Toys!

Every child has them. You can't avoid them. Well meaning friends, family and distant acquaintances will bring your child gifts of soft toys and all assortment of rattles and doodads upon the announcement of their birth. It's as if our society welcomes the birth of a child by indoctrinating them from the moment of birth into the philosophy of "STUFF". Don't get me wrong, practical gifts of clothing, manchester and the occasional toy are an enormous blessing to a new family putting together a nursery or just meeting the growing and changing needs of their "bundle of joy", however no child needs 27 stuffed animals, 46 ratttles and 52 assorted other "toys".

As your child gets older, the toys inevitably get bigger, or have more pieces, or have small hard pieces that get trodden on in the middle of the night. Today's children have more toys of their own than could be found in a small country town one hundred years ago.

Toy Philosophy

How do you control the toy clutter? How do you decide what stays and what goes? What is your toy philosophy?

We have had our share of bad toy purchases. Over the years we developed a philosophy (at first, unconsciously) about the toys we allow in our home. It generally works well and is necessary given the restricted space we have.

Firstly, I detest battery operated toys. Yes, we have some, but we don't purchase these for our children. I hate the lights and sound and "press a button and it will do this" limitations. The electronic noise drives me crazy! At this point in time I think that between our two preschoolers they have one battery operated toy and a small torch each.

Secondly, and more importantly, we have a strong preference for open ended toys. Open ended toys inspire imagination and require a child to be present and active in play, as opposed to the passivity inspired by many single function and electronic toys. We have a large selection of wooden train track pieces, a container of assorted vehicles, a container of "people and animals", dress ups (with a particular emphasis on "doctors things", just what the kids like and have been given), a dolls house with furniture, Duplo blocks and, more recently, Lego bricks. For more artistic endeavours we have playdough, crayons, pencils, textas, chalk, paints and assorted crafty odds and ends. We have plenty of books. We also have puzzles and board games - our family are quite enthusiastic about our board games!

Baby Toys

Our five month old baby has a basket of her own toys. Already there are some definite favourites. She loves the Alimrose Designs"Bush Baby" she was given by her godmother, which is a "doll" and rattle in one. She also likes the Knot Doll I bought her for Christmas.

Toys for Preschoolers

Our most played with toys would have to be the figurines from our "people and animals" box. They come from a variety of sources but our favourites are Schleich models (which are hardy enough to withstand rough play but are intricate and accurate and just beautiful to look at) and wooden animals and people such as this bull I bought our son for Christmas.

Playdough is another favourite around here, although I don't get it out as often as the kids would like me to. Dress ups are also popular and range from old clothes belonging to adults (either as is or modified) to character-oriented purchases, however the kids get the most use out of very basic materials such as a play cloth or fabric remnant.

Toys for Older Children

We're only just embarking on this stage, so anyone who has any expertise in this area is more than welcome to contact me.