Ideas for open-ended-play toys, and cutting out t.v. watching?

[daisymommy]

I am totally disgusted with the amount of t.v. being watched in our house on a daily basis. It all began with my morning sickness, and lack of ability to entertain Joshua. But now that I am feeling better, I want to turn the t.v. off for the majority of the day. The problem? Joshua is so bored, and sadly, it seems has forgotten how to play happily without my constant interaction or the t.v. for entertainment. I think he is really bored with the toys we have at home. Maily because he is outgrowing them (age/developmentally wise), and also because many are not "open-ended-play" toys. I'll explain more in a second.

So, I am searching for some ideas and suggestions for moms who have been-there, done-that, as well as ideas for what I would call open-ended play toys: toys that can be used to inspire the imagination and creativity, that don't just have one purpose that once accomplished leaves them bored with a toy, and toys that are more "classic." I'm sure some of you Waldorf-y mamas will have lots of ideas to share!

Here are some ideas I have thought of, please add to my list!

-Books (and start going to the library once a week for some variety)
-Train accessories to go with our wooden trains & table
-Make some homemade playdough, and buy some playdough tools
-Wooden puzzles
-Play kitchen props (we have a plastic one that is falling apart, and cheap plastic food items I hate!)
-Dress up clothes, with a peg rack and mirror
-Art supplies: fingerpaint, crayons and markers, glue-sticks with collage items
-Blocks: have basic wooden ones and Duplos, would like a couple more types.
-Hand puppets

What else?

Thanks!

[JillChristina]

Here are some things my dd loves to do:

- playdough w/tools

- stamping

- painting (she'd do this all day!)

- gluing (we cut pictures out of magazines, buy pompoms and googly eyes from the craft store, glitter, etc)

- dress up

- cooking in the kitchen; real and pretend (I bought her some spices from the dollar store and let her use those with some water and flour)

- puzzles (I got some great ones from our local consignment store)


Kylie also likes it (lately) if I can involve her in any chores I'm doing around the house. She might not do things perfectly or fast but it allows me to work and her to have fun. We also bought for her last fall/winter a climbing ladder and parallel rings that hang from the ceiling (they hook into the studs). We bought these at Ikea and I know our local store still has them in stock. They also have a swing and trapeze. Fun for those days where it's wet outside.

I've also seen it suggested to rotate your toys. Put a few away and change them out once a week or so. Maybe he'll get more interested in things he hasn't seen for a while. This has worked for us recently. I also keep her toys in bins where she can seem them. They're still organized but visible to her.

I've also been disgusted with the TV lately. It started being on more in the beginning of my pregnancy and we really need to tone it down. I find that if we leave it off for a day or so, she re-learns how to entertain herself. It just takes her brain a bit to get out of lazy mode.

Good luck!
Jill

[georgia]

We're really into paper airplanes around here lately. A fun idea is to watercolor the paper, let it dry then fold it up into airplanes. We also like to do scissor "work"...lots of cutting and folding. The scraps drive me nuts, but that's not hard to do

I also am really interested in investing in a set of natural "tree" blocks. There is a set at our local science center, and my dc go nuts over them. Mama likes them, too

The boys also love making tents and caves. All it takes is a few old sheets/blankets, and they're off....or an obstacle course every now and then. Slither like a snake under this, circle through this, spin around when you get to the ____, do five jumping jacks when you get here, you get the picture

A close friend of mine just got her dc a few pet rats. Not my cup of tea, but animals can certainly bring a new element into your lives.

i look forward to checking out any other ideas to minimize tv use :. i'm past the morning sickness stage, which is how we got back into utilizing the TV......my youngest is now 13 months :

[maya44]

A water table. There are some good ones on the market, but a big dishwashing pan filled with water and some floating boats will do.

Or fill it with rice and sand toys.

[Gracefulmom]

Something I just did with my two daughters is to make a list with them of "Fun Things To Do". I, too, was sick of the tv watching... and tv was the second thing they thought of putting on the list. But they really got into making the list and came up with some great ideas completely on their own:

draw on the windows with window markers,
play "soaker sisters" (they scrub the kitchen floor in their swim suits),
rake leaves and jump in them,
try an experiement,
dance,
read a book,
learn a magic trick,
call a friend or relative,
take pictures,
play a game...

