Now you may look at the picture below and think, “Wow. A cardboard mailing tube. And I should care because…?”
But if you’re a certain five year-old, you’d see that mailing tube, ask your daddy to cut the ends off of it, and then you’d christen ye olde mailing tube as “THE MOST! AWESOME! SUPER SLIDE! EVVVVVVVER!”
And see those Star Wars action figures off to the side of the picture? Super Slide casualties. Which is understandable, of course. The Super Slide is very tricky.
Now I certainly don’t wish bodily harm on the Stormtroopers. That would just be wrong. But I’m thinking that they’re gonna have to buck up, throw on an air cast, and brave the Super Slide again, because that sassy cardboard cylinder has provided HOURS of entertainment this week.
Hours.
In fact, I’m thinking of having it bronzed.
So. What’s the favorite non-toy toy in your house? Think it can go toe-to-toe with THE MOST AWESOME SUPER SLIDE EVVVVVVVER?
Holla back in the comments. I have a feeling I’m going to laugh my head off when I read them.
Adam S says:
I am the nanny for my 1 year old niece. Her favorite toy for the past 3 or 4 months (since she started crawling) has been an old USB mouse. She like carrying it around by the cord, chewing on the end and clicking the buttons. She also has an old keyboard to round out the set, but she doesn’t play with that nearly as much.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Lora Lynn says:
My daughter’s favorite is her box of hair things. She’ll sit and take each little miniscule rubber band or bow out. Then she’ll examine the brush and the conditioning spray. Then she’ll hand some of it to me. Then she takes it back. And so on…
For my fellas? Hands down, the favorite is my iPhone. Nothing relieves a little preschool tension like popping the bubble wrap app.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
alison says:
Our two backyard soccer goals, currently being used as a house/fort/cave complete with a table cloth roof, aprons tied to the sides, and lots of stuffed animals living in there.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
The Small Scribbler says:
We don’t actually own very many toys because my children can make toys out of everything they get their hands on.
ANYTHING that is destined for the garbage is fair game here. Scraps of fabric, bubble wrap, cardboard boxes…
And then there toys of the outdoor variety. Sticks mostly. We have a little pile of sticks right outside the back door because of the “No sticks in the house! rule. Mean mama that I am.
Great topic.
Kate
September 4th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Amanda says:
Wow! This is reminiscent of a “toy” I had as a child! My dad brought a cardboard tube home that was kind of like that, except for child size! It wasn’t quite as long as yours seems, but we spent many an hour playing, hiding in and sliding down in!
Ahh, much fun!
Amanda
September 4th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Melodies of Mercy says:
My children love the clothes baskets. One will sit in it while the other one pulls them. You know like a high speed race car. My son does most of the pulling and he thinks it is funny when his little sister crashes.
The cutest thing ever was when my son was about four and he was totally into knights. He got the tin foil and tape and made his very own knight suit. He had to walk very slow and robot like so he wouldn’t rip his suit. It was adorable!
This is my first time posting a comment on your site. I read your posts everyday and totally love it. I have gotten a few of my friends addicted too!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Holly at Crownlaiddown says:
Our non-toy would be siblings. They make noise! And holla! And squeal! And run! Real fast!
Also, I’m thinking that the leaves in the yard are awfully good entertainment for the youngest two. They love to feel them and tear them and look!at them!
Wish I could hug your neck again, Sophie.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Jeni says:
My daughter is almost 2, and her favorite non-toy is my cell phone - she’s managed to call her pediatrician when she was feverish, and once she called her Grandma when her Winnie the Pooh DVD needed to be restarted. :-)
September 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
another lisa says:
*birch tree bark makes great indian canoes a la “last of the mohicans”
*rosebuds make great lipsticks
*shedded locust shells make great monsters, or barbie pets, or even warning crunchers for booby-trapping an entrance to the tree house :)
can you tell my kids have always loved playing outside?
September 4th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Yedidyah says:
Large cardboard boxes are always a hit around here.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Prairie Rose says:
You know what else he could do with that tube?
My 6 y/o niece picked up an empty wrapping paper tube earlier this week and looked through it. She made pirate noises, and said, “Arrrr, I spy the treasure!” After looking around at things for a minute, she said, “I see your heart!”
She then put down the roll and queried, “Do you know why your heart is a treasure?”
“Why?” I asked, not really paying much attention.
“Because Jesus lives in your heart,” she responded.
What they can do with cardboard tubes…
September 4th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Lisa @Tropical Mexican says:
1. Water
2. Baby Shampoo
3. Wipes
In any order, in any combination, in any quantity.
