Value toddler?

Lalaladybird

I have a one year old and 3 year old and spend a fortune each week on "organix" snacks... I like their sugar free snacks etc but I was just wondering what those of you on a really tight budget (as I should be:o) do for toddler snacks (and clothes/shoes/entertainment etc).

How can I raise a value price toddler?

Lagoon

Fruit and vegetables will be a lot cheaper than those Organix snacks.

liney

Sliced fruit, veg sticks, cubes of cheese, crackers, dried fruit like raisins, apricots or prunes, hm flapjack type bars or gingerbread, plain rich tea type biscuits... are the kind of things I remember feeding my son as snacks.

meritaten

Lalaladybird wrote: »

I have a one year old and 3 year old and spend a fortune each week on "organix" snacks... I like their sugar free snacks etc but I was just wondering what those of you on a really tight budget (as I should be:o) do for toddler snacks (and clothes/shoes/entertainment etc).

How can I raise a value price toddler?

you are in a moneysaving forum and you can ask this? are you TRYING to insult us?
you may think buying a top brand means you are a top mum - but, many of us think that making our own 'snacks' and keeping a ready supply of fruit and veg for snacking on to be far healthier and cheaper for our children. and its not just those on a tight budget either - I COULD afford to buy in prepared snacks - I CHOOSE not to.

because you haven't really asked for help have you? if you are serious about saving money and perhaps feeding more healthy snacks to your children I suggest you repost down in Old Style moneysaving - but lose the last remark! it comes across as really snide.

kingfisherblue

As others have said, fruit and veg instead of high priced Organix stuff. If you do want brand name snacks, try places such as Home Bargains, B&M, etc. Check dates, as they will need to be used up sooner, possibly within a month of buying.

For cheap fruit and veg, try farm shops, Aldi Super 6, or a local food co-operative (not the Co-op). I order and pay for my fruit and veg each week and collect the next week. For £3.50 I get six varieties in reasonable quantities. Google 'food co-op + name of town where you live'

You could try fruit picking as well. I did this for the first time the other day. My daughter and I picked large punnets of straawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries and it came to £7.88 for the lot. Many supermarkets sell a small punnet with a single layer of raspberries for £2 :eek:. There were lots of families with toddlers and young children there, but make sure you take a hat and suncream (I couldn't believe how many were turnign up at midday without hats for the little ones). You can freeze fruit if you lay it out on baking trays. Once frozen, transfer into small bags or plastic dishes - portion sized, so you don't get wastage.

If you have a Costco nearby, the yearly membership fee can be worthwhile if you can store bulk buys. Cheese is cheap, and freezes well. Just cut into usable sized blocks first.

For other items, try supermarkets for clothes. Don't buy too many of one size - kids grow quickly! Try to get a size larger. If someone offers you their older child's used clothing, chances are it is still in reasanable condition. Sales are good for winter coats, but buy larger than you need at the moment, as your child will grow before October.

Plastic toys can be found quite cheaply at car boot sales and can be easily cleaned before use. Or you could buy in sales.

There are lots of free or cheap ways to entertain a child. Try these:

* Join a mother and toddler group
* Join the library - your child can enjoy books from an early age. many libraries also offer storytimes and other activities. In my area these are free.
* Parks are free. If you have transport, maybe venture further afield to a park that has a pet's corner
* Urban farms are usually reasonably priced. take a picnic for a day out
* Bubbles! Cheap to buy, cheaper to make (add a few drops of glycerine to warm water and washing up liquid; use pipecleaners as blowers). Add a spalsh of paint and blow onto a large piece of paper (the back of wallpaper is good, as an odd roll costs very little, lasts for ages, and is strong, so won't go soggy).
* Make a tent, inside or outside, from a bedsheet.
* Have a teddy bears picnic
* Use a washing up bowl with soapy water and various household items - beaker, sieve, tops of pump toothpaste, etc. Add food colouring for a bit more fun. Don't leave your child alone even for a minute.
* Make clean mud. Get some really cheap toilet paper, the thinner the better. Add a beaker of warm water (and food colouring if you want to), and a handful of soapflakes. Gently mush in your hands. This is great for tactile play, and softens mum's hands as well!
* Chalk onto the patio. When we get the rain it will wash off easily. You can get thick pavement chalk for a couple of pounds and it lasts forever.
* Paint your fence, wall, or patio with water. By the time your toddler reaches the far end, s/he will have to start again as the water will have dried out
* Put some soil (preferably clean, from a grow bag) or sand into a bowl. Bury plastic animals or dinosaurs for your toddler to find. For slightly older children, sequins are great in soil - they love finding jewels, but can be a swallowing hazard, so be careful!
* Use junk mail and adverts to cut and glue. Buy some paper plates and let your child make plates of food.
* Use paper plates (plain white ones) to make masks. Fold in half to make a rocking chick, dog, or horse (depending on how you colour or paint it). let your toddler decorate the edge, then cut the middle out. Use the outer edge (with a single cut) as a necklace, and use the inner part as a coaster for your toddler's beaker.
* Find out where there are free museums in your area. Sign up for their newsletters, as some hold termtime toddler events.
* Make potato stamps
* Sing with your child. You can use Youtube or buy cheap CDs - the pound shops and Home Bargains sell them. This is good for speech development as well.
* Play games like Row the boat - you might feel silly sitting on the floor, but your toddler will love it
* Play skittles. If you don't want to buy a set, put some soil or sand into plastic bottles and seal with duct tape. Cheap plastic skittles often fall over, so are not very MSE as they can be useless. You're better trying the plastic bottles, and if your toddler enjoys it, maybe granny can get a decent set of wooden skittles for christmas
* Save yoghurt pots - great for making towers and knocking down! Also useful for paints, glue, water, etc
* Look out for free seeds on the internet, and plant with your child. If you start them off in eggboxes, you don't need to transfer them from their tub when you plant in the ground.
* Buy a cheap bag of penne pasta (about 40p for the value bags), and teach your toddler to thread onto ribbon. Use the ribbons from your clothes (the ribbon in the shoulders, used for hanging the clothing neatly).
* Read with your child. Books can be borrowwed from the library, and can be bought cheaply from car boot sales. new books are good value from the Book People. If you live near the East Lancs Road, they have a warehouse sale twice a year at their Haydock warehouse. It gets busy, but it's good value. I've already bought several Christmas presents there.
* Draw round your child onto a large sheet of paper (wallpaper again!). Help them to add their facial features and clothes.
* Make or buy alphabet tiles and spell your toddler's name, Mummy, Daddy, etc.