Why not see what you and your son can dream up? (Besides, just making the list can be a big project!)

[UUMom]

Getting out helps, too. As soon as you feel up to it, call LLL and try to attend some of the meetings. You will probably learn about their playgroups there.

Story hour at the library might be good as well.

It also might be fun to call the local hsing group. I know ours has lots of get-togethers with small children. Either the families of the young ones are planning to hs, or they have older kids and they want their little ones to meet other little hsing ones.

[Maman*Musique]

How old is your son?

Mine loves to fill a spray bottle with water and clean windows. He can do that for quite a long time.

My ds enjoyed a water/sand table when he was about 2-3yrs old. We kept it on our porch so he could even play with it in the rain.

The minute we start to feel boored or tired or lazy, we put on some music and dance up a storm. I have even put both of my kids in slings and danced all together.

We always have lots of musical instruments hanging around of course. DS loves to make up rhythm patterns.

Lay down a shower curtain or tarp in the living room and put piles of dry foods (pasta, rice, etc) give him some trucks and let him go to work.

We love to make necklaces using large beads or buttons.

Some other toys my ds has enjoyed - Lincoln Logs, Legos, Marble run blocks, Magnets. I love making marble runs with him.

Tons of artwork. I set ds up with the entire dining room table covered with plastic. I give him glue, scissors, markers, paint, etc.

I know there is more but those should get you started

[Annikate]

Lots of fun ideas here! It helps my dd if we "recycle" her toys every now and then. In other words, we put some of her favorites away when we see she's not playing with them as much anymore, and take out some she hasn't seen in a while. Then it's like she has new toys again!

[levar]

I have always loved "action figures". Since Taylor was about 2 yrs old we've had a good number of Little People. We've progressed through Rescue Heroes and recently started ImagineNext. He also has TONS of stuffed-dolls. [Since Birth] And TNMTs.

At first [~2yr old] I would set him in the middle of a 'ring' of action figures and start to play with him. Then after a few minutes I'd just 'sit'. Then eventually say 'be back in a minute'. And each time I'd play at the start for shorter times, and leave for longer times, etc. Now at 5.5 I just say "Play In Your Room" and that is usually all the motivation he needs to go play 'action figures' for hours. One addition to this that involves TV is that I found some 20 minutes movies featuring Fisher Price characters, Hot Wheels, Care Bear, TMNTs, etc. So in-a-pinch he watches those and then when I get him started on playing I'll say "Let's Play just like the movie..." etc.

FYI As kids my little sister and I would play dolls and/or barbies for hours. So this kind of play isnt "new" to me, but hubby was more of a TV or Sports kid and so he has a tough time sometimes.

[flyingspaghettimama]

We also like: 365 Tv-Free Activities You Can Do With Your Child: Plus 50 All-New Bonus Activities by Steven J. Bennett.

All the ideas here are great. Sometimes, you get them going for the first week or so, but after that, they're great at finding their own fun and we don't need to make sure they're not bored. Boredom can be a totally useful tool. Except when it leads to spending too much time on MDC...

[stafl]

musical things. noisy things. something to pound on, bang on, or shake. Kids love to make a joyous sound!

playsilks. My kids didn't know what to do with them at first, but now they play with them daily. They become pirate head-scarfs, super capes, flags, skirts, baby slings, blankets, all sorts of different things.

dolls. Yes, even boys can benefit from having a doll to play with! Especially one who is about to become an older brother.

Blocks. All sorts of blocks. wooden building blocks, lincoln logs, bristle blocks, anything of that sort.

art supplies. doesn't have to be anything fancy. You can get those dry watercolors for about a dollar or two. playdough is big fun, too. glue is a must. glitter glue is even better. I think my oldest DD could sit and glue things on paper all day long if *I* had the patience for it! paper... ripping paper, painting on paper, gluing paper, coloring, folding, cutting, you can do so many things with paper. Buy in bulk, or find new ways of using those newspapers DH forgets to recycle...

[MangoMamma]

My 4 yr dd has the same problem. If there is no activity she turns on the TV herself and it always is a battle. I'm going to try some of these activities too to see if we can stop turning on the TV.

