Comments on: Day 14: Creative Toy Replacements

By: Weird Science Kids

Weird Science Kids — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:49:00 +0000

I love the Oobleck experiment. I did it with my 4 year old son this weekend. He learned about non-newtonian fluids, polymers, and molecule chains. Cool stuff! We found a fun site with neat science experiments like this. I will put the link below for anyone interested.

http://weirdsciencekids.com/FunExperiments.html

By: Jamie - Family Focused Fun

Jamie - Family Focused Fun — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:23:00 +0000

Amy – This is SUCH a fabulous list! I can’t wait to try some of these things out! I’m linking for future reference!!

By: mama k

mama k — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 23:47:00 +0000

Cool recipes! Thanks!

Great post. I've been thinking alot lately of just limiting toys altogether. With all the recent toy recalls, I am only buying non-plastic hopefully not made-in-china, fair trade toys from here on out. I can't guarantee what the grandparents will buy him, but I feel like at least my money won't be going to fund sweatshops and shoddy quality.

For now, I'm going to try the rotating toys!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:13:00 +0000

When my son was 2 years old he had to have stitches. His dad promised him a toy if he would be good and hold still.
When he went to the dollar store for his toy, he cried for the “monster hands”. After we figured out what it was we were nearly hysterical with laughter, They were Spaghetti servers priced 2/$1.
Can’t beat that for a cheap toy.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:49:00 +0000

great playhouse idea! We also try to stick to holidays for toys. I have baskets in each room for the toys to go in- this really speeds up clean up time. Just toss toys in the basket! And it helps keep our small apartment organized!

Thanks for the fun recipes Amy! I am going to print them out and save them for when Jake is older. Jakesmom

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:07:00 +0000

What a great post! My wife used to be an Earth Science teacher, so she has a lot of fun recipes like the tornado one you mentioned. She loves making “Oobleck” (based on the Dr. Seuss book) which I’ll have to find the recipe for, but it’s basically corn starch, baking powder (?) and a few other things, with food coloring tossed in for fun. What you end up with is a substance that’s malleable and shapeable, almost liquid like, but if you punch it really hard it’s a super strong solid. Messy but fun!

And I agree with Tammy’s post. NOTHING beats a huge TV or refrigerator box. Decorate it with stickers and markers, cut out a window here or there and you’re set. We had an old TV box for a good month or two in my 4-year-old’s room, which he ended up turning into his own TV where he’d put on puppet shows and such from inside.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:20:00 +0000

I have a recipe for slime that my kids enjoy. Gets a bit messy, but if you clean it up fast or limit the kids to the tile it's not bad.

My husband got a huge cardboard box a few years back from Home Depot. Double thickness - the kids could sit on the top. He made it into a playhouse that lasted about 3-1/2 years.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:48:00 +0000

I don’t have a toy recipe, but I do have a food recipe that my kids love. We make elephant ears out of soft taco shells. I heat up a little oil in a skillet and put a soft taco shell in it until browned on both sides. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar or with powdered sugar and enjoy.

By: Lori - Queen of Dirty Laundry

Lori - Queen of Dirty Laundry — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:59:00 +0000

We try not to buy toys very often, or they would overtake our small house – we pretty much stick to Christmas time and gifts from others for our toy supply.

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas of other things our children can enjoy.

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:40:00 +0000

Wow, what great recipes! Thanks for posting all of those!!!