cutestkids

Snacks and meals aimed at toddlers are the biggest con ever thought up after jars of baby food that is.

We all managed just fine before the marketing men managed to convince so many of us that we needed to buy these things to be good parents.

Snacks in our house would be, crackers, cheese, fruit, cucumber, carrot and pepper sticks with humous or salsa style dip, plain rice cakes, popcorn, raisins, natural yogurt, toast, breadsticks, toasted pitta bread with dip etc.

Clothes for everyday wear from Primark, Tesco, Asda etc, a few more special items for parties etc.

Shoes from Clarks/startrite best not to take chances with little feet.

Entertainment needn't cost much, walk in the park, playing out, helping Mum bake, finger painting, drawing, junk modelling, picnic, find out if there are any cheap sessions at the local swimming pool aimed at little ones, check out your Library many have special kids events on all year round such as story telling and book bug sessions, toddler groups usually cheap and a cup of tea and juice etc included.

The list is endless really.

MrsE_2

liney wrote: »

Sliced fruit, veg sticks, cubes of cheese, crackers, dried fruit like raisins, apricots or prunes, hm flapjack type bars or gingerbread, plain rich tea type biscuits... are the kind of things I remember feeding my son as snacks.

Some great suggestions there - I will use them for my grandson.

AlSelley

Oh god there's so many options - none of which the new Prince George will be eating

You can satisfy the cravings for the greasy stuff with potatoes and sweet potatoes fried, or boiled mashed then fried.

Oatmeal goes a long way. Make cookies from it, use it to heal skin irritations!

You will be able to get by with no prepackaged stuff if you be sure to make your food i bulk! its the only way to feed a young one and stay out of the kitchen as much as possible!!! Good luck dear!

dizziblonde

Very rare I buy the toddler branded snacks (I keep the odd pack in the pushchair basket for dire emergencies) - but tend to fall back on fruit or similar.

Soft play - ours doesn't charge till they're walking - and then does a £1 admittance deal for toddlers one morning a week. Library rhyme times etc (except ours is closed for 7 month refit)... sure start centres etc.

Primark quite often have things like threading buttons and lower case alphabet letters (and I think I have two tubs of dinosaurs and sea creatures that came from there)... charity shops for toys (I got a mountain of Duplo for £2 recently and a slide for £5).

sulkisu

meritaten wrote: »

you are in a moneysaving forum and you can ask this? are you TRYING to insult us?
you may think buying a top brand means you are a top mum - but, many of us think that making our own 'snacks' and keeping a ready supply of fruit and veg for snacking on to be far healthier and cheaper for our children. and its not just those on a tight budget either - I COULD afford to buy in prepared snacks - I CHOOSE not to.

because you haven't really asked for help have you? if you are serious about saving money and perhaps feeding more healthy snacks to your children I suggest you repost down in Old Style moneysaving - but lose the last remark! it comes across as really snide.

I must be really thick skinned (or just really thick ), but I didn't find that post - including that last remark - snide, insulting or offensive. I wonder if anyone else did?

MrsE_2

sulkisu wrote: »

I must be really thick skinned (or just really thick ), but I didn't find this post - including that last remark - snide, insulting or offensive. I wonder if anyone else did?

Neither did I & I think meritan really over reacted & was very rude to the OP :-(