[SunRayeMomi]

TV TOKENS Game

I have been having a hard time with the TV too because DP is a couch potato and dd is definitly picking up the habit. When she gets home from preschool in the morning the first thing she asks is to either watch tv or play on the computer. So I had to think of something and we started doing it this week.
Everything I do with DD I like to call a "game" that way she doesn't dread the idea from the get-go, kwim?! So I heard this somewhere before and I tweeked it into a game that works for us:

DD gets 10 "TV TOKENS" per week. They are good for "buying" either one TV show or one hour of (educational) computer time. If she runs out of tokens half way through the week, she CANNOT watch tv or use the computer. If she has one or more leftover by Saturday, I give her 1 dollar for the grocery store. She has to use math and logic to decide how many tokens she wants to use on any given day. I went through all the possibilites with her to make sure she understood: "If you use the token for a tv show, you only get a half-hour on the tv. But if you use it for computer time, you get an hour which is more time. If you run out of tokens, you have to find something else to do without throwing fits. (I think she is good for it *crosses fingers*) and then I gave her a tour of her own room :LOL to show her all the fun stuff in there" We made the tokens out of paper plates so that they were nice and big. I cut them just a little smaller and I think it's cute because the fringed outside kinda reminds me of a coin. Then I wrote a big 1 in the middle and "1 Computer Hour or 1 TV Show" around the edge. Then I let her color them which reinforced her involvement in the game.

She loves it so far! It gives her a chance to practice math and logic and also pretend she is buying something and the most important thing: It gives her power of the TV, something I had in the past refused to relinquish! I like it because it teaches cause and effect and consequence. It's working for us, maybe you could try it DD is four btw

[joandsarah77]

Pegs (clothes pins I think you call them) and various sized cloths/sheets, and more pegs and cloths, and more pegs and cloths!
I'm not kidding, pegs are the most used 'toys' at my house. They are open ended and dirt cheap. My dd has played with them since she was 14 months old; peg fettish anyone They have been attached to seed pods (dinos) attached down her baby brothers back (dino or ecidna) Or there being used with said cloths as wraps or blankets for toys, dress ups for her, or cubbies. Not a day goes by that my dd isn't swiping my pegs! So I bought her, her own packet, guess what she still takes mine!

[TiredX2]

You have gotten some great suggestions, but I would add:

board/card games
geomagz/magz type toys--- both kids have loved these

[pjlioness]

I'd recommend staying away from dolls that have defined roles/are characters, such as action/super heroes and TV/movie chracters, and my preference is to avoid plastic toys in general. It's harder for a child to imagine a firefighter doll to be a daddy or a neighbor from down the street, and a Buzz Lightyear, etc. doll will likely only ever be a Buzz Lightyear. Not very open-ended.

Go with simple dolls, made out of natural materials. You can buy them from dozens of Waldorfy places on the internet, but you can also make them. One of the simplest dolls to make is a clothespin doll. Get the one-piece clothespins that have a rounded "head" and wrap fabric around them. My grandma made those for me all the time and I loved them.

Rice and beans with some kitchen utensils and dishes are great, too.

Building blocks of all types. (A set of dollhouse dolls go great with blocks for making houses, castles, etc.)

Kid sized musical instruments are also a hit in my house. Ds1 loves to play his guitar (actually a kids' ukelele) and sing while ds2 dances. They both love banging on drums and other percussion instruments.

Lots of good ideas in this thread.

[johub]

I find that it really helps my kids if I introduce or start an activity. THey dont really need my constant interaction to complete it. But I dont wait till they think of playing with play doh. I pull it out and all the toys and they happily play on their own.
A little later I might suggest we build a tower with blocks or Legos, I sit down and get started with them, and they hardly notice when I get up. Alone they sometimes just stand there bored and want the tv on. But once I suggest an activity they are all over it. I am hoping that once they get used to how fun these activities I suggest are they will start initiating them themselves. (and they sometimes do)
Joline

[sea island mama]

Originally Posted by joandsarah77

Pegs (clothes pins I think you call them) and various sized cloths/sheets, and more pegs and cloths, and more pegs and cloths!

Do you use the ones with the spring or just split wood? I would worry about the springs coming out, etc. (these are the only kind we have.)

[pjlioness]

Oops.

[Sali]

My son (5 1/2) LOVES washing dishes. He pulls a chair up to sink and scrubs his lunchbox and whatever else is in there when he gets home from school--I turn a blind eye to the dripping wet mess and wipe up later.