Do you use indoor toys outside

[hectors house]

Just wondered if people generally let mindees take toys from inside out into the garden?

I find it hard to decide what can go out as I haven't got the money to keep replacing resources when they get ruined outside. Our plastic kitchen has been used all summer as a mud kitchen and now is too filthy to ever come back inside. We took books out to read in the pop up tent yesterday and then they got put on damp grass and now look tatty.

We have plenty of outdoor toys, swing, slide, sand pit, water tray, mud kitchen, balls and a pop up goal, bikes and ride ons, prams, mark making equip (crayons and paper in summer house, white boards and markers, chalks), cars, diggers, dinosaurs etc etc so do I really need to let mindees take Duplo, car garage and whatever else they fancy out where it will be buried in sand, gravel and bark in a flash?

[PixiePetal]

I have mine separate - my old tikes kitchen is now in the playhouse as I got a new wooden one indoors. Toy buggy for indoors and different ones for outside. Toy cars once they are a bit tatty but otherwise ok are moved to the garden toy store.

Also an odds and ends tea set and a big old fisher price garage too big for the playroom are outdoors :thumbsup:

Books don't tend to go out unless I read one out loud as mindees are too busy running about or making dens

[QualityCare]

We take alot of toys out on hot days puzzles, books, small world etc but what gets taken outdoors gets brought in at the end of the day no indoor toys would be left out overnight.

[blue bear]

It's free flow here, so things go out all the time. I encourage certain things to cone inside when ITs raining like books. Most if the time I just wash everything down at night at tidy time, childen love this job.

[mushpea]

I take toys outside from inside then wash them to come back in occasionaly, I dont allow them to take the buggys outside then back in again as they get filthy then so does my house.
I have put loads of indoor type toys outside in plastic draws this year and they are now permanent outdoor toys , things like
elc happystreet train and track with little people
bob the builder vecihals and people
dinosars
a megablox crane with veichals and more blocks
a toy kitchen with real saucepans and spoons

[sarak31]

We have anything they like outside but indoor things come in at the end of the day. I also use my tuff tray for small world toys so they don't get lost around the garden and the children seem to prefer playing with them like this.

[loocyloo]

i got fed up of my nice toys going outside and getting lost or muddy and then coming back in and making other things dirty. so i now have my plastic little tykes kitchen in the playhouse, along with all the plastic food/teasets etc, box of old cars and construction vehicles, box of animals & people, box of dinosaurs etc in the toy shed. big box of wooden blocks/logs/slices, lots of sand and water toys, a big box of (old books ) that has a lid and lives in the play house. hard plastic dolls ( with clothes! ) and old buggies that live outside. oh & a tent!

sometimes i take other toys out, but under supervision! usually on a hot day.

the blankets/rugs/cushions etc come in at the end of each day.

[Mouse]

It depends on the children. Some like running around outside, being on bikes etc, so don't need the indoor toys outside. Others like to use outside as an extension of inside, so will have toys set out on mats or on tables. They'll sit & play just the same as they do indoors.

I don't take anything out that can't be cleaned and nothing is left outside. When we come back in, the toys are packed up & brought inside as well :thumbsup:

[Angela234]

I take toys outside from inside then wash them to come back in occasionaly, I dont allow them to take the buggys outside then back in again as they get filthy then so does my house.
I have put loads of indoor type toys outside in plastic draws this year and they are now permanent outdoor toys , things like
elc happystreet train and track with little people
bob the builder vecihals and people
dinosars
a megablox crane with veichals and more blocks
a toy kitchen with real saucepans and spoons

What plastic drawers do you use? i've been thinking of having something like that at the moment i keep lots in on of those mini green houses upright one with shelves and clear cover, children can see things like box of large wooden blocks,tub of balls, box with big bowls,spoons jugsetc, tub with skittles,golf things,sports activity box, plus box of wellies.
But i would like cars, dinosaurs, etc for outside only use.
I do allow most toys indoors and out supervised.

