Lots of fun (Inexpensive Home Made Toys and Activity Ideas)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Inexpensive Home Made Toys and Activity Ideas
Date:	07/12/02 (1455 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, educational

Disadvantages: none

Cheap and easy toys. Some home made


Well I earn my living playing with children, never had much money when my own was young.
Children do not appreciate the expensive toy as much as the adult giving it does .We are pressurised so much into doing the best, buying the best for our children.
The best toy a child can have is YOU! Maybe a small friend as well.

Lets see Water; yes water play is great fun splashing in the bath. Helping to wash up? Ok maybe not your best glasses but buy a spare washing up bowl, fill it with warm water lots of washing up liquid a few non-precious things to “wash” up and you will have a happy child. You can always extend this to washing dolls clothes in the bowl. Water play is fun and educational Children are learning science while they are playing, (floating, sinking, water displacement)
In the summer you can take the water outside in a bowl still or a paddling pool.


Sand, yet another toy that will keep little ones amused for hours .If you only have a small amount of space a washing up bowl will do, any container, Put a blanket sheet under the bowl it will help clear up and save sand from spillages.
Any old pots, yoghurt, margerine will do. No need for buckets. An old spoon and old sieve are good
This is another good toy to aid science understanding.
If dry it reacts different to wet, so pour a drop of water in.
Again in the summer this is a good outside activity.

You needn’t use sand a cheap value pack of oats emptied into a bowl is super to play with.

Shakers can be made from an old plastic bottle filled with pasta or beans make sore top is sealed well. A drum the tin you had sweets or biscuit tins in + a wooden or metal spoon.


Dressing up

No need to buy special dressing up clothes, all little girls love to be grown up, boys too. Save some of your cast offs or visit a jumble sale you can always cut of the hem if t
he clothes are much too long tie a belt round the waist. Hats are great fun for changing your child’s identity if you are good at sewing and have a little imagination you will soon have a fairy or a policeman a nurse or a doctor an old plastic cup little mummy or daddy will make you endless cups of tea .A hand brush, a duster and polish and you will have some one to help do your house work we learn through play.

Is it a bus, is it a car, is it a plane is it Santa’s sledge? No it’s a big cardboard box a big cardboard box is only as limited as the ideas.

Smaller cardboard boxes can be made into sindy/ken houses, the ones bottles of drink come in at the supermarket are good, strong .Cut of the front, make a door paper inside, hang a few pictures cut from magazines a piece of fabric for a carpet A box or a yoghurt pot cut and shaped as a sofa, chair a matchbox with a picture stuck on a telly ideas are endless just look at things you are throwing away what can they be/?


Junk modelling old cereal boxes become houses round cheese boxes wheels to put on a box the teabags came in and make a car all you need is scissors glue sellotape and boxes and imagination


Pictures made from cutting up old magazines and sticking on paper encourage the skill of using scissors a little help and supervision your child will soon become safe with scissors.

Threading
Shoe laces, wool, and beads or pasta tubes cotton reels old cardboard kitchen roll tubes anything with a hole in the middle can be threaded to make a snake or a necklace encourages manual dexterity


Pens, paper, paint all fairly inexpensive and encourage creativity


Save your old Christmas cards cut them up into a few large pieces, make a jigsaw puzzle. Any picture from a magazine pasted on card will do the same

Puppets make one from an old sock sew some eyes a mouth on it give it some hair and a name same goes for old m
ittens and gloves. Finger puppets are easy to make from a little felt, cut in two finger shaped pieces, sew together embroider a mouth, nose two eyes add scraps for hats scarves.

Lastly play dough.

Forget that expensive stuff you buy make your own
2 cups plain flour
1-cup salt
2 cups water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food colouring

Mix ingredients together in saucepan cook slowly stirring all the time.
This is really great stuff we have some green with glitter in for Christmas.
Play dough helps develop manual dexterity.

Have fun playing with your children remember YOU are the most valuable TOY you sing dance play peep boo, play shops with your food tins and a few coins

I am getting carried away here will stop now house to clean .Who wants to play keeping house clean for me? LOL Mary

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