Children have been fascinated by...

[Mouse]

... a pencil sharpener!

I don't think any of them had ever seen one before, never mind use one!

Mindee's pencil had broken, so I got the sharpener out. The looks on their faces was pure astonishment as they crowded round to see what I was doing. That was followed by them all taking turns to have a go. We now have a tub of very sharp colouring pencils!

Who needs fancy toys :laughing:

[loocyloo]

I got an electric sharpener for my birthday ... we sharpened sooo many pencils it broke within a few days!

[tess1981]

Toilet roll tubes.... They put them on their arms and pretend they are robots or . the tubes are bracelets. They put them in the water bowls today and were not impressed they went into a soggy mess

[Mouse]

Toilet roll tubes.... They put them on their arms and pretend they are robots or . the tubes are bracelets. They put them in the water bowls today and were not impressed they went into a soggy mess

My own boys used to do that with cardboard tubes from rolls of wrapping paper, so they had huge long arms :laughing:

[ziggy]

I have box in kitchen for items to go in recycling bin. Yoghurt pots etc are washed before being put in there and 1yr olds just love playing with contents. I guess it's a new toy every day lol

[Kiddleywinks]

I have a box of 'recyclables'
Milk carton tops - used to count, post in the 'bisto' postbox, to flip like tiddlywinks, spinners etc
Yoghurt pots - small ones for mini sand castles, 2 compartment ones for painting (water one side, paint the other)
Spread cartons and lids - great for loom bands, Pom poms, sequins, googly eyes, and all the other small fiddly crafty stuff
Tubes from loo rolls, kitchen roll, wrapping paper, cling film etc - robots, bracelets, trumpets, sowing seeds etc
Small lidded containers from takeaways and supermarkets - great for stacking and building towers

Every week, I get an assortment of different sized boxes from my local shop for the kids to play with, then into my recycle bin they go.
We've used them to make puppet theatres, shop counters, dens, igloo - that was fun lol

Who needs expensive toys anyway lol

[cathtee]

Mine were facinated with the printer the other day, I got through so much paper printing pictures for them to colour it was so nice to watch their faces choosing which picture and seeing it come out the other end :)

[FloraDora]

I have a LO age 3 who much prefers to sharpen his pencil than use it...
Another LO walked around this afternoon with a piece of slate wrapped in a leaf....placing it picking it up, hiding it from me, unwrapping...a lovely free activity.

[Mouse]

Isn't it fab what they can find to play with?

[Glitter]

The more time I spend with children,the more I realise that toys are really for parents, not children.

Parents think children need lots of toys to be entertained and to learn, but they don't. I am using less toys now than I ever have. I find the children get much more out of playing with everyday items (boxes, remote controls, paper bags and old sheets this week), than the do with lots of expensive toys.

Tomorrow I think we will spend the day sharpening pencils and playing with the sharpenings. Does a pencil sharpener count risky play?

[smurfette]

The more time I spend with children,the more I realise that toys are really for parents, not children. Parents think children need lots of toys to be entertained and to learn, but they don't. I am using less toys now than I ever have. I find the children get much more out of playing with everyday items (boxes, remote controls, paper bags and old sheets this week), than the do with lots of expensive toys. Tomorrow I think we will spend the day sharpening pencils and playing with the sharpenings. Does a pencil sharpener count risky play?

Lol and the sharpenings would be good sensory play!!