[loocyloo]

What plastic drawers do you use? i've been thinking of having something like that at the moment i keep lots in on of those mini green houses upright one with shelves and clear cover, children can see things like box of large wooden blocks,tub of balls, box with big bowls,spoons jugsetc, tub with skittles,golf things,sports activity box, plus box of wellies.
But i would like cars, dinosaurs, etc for outside only use.
I do allow most toys indoors and out supervised.

i've been looking for plastic drawers that will DRAIN! think i'm going to have to get DH to drill a few holes in the bottom of mine! ( currently in stacking boxes, but i have a spare plastic drawer thing from argos! )

[mushpea]

Mine are the sort you get from argos then I put a cover over them when not in use, its actutaly a cover for garden chairs from our local 99p store but I think for the winter I will need a tougher cover, none of the toys would actutal hurt if the got wet so it dosent really matter, just adds a new dimesnsion to the play and nine times out of 10 they drive bob the builder through the puddles in my garden anway:laughing:

[kezzalou]

Some of my indoor toys go outside when its nice such as garage, puzzles and small world equipment but we always make sure it comes back in at tidy up time. Its a tough one because you don't want things to get ruined.

[hectors house]

Thank you for the feedback, I think I will just take out some younger toys for the 18 month old as lacking in outdoor things for him to do - may go round charity shops and buy some duplicates of things I have, so can keep some outside.

Also have got new baby (10 months old) starting next month, he is crawling but not walking - what outdoor activities can I do with him in the winter? Will get his mum to get an all in one waterproof suit as my grass gets very boggy in the winter, have got small patio and bark area but he may not want to crawl on bark.

[Angela234]

Thank you for the feedback, I think I will just take out some younger toys for the 18 month old as lacking in outdoor things for him to do - may go round charity shops and buy some duplicates of things I have, so can keep some outside.

Also have got new baby (10 months old) starting next month, he is crawling but not walking - what outdoor activities can I do with him in the winter? Will get his mum to get an all in one waterproof suit as my grass gets very boggy in the winter, have got small patio and bark area but he may not want to crawl on bark.

I put foam mats down for babies and just bring their toys out.
I look out for old trouser for crawling around i worry if they made holes in their own clothes like expensive waterproofs

[PixiePetal]

i've been looking for plastic drawers that will DRAIN! think i'm going to have to get DH to drill a few holes in the bottom of mine! ( currently in stacking boxes, but i have a spare plastic drawer thing from argos! )

some of my toys are in a Tesco blue home delivery basket thing that once got left behind :o Handles at the side and holes in to drain water out :thumbsup:

[SandCastles]

My garden has suffered from slug and snail invasion this year, so most of my outdoor toys have been cleaned/sterilised and brought indoors overnight, its not just their slimey trails, its their little black stringy poo that gets left on everything. My ELC whizz around garage got attacked and now stays as a permanent outdoor toy as the slime got into the batteries and made them leak. The toy boxes with lids on kept the toys in good condition and only the box needed washing down. I use to just sling everything into the wendy house to keep dry overnight, but snails have squatters right to this house, and I'm tired of washing and removing them every morning. When the weather turns colder I'm hoping these slimy critters will vanish.
Oh and indoor toys stay indoors and outdoor toys stay outdoors during play.
Rant over sorry to hjack your thread.

[hectors house]

My garden has suffered from slug and snail invasion this year, so most of my outdoor toys have been cleaned/sterilised and brought indoors overnight, its not just their slimey trails, its their little black stringy poo that gets left on everything. My ELC whizz around garage got attacked and now stays as a permanent outdoor toy as the slime got into the batteries and made them leak. The toy boxes with lids on kept the toys in good condition and only the box needed washing down. I use to just sling everything into the wendy house to keep dry overnight, but snails have squatters right to this house, and I'm tired of washing and removing them every morning. When the weather turns colder I'm hoping these slimy critters will vanish.
Oh and indoor toys stay indoors and outdoor toys stay outdoors during play.
Rant over sorry to hjack your thread.

We had a mouse invasion in our summer house one winter - we used to put the guinea pigs in there as too cold to stay outside and my daughter sometimes dropped some of the dry food on floor and the pesky local mice moved in and hid in some old furniture. When I cleared it out in the spring - I found the nest (likely no-one was home) and they had nibbled both sun loungers and taken out the foam - I said "ah bless", next I found they had nibbled the canvas parasol, I said "oh no", next I found they chewed up the mattress in the dolls pram and the gazebo , I said "wait til I get my hands on those mice, I'll :censored::censored::censored: kill them"!

[SYLVIA]

I dont mind toys going outside, except things that need to be in complete sets to be played with, like puzzles, shape sorters etc. If bits get scattered and lost then the toy is no good anymore.