with their own cash, if they so choose.

    > Limit of time:  Our kids can get lost in the great variety of options available within the shop.  So rather than wait until we TR parents are exasperated, we approach it knowing that everyone has an established ten minutes to make a purchase decision.  Then we can focus on helping each child find something they like that fits their budget.

    > Never go to the gift shop first: We always go through the entire museum prior to visiting a gift shop.  This way we aren’t distracted by our purchases when we should be focusing on the exhibits.

    These rules allow us to balance the desire to visit the gift shop with the experience of the museum.  Do you have a system that works for you?


  4. Recombination Boosts Creativity

    July 28, 2012 by admin

    Our Bluey recently inherited his sister’s 12” Barbie-scaled house.  His first idea was that this would be the home for his 1” tall Garfield figure.  Garfield became a policeman who drives a car designed for a Zhu-zhu pet.  His neighbor is a Beanie-baby dinosaur.

    Sounds normal enough, right?

    Rather than swing in, and try to steer him towards using the toys as they were ‘meant to be used,’ we let him explore and create his own pathways of play.  There is nothing more amazing (or amusing) then witnessing a child’s imagination explode.

    We try not to get locked into the idea that there are certain times of day for your child to ‘be creative.” Creative play is important for your child’s brain development and social skills.  Creativity is always permitted and encouraged whether during a home school lesson or at a specific arts&crafts activity.

    And we definitely don’t steer our kids away from toys that aren’t marketed specifically to their gender.  If Bluey wants a Barbie, great!  If Plum wants a matchbox, excellent!  If you allow your child the freedom to safely explore you are supporting their creativity.

    So when your kid wants to play baseball with a Frisbee, or have Barbie drive a matchbox, don’t interrupt, just let the play go on!


  5. How to Turn Your Kids Into Great Travelers: Car Critters

    June 27, 2012 by admin

    Meet our small menagerie of car critters.  They live in our car and serve as valuable friends for the final haul of a long trip, or to help sooth minor injuries.

    • Hammy:  Hammy has an important job- he holds all parking and toll receipts, so everyone in the car always knows where they are.  His station is just over the front passenger seat’s window to the delight of toll attendants.  He’s a hard worker, but when he’s off duty he can play with kiddoes.
    • Zebra:  Zebra sits over the driver’s side window. He comes out to play more often than Hammy because his job is to watch the car when no one’s in it.  So he’s always off duty while we’re driving!
    • Green Bean:  Green Bean is tough- Rahr!  He used to be the car guard but he comes inside more often now.  Green Bean turned his duties over to Zebra.  Green Bean has been with us on many, many adventures.  He’s a good friend and a mighty fine dancer.

     

    These critters offer comfort on a long drive and distractions during traffic jams.  They can lift the spirit of anyone in the fam!  And since they are always in the car, a kiddo who needs a boost can ask to see them.  When we’re tired, we can all use the hug of a stuffed friend.  And no one can resist the dance of a tiger.

    Since these critters mostly stay in the car,  they have an air of specialness that gives them enhanced powers of comfort and fun.  We encourage you to gather your own set of car-only toys to help the longer drives seem not so long.


  6. Instructions vs. Suggestions

    June 19, 2012 by admin

    Our Bluey is very meticulous when examining a new toy for the first time. Recently, he got a box of Builderific.  He carefully examined the pictures on the box before opening it.  And once opened, he explored any instructions that indicated the various designs to be created.

    And then Bluey got stressed out that he couldn’t recreate the designs shown on the instructions or the box. We want to encourage him to find his own way to enjoy his toys!

    So we’ve invented some terminology to ease the stress that toy instructions create for our Bluey.

    Rather than refer to these inserts as instructions, we call them SUGGESTIONS.  Why should some corporate writer dictate how your child plays with a toy?  Yes, some games will work better by design if you follow the enclosed instructions.  But those toys could also be a great source of creative play if you allow your child to explore it in the way that they’re naturally inclined.  Your child may even find a new and better way to use a toy that wasn’t anticipated by its designer.

    Isn’t the whole point of playing with something like Builderific or Duplos (or any toy/game!) to enable your child’s creativity?  Why stick to instructions on how to make specific structures and stifle your kid’s innate desires to explore?  Let your child’s imagination take over!

    We can always return to the instructions but we certainly don’t allow them to limit our play.