OS for kids: Limiting the quantity of toys.

budgetboo

had another think about this and realised that many "traditional" type toys get overlooked in favour of more expensive flashy trashy modern fashion fads. Val's comments about the "type" of toy is important too. With Xmas coming up I thought I'd list some old style type toys that still score points despite the advertisers best efforts. My Mum is 75 and during the war lots of toys were home made or put together from kits or second hand- it's an old style traidition I maintain to eek out the budget

Some examples off the top of my head:-

Skipping rope - the HOURS of fun we had with these as kids yet when I got a cheapo one for ds and his mates this summer the whole idea was a novel one. It was lots of fun teaching them the chants of my own youth. Once shown what to do they had hours of fun and it helped lots of skills from team work, to co-ordination and general cardio fitness. Not dear at all to buy. A packet of chalk for games like hopskotch produced the same sense of wonder the previous year. Many kids just don't get taught the old skool play ground games any more & it's a real shame.

Wooden castle or dolls house - ds is slowly building a kit castle I bought him for his birthday in July for £10 off ebay. We'll varnish it before the end of term - it's just the right size for lego figures and I know we'll get years of imaginatve play from it.

The asda wooden train set that cost me approx a tenner got years of play.

Baby doll or equiivalent - kids model adult behavior and imaginative play with one of these even for boys helps build empathy. Again - the child could get involved in making clothes, blankets, a shoebox cradle etc. Dolls clothes sets cost a fortune yet most kids are happy with a coupl of extra hand sewn items.

Lego/meccano/sticky bricks & plasticine etc - construction toys help fine motor skills as well as imagination. A lego brick is a lego brick no matter the packaging - get them at charity shops and don't get sucked in by the branded tv and film themed kits that cost £10 for 20 bricks.

Home mad rag dolls etc. I still adore my Mum for making me rag dolls at Xmas and have kept a couple 40 years on : ) Deffo the stuff childhood memories are made of. My parents were often skint so these were made from scraps - there are lots of free patterns around nowadadys on the internet, making it easier than it was for my Mum who had use her imagination to design them.

DS has a set of finger puppets in a little pouch his granny knitted that are precious to him and only his most trusted friends are allowed to play with. They've generated quite a lot of envy yet cost Mum pennies to make for him.

Board games - the traditional ones are the ones childhood development experts push most and these can often be found in a charity shop if you look. On a serious note though they do promote social skills and family bonding so child development experts are very keen on them.

DS has chosen a £2 pair of rainbow socks to be turned into a sock monkey for him this Xmas - low outlay but I know he'll adore it and it won't get played with once never to be looked at again.

Home made puppet theatre or shop or kitchen.
For a cooker buy a cheap bedside cabinet and paint it to look like a cooker. You don't have to spend £50+ for a plastic vesrion.

Dressing up chests have been mentioned several times and can be stocked from jumble sale finds.

Think about it - if Santa's elves make all the toys from their remote lair in the North pole wouldn't they make a few personalised really special items for your child rather than just shop at Argos Or at least my kid thinks some items are made specially for just him by the elves as he's been SO good each year

Blue_Elephant

not sure if this was the desired effect, but after reading about dressing up boxes and home made dolls' houses and the piles of lego, I WANT to be a kid again!! :P

rachbc

I'd rather my kid had any no of toys that we can play with and interact together using the a dump-a-roo where they basically get plonked and left I my experience.

My daughter just had a party and got 3 bin liners of presents and we have been overwhelmed by the generosity - how ungrateful of people to dismiss as 'junk' or 'rubbish' gifts given to their kids. Sure I might not have choose a purple plastic pony but dd loves it.

[Deleted User]

I agree with everything you say OP. Consumerism begins with children and I have always refused to buy shiny plastic noisy tat for our grandchildren. They get wooden thomas the train pieces or books or old fashioned toys like a spinning top or a tumbler on sticks. Their parents remove excess toys to the loft for a while and then they are changed over. I still remember the hm wigwams from 33 years ago ie canes and old sheets

There is nothing wrong with a good doll, that isn`t tat

mummyroysof3

I dont really have a problem with my kids having lots of toys..in theory. storing them can be a problem but im very careful to only buy what im sure they will love and play with

[Deleted User]

