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Have you ever wondered why those big play kitchens, cars and big plastic dinosaurs seem to stand unused a few weeks after Christmas?
Instead of large, single-use toys at Christmas or birthdays, I recommend stocking up on some investment toy sets and open-ended play materials. Our favorite gifts to give our kids are toy sets that can be added to each year on Christmas or for birthdays.
Below is a list of the toys and open-ended play materials that are frequently used in our home.
They’re novel in that they can be re-arranged and played with in endless ways.
Some can be purchased at thrift stores. For those that can’t be easily thrifted, I left links for you!
Toys Worth Investing In
- Duplos
- Magna tiles (Magna Tile brand or more for your money set)
- Wooden blocks (Natural or painted)
- Small dinosaurs or farm animals
- Toy cars (small or medium sized)
- Stuffed dogs or other animals
- Play dough accessories
- Kinetic sand accessories
- Play Mobil or Little People house (my kids just loved miniature worlds!)
- Play silks
- Wooden train with tracks
- Baby doll and accessories
- Wooden rainbow stacker
- Marble run
Open-Ended Materials
For Water Play
- Measuring cups
- Pots, pans and utensils
- Spray bottles and Squeeze bottles
For Constructive/Imaginative Play
- Vintage sheets
- Clothes pins
- Raffle tickets
- Dress-up clothes (my kids loved cowboy costumes, scarves, and old night dresses)
For Art/Creative Play
- Scissors
- Construction paper
- Sidewalk chalk
- Air dry clay in multiple colors
- Craft trays
- Roll of drawing paper
- Pipe cleaners
- Paper tape
- Wiki Sticks
For Sensory Play
- Balloons
- Easy-clean up kinetic sand
- Homemade Play Dough
For more simple, low-mess ideas to get your little ones playing independently, snag my e-book Thirty Days of Play, for over thirty creative and independent play activities for your preschooler or toddler.
Storage
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention storage strategies! For years we have LOVED our toy cabinet with removable bins. It’s great for keeping toy sets organized instead of mixed together at the bottom of a big toy box. Mine are way more likely to play when everything is all separated into those inviting little bins. (Ours is the Ikea Trofast system, but if a trip to IKEA isn’t in the cards, this one looks nearly identical!)
Little ones can pull the bins in and out themselves and it makes clean-up super straightforward. It also looks nice as it hides all the visual clutter (thank youuuuu). I think we have owned a few renditions for about ten years now.
For our arts and crafts supplies we also have two of these lightweight carts with removable plastic drawers. This one with wider drawers, and this one with lots of small ones. (By the way, these are also great for storing Legos!)
Grab a few of these toys, open the box, and leave them “laying around” and see what happens!
I can’t tell you how wonderful it is when your littles know how to keep themselves entertained throughout the day. It makes homeschooling so much easier.
For candid thoughts on faith, motherhood and homeschooling, subscribe to my Substack newsletter!
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