How often as parents do we find that simple toys are often better?   Our house stuffed with Savannah’s toys, every room has been taken over  it seems.  There are so many toys that get pushed aside and rarely played with, and often they are ones that are flashy and singy (who would have thought?).  Sometimes, simple items are better and they seem to stand the test of time of any kid in any generation.  Like, doll babies and play kitchens, even good ol’ couch cushions, baby food containers, paper towel rolls, boxes, or packages. And any kid’s favorite: Blocks. The common theme of the items? Encourages imagination! I think that’s just what kids want, and need.

Savannah asks daily to build something so she can knock it down, it’s her favorite right now.  I just found Cardboardblocks.com and it reminded me of how awesome these time-tested blocks are as we consider birthday gifts for the girl (see! A whole list of why they’re awesome) .  Do you remember these big blocks from when you were little? I sure do!  Building houses and things, knocking them down. I used to play with them in elementary school, so if they can be the hit of class and stand up to tons of kids pounding on them, they can stand up to one toddler.  I’ve raved about Melissa and Doug products before, so I’m thinking about the Jumbo Castle set because Savannah is obsessed with building houses right now. She would love this (as would her kid-at-heart daddy).

And? If I had known about this birthday party idea of letting kids play, build, and crash to keep them entertained I totally would have bought some sooner (since her party is in 2 days, ah!).  Oh well, maybe next year when we have more kids at our party anyway.

Did you have these when you were little, or do your kids now?  What do you think of them, is it worth the price? I’m thinking yes.

Even though Mark and I didn’t buy much for Christmas, we still ended up with oodles amounts of toys from our other family members.  In fact, we couldn’t even fit everything in our car on the way home. That is how much we received, and further reason why I knew we shouldn’t buy much “stuff” for Savannah ourselves.

Of course, out of the huge mound of toys there are a few that stand out above the rest and that get played with more often. Anything to do with coloring is one example, the girl LOVES to color. A little too much, as our tables have crayon markings too. Oops.  But one gift (from one of her many Grandmas) that both Savannah and I love is this cookie set by Melissa and Doug.

She loves to help us cook, but if we made cookies as many times as she asks to, we’d all be fat and have cookies coming out our windows. So, this little set was the perfect solution to that issue and it’s just so darn cute! And safe! No eggs, real knifes, or ovens involved so she can cook whenever she wishes. And toy safety wise, it says it’s meant for 3 and up but there are no small parts and Savannah does just fine. Melissa and Doug also assure that they’re products have been tested frequently for safety and lead levels, good to know.

The cookies come velcroed on the wooden baking pan (every thing is wood except the cookie tube and the pot holder). You can take them and the velcroed icing off, stick just the “cookies” together and it looks like a stick of cookie dough like the slice and bake cookies we lazy cooks use.  Savannah’s favorite part is “cutting”  the cookies (which just breaks the velcro between them) and putting them on the pan.  We then decorate them with the icing and hand them out to family members (and some times to cookie monster, we know how he loves those cookies).

I love that it takes pretend food to the next level, not just to feel more “real” but also helps me to teach her things like colors and counting. She loves pointing out the colors of the sprinkles! This is the first Melissa and Doug item we’ve owned and I definitely look forward to getting more in the future (perhaps once we weed through all our other “stuff” first).

Once again, I am confused as to why I even bother buying toys for our daughter.

For months I would wash out Savannah’s old food packages (you know, the very convenient plastic Gerber jars?) and save them in a bag for when ever they might come in handy. Eventually the bag got full, so it was on the floor ready to be packed up to take to my step Mom who works at a school that could use them. Well, they didn’t make it that far. Savannah found them and thoroughly enjoyed shaking the bag and dumping out the contents. And since then…it’s been on of her favorite things to play with (minus the bag).

Mark will stack them in a tower and she’ll tear them down, or dump them all over her much like the crazy people on movies do when they have a lot of cash. She loves to put stuff in them or put them into something bigger. They’re also quite fun to chew on apparently. And, it’s fun to make a huge mess by swishing her hands side to side, flinging them every where. Who needs fancy-smancy blocks! We have tupperware!
Seriously, who needs toys? Which, is why I’m asking everyone not to bring/send a toy for Savannah’s very soon 1st birthday. She has plenty already, and hardly uses them.

P.S. The picture above was taken when she was a very-sick-with-bronchitis little girl, which explains the huge sleepy bags under her eyes. Poor girl. Obviously, she kept her spirits up though.

Why do we, parents and family, buy our children toys? I mean, it’s hard not to buy them because I know when I was little I would have loved to play with the cool gadgets they have out these days. But, they end up pushed aside and while our kids play with the simplest item possible. Why is that?

Sheets over chairs to make a fort, forget that cool play ground out back. Laundry baskets used as sleds in the winter time. Mommy’s keys instead of those plastic ones and Daddy’s cell phone is way cooler than that stuffed animal. Not to say the cool toys don’t get used, but

Savannah has learned to love packages. I think she loves that loud crinkle-y sound when she bangs on it. And of course, because it’s one of those simple things that apparently thrills kids. Today I was eating one of those 90 (yummy, convenient) calorie packs and she was eying it the whole time and tried to grab it away several times. When I finished I dumped the crumbs out and placed it near her to see what she’d do. Of course, she grabbed it. Banged on it a little bit. Chewed on it some. She was in package heaven. It entertained her for quite a while (I kept an eye on her though, no worries).

I tried to put her in the exersaucer with the floating duckie, singing star, piano keys and spiny thing, but that didn’t last long.  She’s enjoying her self much more rolling around with her package.  Which, rolling has become her way of getting around.
Not that there is a problem for children loving the simple things in life. A child needs imagination. It just baffles me at how big toys are in this world, how often we spend hundreds of dollars at Christmas and birthdays, and all they really need is a good ole common house item. Go figure.

Ignore that fact that Savannah looks like a boy in her cute, but boyish, on-sale PJ’s. The girl keeps growing! Why buy full priced clothes if she’s just going to out grow them in 2 months again? Plus, no one sees them but you and me.