I am a Granny of seven and my youngest DD who is Mum to five of them replied when I said 'I never seem to buy the kids much apart from birthdays or Christmas' (their other Nan sends cheques at intervals and only sees them about 4 times a year although she lives less than 30 miles away (just not maternal at all,even prefers to be called Linda and not Nanny and shes two years younger than me ) " Mum you give them the best gift of all,you give them your time, patience and love" which I thought was lovely.I do teach them to tie their shoe laces and tell the time and we play cards and dominos and read books and I ensure that homework is done and we bake cakes and have lots of cuddles.I enjoy every minute of my grandchildren and go to see all their things at school its like being a Mum all over again but having the time to be with them which I didn't have quite so much when my own two were younger.Her tribe are a joy to me although the two eldest ones are now off hand more at 16 & 18 the three younger lads are terrific and I see them daily as I do the school run morning and afternoon and have them after school and during the holidays as Mum and Dad have to work full-time.I feel privilidged to be part of their upbringing and they are great little boys .
They don't get a great deal of toys as there are so many of them but what they have they share, and hopefully will grow up into fine young men.I spent an hour and a half the other week playing with the youngest and a paper aeroplane that I had made for him. An ordinary piece of plain white paper folded into a dart shape facinated him for ages, and we made up stories about the 'pilot' and his name and where he was flying to and who was on the plane with him and Mikey's imagination was working full out that afternoon no toys aren't needed that much, just a bit of time and the rewards of big hugs are worth their weight in gold , far more than nintendo's or PS3s

FarmersWife_2

We dont have a great deal of toys... DD2 has a summer house and she prefers to be outside tbh.

Inside we have one toy box downstairs and the rest are in her bedroom. In the toy box downstairs is drawing, dolly and things. Dolly has a suitcase full of clothes.

Reading this thread has inspired me into tidying the toy boxes though DD1 & DD2 hate it when I 'tidy' their rooms

C x

JulieGeorgiana

Couldn't have put it better myself. DS is 9, and he has 3 small boxes for toys in his wardrobe, a large box for boardgames, a small basket for video games and a book shelf for books... if he runs out of space it all get's cleared through and downsized. I have always done this since he was a baby.

My mum used to buy him all this large stuff, and I had nowhere to put it... she got fed up when she came over and it had been given to the church/charity shop because he wasn't playing with it. Now she gives him money, clothes and things he actually wants, he bought a trampoline a few months ago, and a new scooter to replace a broken one 2 weeks ago... he saves his money and get's what he really wants.

For Christmas this year I have bought him books, tons of books... because he asked for them and he doesn't buy into consumerism, he realised if he wasn't willing to spend £20 on some cheap plastic toy that would break, then neither would I.

One thing I do is give him pocket money, he must pay half of anything he wants to do (ie. school trips etc) so very often he has to consider if he is willing to pay for half... and sometimes he's not willing to and will choose to go without even though all his friends are going.

I think being strict, being open and honest about consumerism to your children will make them less suseptable to it as they grow older.

lilrahi

DS watches the ads during the cartoons. Every item he sees he says "will you buy me that?" or if it's girly "will you buy Amelia that?" my reply is always "yes". So far I've never had to buy him anything bless their short attention spans

We used the have huge amounts of toys. There used a be a big box in the living, in the cellar and the outside store room. Eventually I had enough and they were sorted into the one big box for keeps and a smaller box for living room. The living room box items are swapped once a month by items in the big box. So far so good. TBH DS doesn't play with games/toys that much. He prefers to jump about, make paper aeroplanes and cooking with some old pots and pans i don't use anymore. Before I used to buy him something new every week or so but now I don't bother and he's certainly never complained.

DS has a DS and a DSi, hand me downs from cousins, but I have no idea where they are! I hid them cos I didn't like the amount of time he spent on them and now forgotten. Will have to look them out again. Everytime DS asks I tell him they need charging and for a 4 yr old he's pretty understanding!

My SIL is very much the opposite, she thinks nothing of spending £100s everytime she goes out. All her kids have individual DS/PSP, everytime she goes out they get new games, new cars etc.... Basically if they say they want it they get it. When DS goes around they get all their toys out and you literally can't see the floor. I wouldn't mind but then she complains she has no money!

Clarienne

As a childminder I agree with the OP about flashing baby toys, and actually most bright plastic baby toys in general. Who has not had the experience of a baby ignoring them and going straight for everything else! :rotfl: Babys are perfectly well entertained and stimulated by personal contact, watching other children and adults, and getting to muck about with safe household objects. A few quality wooden toys are good, but I'm on the point of chucking out most of my baby toys.

With older children I think there's middle ground and its worth being flexible. If a child is into one particular collectable they love above all else, and its a consistent interest, I'd make the space for it. And as a child my family was on a very limited budget, and I did sometimes feel sad and excluded about not having certain things. But in general I'd agree its an equally sad sight to see a home full of 'stuff' that's unappreciated, uncared for and unplayed with.