A new kind of swap meet

I recently heard about a great idea that I am so excited to share. Some friends of mine were talking at a play date about how their children have several toys that they don’t play with. They wanted to do something useful with them but felt that their child might notice. As they were brainstorming, one mom noticed that another child was playing with her son’s fire truck that he no longer pays attention to. The other child played with that fire truck almost the entire time, checking out all the flashing lights and the ladder. As she was contemplating why her son no longer likes the fire truck when this little boy thinks it’s so great, an idea struck her – a toy swap. Here’s how it works:

Take a few toys that your child has disregarded and exchange them with another child for an agreed upon period of time and then trade them back. Once the toy returns, he will look at it with renewed interest and play with it again. If he doesn’t, no harm done - just exchange it with another child.

This sounds like a great way to save money and get some use out of toys that are just collecting dust. Try it out and let us know what you think.

Hidden Treasure Box

When your toddler opens a present, are they more occupied by the toy or the box? Several parents will say that the box or wrapping paper holds their child’s attention longer. This shows that your child does not need expensive/fancy/store bought toys to learn. You may not know it but your recycling bin is actually a treasure chest of materials to make the perfect toys. Let’s explore a few:

• 2 liter bottles – Save up about 6 bottles and you’ve got yourself a set of bowling pins. Use different size balls and explore with your child which ones knock down the pins the best. If you have thick carpet and the “pins” are having a hard time staying up, put some dry beans in the bottle for some weight. Make a mini bowling set and use empty water bottles.

• Magazines – Cut out pictures and make a collage. You can make a collage of blue pictures or things that start with the first letter in your child’s name. The possibilities are endless.

• Newspapers – Give your child a pair of safety scissors and let the cutting begin. This is a great activity for building strength in their hands needed for writing and it also helps with hand eye coordination. There is no pressure for them to cut out a shape or to cut on a line and they get more comfortable working with scissors. Shredding the paper with their hands is really fun too. Give them a stack of paper and let them shred in the middle of the kitchen floor for easy clean up. They can make confetti for a party or use some tape and make pom-poms.

• Paper towel tubes – Color/paint the tube to make a baton or cut out shapes and glue them on to make different animals. For babies and toddlers, you can put bells or beans inside and cover the ends with masking tape to make a rattle.


Homemade toys are great but remember that they haven’t been tested for safety the way store bought toys are. Always supervise your child when they are playing. Here are some other safety tips:

• Plastic bags – make sure that the bag cannot fit over your child’s head and watch them closely to make sure that they don’t bite off small pieces of the bag because they could choke.

• Small objects – It’s best not to give your child an object smaller than 2” in diameter. An easy way to test this is to see if the object fits inside of an empty toilet paper tube. If it does, your child could choke on it. If you toy contains small objects such as the rattle mentioned above, secure the tube with super strength glue and watch her while playing with it.

• Sharp edges – Place durable tape around the sharp edges and make sure it is secure so your child cannot take it off.

Be creative. The possibilities are endless!