It must take place late at night while everyone is sleeping.  I’m not sure if it’s multiplication, cloning, or mitosis, but some how when I wake up in the morning there are twice as many toys in our house as there were when I went to bed!  And some how my kids seem to know which ones are new and which ones are ‘old’.  Old as in a few weeks.  New toys are, of course, more exciting and entertaining, so now the ‘old’ toys get shoved to the back of the closet or under the bed never to be played with again.  Or maybe not. . .

I’ve noticed a phenomenon that seems to take place every time I try to donate those ’old’ toys.  When I dig them out from the depths of the closet and put them in a box destined for the donation truck all of a sudden they are the greatest toys ever!  “You can’t give it away, it’s my favorite.”  Before I know it my box is empty and all of the ‘old’ toys are now new.  Amazing how that works.

Now if you really want to get the biggest reaction ever to ‘old’ toys take some Rubbermaid bins and toss about one third to one half of the toys in it and stick the bins in the attic or garage.  Wait anywhere from three to four months and then rotate the new ‘old’ toys for the old ‘new’ toys.  Does that make sense?  It’s like Christmas every time we get the bins out of the attic.    I try to get my timing right by rotating the toys out of the attic during times like spring break, the beginning of summer, when we have a new baby, basically any time I need my kids to be self entertained.

So the next time your kids come to you and say their bored simply grab a box and start piling all of the ‘old’ toys in it and sit back and watch the old become new again.

A BIG BOX!

Yes truly the cheapest, most imagination provoking, and easily recycled toys!

It never fails.  You buy your child a really cool, expensive present, and what do they do . . . they play more with the box it came in than the toy itself.  Go fig.

None the less I’ve come to find that appliance stores are more than willing to give you their boxes if you ask them to save some for you.  My kids find it a blast to play “jack-in-the-box” and then they really start using their imagination.  Then we bust out the crayons and markers and let them draw murals all over it.  Eventually it gets turned upside down and we cut a door and windows out and now it’s a castle.  By the fourth or fifth day it ends up with at least four blankets propped up around it to make a huge fort that takes up the whole room.  The possibilities for a plain old cardboard box are endless.

And here’s the best part, when the kids break it or loose interest in it, you just fold it up and shove it in the recycling bin! 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy every moment you spend with your family and friends!

My seven year old son loves to get a set of Legos, put it together the first time by following the included directions, and then takes them all apart and has an even better time building something new and imaginative.  There is no limit to what he can build until he runs out of pieces.  I am all about multi-task toys.  What I mean by that is, the toys can be used in hundreds of different ways and lets a kid freely use their imagination.  Even my husband uses the Legos.  He built a custom fit stand for his MP3 player and portable speakers so that they stand up. 

We keep my sons Legos under his bed in a large rolling drawer so he doesn’t have to dump them all over the floor to play with them.  It saves my feet from the pain and agony of stepping on Legos when I have to get him up in the morning.  It also, conveniently, pushes in quickly so baby can’t get to any of the pieces.

My younger kids love the Duplos (the large Legos) and I love to share these at play groups since they can be easily disinfected.  Just dump them all in the bath with some hot water and liquid dish soap, swish them around, rinse them off and let them air dry in the tub.  Better yet, throw the kids in with the Legos and just use baby soap!

There are all different types and sizes of Lego sets so you can easily find one that your kid is in to and with in your budget.  I do have to admit though that Lego sets can get pretty expensive, so here’s my recommendations on how to get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to shopping for Legos.  Start with the basic tub of Legos that has the primary colored bricks.  See what your child likes to build with them.  Do they like to build houses?  Do they like to build boats?  Do they build castles for the princess?  Take a cue from that on what set to buy next.

Always check places like Craigslist and resale shops for Legos.  You can get some great deals on massive amounts of Legos this way.  Also check online at Amazon.com.  They have been known to have some amazing deals on certain sets of Legos.  Lego.com also has a clearance/sale section.  I bought my son a Custom Car Garage set for $30 when it was originally $70!  If you have a Lego store nearby be sure to check out the ‘wall-o-Legos’ for cool individual pieces that can be used to build your own custom creations and be sure to ask them if they have any coupons.  Tip: let the Lego Store host your kids birthday party!  Another cool tip:  the Lego Store has a free Lego night where your kid can build a mini set of Legos that usually coincide with the holiday that month.  Check lego.com for more information.  Lego also has a free magazine and catalog your kid can sign up for (my son loves to get mail).

Can you tell we love Legos?    If you have other questions or tips about Legos please feel free to share.  I’m always looking out for more fun ideas!

Mr. Potato Head!  An oldie but goodie.  The thing I really like about Mr. Potato Head is that kids of all ages love to make funny faces with him and can teach one another how to do it.  My four year old son has a great time teaching his two year old sister how to put funny faces together and then trading and mixing them up.  It also helps that our nine month old daughter can play along while she chews on the pieces and I don’t really worry about her choking on them.  This is where I do have to put in a disclaimer that the toy is supposed to be for ages 2 and up (thank you Toy Story) but really I have yet to see a baby that’s been able to choke down Mr. Potato Heads eyes.

We have used Mr. Potato Head to teach our kids the parts of their face.  It’s much more fun to learn about where your mouth is when you can put Mr. Potato Heads mouth in yours.  When our daughter was 18 months old she loved to put Mr. Potato Heads glasses on and go around saying “Eyes!  Eyes!”

The other thing I like about Mr. Potato Head is that he’s not very expensive and they have all sorts of new faces you can add, even different ones for holidays.  If you click on the Mr. Potato Head link on my page it will take you to Hasbro’s coupon page where you can get a coupon for $2 off Mr. Potato Head or $5 off Mr. Potato Head Silly Suitcase.  Have fun making funny faces!

Please click below to see how Breanna uses her ExerSaucer:

How to use an ExerSaucer by Breanna

Play gym with hanging toys – Their perfect for immobile babies on their backs or on their tummies.  Be sure to get a play mat with removable toys for when your baby is older so they can play with the toys on the go too.  I have used the same play mat with all four of my kids and they have all loved it!  These are usually pretty easy to find at local resale shops for not very much money.  Make sure that the mat itself can be machine washed for easy spit-up removal and that it folds flat for easy storage.

I also highly recommend the Leka play mat from IKEA.  It has lots of fun activities on it for babies who like to be on their tummies and it’s perfect to take to the park to have an entertaining place for baby to play.  And the best part is . . . . .wait for it . . . . . IT’S MACHINE WASHABLE!!!  Woo Hoo!  Check it out at www.ikea.com/us product name Leka, or click on a link to it from the ’Tried and True Mommy Favorites’ section on my web page.