Saturday 3 December 2011

5 Best Christmas presents for toddlers

(Goblin is 25 months old)
I recently read an excellent post on GeekDad (Found at Wired Magazine). It was entitled "The 5 best toys of all time". Very appropriate in the run up to Christmas. And what were they? 
1. A Stick
2. A Box
3. String
4. A Cardboard tube
5. Dirt
This is so true. While most of us probably enjoy shopping for exciting, interesting and possibly educational toys for our kids its good to remember that children's imagination can be encouraged and developed very effectively with really simple objects. I often find if I fall into the trap of buying an expensive toy for Goblin he will bring me back to reality by having more fun running around the garden with a stick. 

GeekDad points out that string is probably not a great idea for really tiny kids. I have to agree. While I am happy to leave Goblin alone with small objects that will fit in his mouth - he tends to put them in his mouth but not to swallow them - I wouldn't leave him alone with enough string to wrap round his neck - I think he'd do this way to quickly and effectively. I guess we all know our own kids abilities and gauge what risks we are willing to take with them. So for me, I would replace number 3 in the list with Water. Water from the tap or better still naturally formed puddles. 
This one is quite hard to fit in a stocking, but the others could definitely be wrapped up for Christmas. Now I'm off to find a good stick.

9 comments:

  1. Brilliant - and yes I think water is a good substitute, I have also found that sometimes the most expensive or attractive to me resources are the least appealing to the children. Thanks for joining up again with the link up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And water goes really well with #5, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is so true! Master D loves playing with those 5, plus your substitute :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful post. And you are so right! Water is a MUST, along with everything else GeekDad mentioned.
    Thanks for dropping over my way. So pleased you enjoyed my Starfish Beanbag Tute ღ

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are so right that dirt and water are a good combo - my jeans on Thursday were proof of this when Goblin decided he needed to be carried back from our walk after splashing around in mud and puddles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. With 5 boys I am right with you on this one, our Country Kids post this week is a laugh a minute with water! Thanks for linking up again:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ha- great list! Thank you for sharing this with us on The Sunday Showcase

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the second photo of running through the puddle - that looks like great fun!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Absolutely agree! I was just thinking this morning as I watched my girls play 'mummy and baby at the shops' for 20 minutes with their toothbrushes as the characters, that really the best gift I could possibly give them is the gift of imagination -- in which case I really probably shouldn't buy them anything for Christmas!

    ReplyDelete

I have decided to turn off comments on the blog as I am being inundated with spam. I do this with sadness as I love genuine comments from readers. If you would like to leave a comment please email me at TamingtheGoblin@gmail.com or visit the TamingtheGoblin FaceBook page (you can access it through the FB icon in the top right corner of the blog homepage).
Thank you for taking the time to read the blog.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...