My daughter is 3 1/2,and I can always get at least 90 min. with these items.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Christine says:
At our house it’s kitchen utensils! This mama has quite frequent bouts of “Where’s the (insert specific utensil here)?!!?” while trying to cook dinner. The usual suspects are the cheese grater (not a sharp one, used for banging with a stick), the strainer, the lemon juicer-squeezer thingie, the egg slicer (who hasn’t banjoed with their mama’s egg-slicer!?!) and the whisk. When they were tiny babies, measuring cups and spoons were the big hits. The other day the two year old found my french rolling pin and started wielding it like a club on the furniture…with a Silpat on her head! Maybe there’s a future famous chef living in my house! A mom can dream…
September 4th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Cori says:
At our house, empty pizza boxes can fuel hours of entertainment. They are turned into shields, treasure boxes, and neighborhoods for small animals. My 7 year old can play for hours in the bathroom sink with Polly Pockets, Barbies, My Little Ponies and plastic animals. They have pool parties, take a bath, go to the salon, and rescue each other from shark attacks. Plus, I have to mop afterwards so I get a dreaded chore out of the way, too!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
LeeAnn (AKA Frazzmom) says:
It’s a toss up between bubble wrap and boxes. I have actually gone out and bought the big rolls of bubble wrap strictly for entertainment purposes. The best is rolling it out in the driveway and jumping on it- sounds like firecrackers!
Boxes are also a huge hit. A few leftover boxes and some duct tape and my kids are entertained for DAYS- even the teenagers will get involved. Although they’re ‘just helping’ of course- being teenagers, they’re way to cool to actually enjoy box-fort-building! Or so they say…
September 4th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Amy says:
I agree about the laundry baskets! Attach the tie from dad’s bathrobe, take turns pulling, and it’s like Disneyland….a frugal, frugal Disneyland…
When I saw the tube picture I thought “oh, they got a loo-loo”. My son would use the empty paper towel roll and sing “loo, loo, loooooo” through it. Now we always call it a “loo loo.” Very embarassing when using that term outside of our own home. Allegedly. (at least he didn’t sing “Ricola!” I guess….)
September 4th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Rachel C says:
Ali’s favorite for quite a while was one of her Daddy’s Diet Mountain Dew Bottles with a bit of water in it. She carried it around with her, called it “Da-y Bottle!!”, kept it in her toybox, basically worshipped it. I think it was like a special item to remind her of Daddy when he wasn’t around. Like a ring, or a necklace, or a keychain. Except it was a Diet Mountain Dew Bottle.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
faithful chick says:
Tassels.
Yes…tassels.
And, might I gently add, the tassels FROM MY VERY NICE BEDROOM PILLOWS THAT CAME FROM STEINMART(s).
Over a course of about two weeks, our youngest son systematically removed eight (count them…8!) tassels from my bedroom pillows. He is fascinated by tassels. We found them under the couch, under his bedroom pillow, under his bed…everywhere.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Rachel Manchester says:
Clothes baskets! I was just taking pictures of them playing with the baskets yesterday and am planning on posting them on my blog this weekend! They also love cardboard tubes (they fight over the ones in the recycling boxes). And they make forts using bed sheets. Why,again,do we buy toys?
September 4th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
The (Almost) Amazing Mammarino says:
Scotch tape! Yards of it!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Amy Storms says:
Laundry baskets, yes. Boxes, yes. Currently my kids love to cut up junk mail and make–I don’t really know what they make with it, besides a mess, but it keeps them occupied.
When I was a kid, my mom would give me a bucket of water and a big paintbrush, and tell me to paint the cement patio. Apparently I liked how shiny it got…but then it would dry before I could finish, so I’d start all over again…and again. Mom says it kept me busy for hours. What can I say? I was quite an intelligent child.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Tonggu Momma says:
My nephews once swiped my bra and used it as a pseudo-slingshot until I caught them. Thankfully, they no longer live with us and therefore have less access to my laundry pile. They do live five minutes from us, though, so I watch them like hawks when they come over.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Annie H says:
Around here it’s empty Diet Dr. Pepper cartons. They slide over my 4 yr. old’s arm, and he’s instantly a transformer. I have to keep at least 2 around here for him. And also empty paper towel rolls, for a pirate’s scope. He has also used padded envelopes over his hand as transformer arms. Also, laundry baskets for animal traps. And many others I can’t think of right now!
September 4th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Carrie says:
This is so funny! My son is 9 months old, and he LOVES everything that’s NOT a toy. Oh, he likes his toys okay, but if you surround him with a circle of ten toys, and put anything that’s not a toy outside the circle, he will promptly leave the circle to get that item. Some of his favorite items are trash- any crinkly snack wrappers (those freezie-ice wrappers especially) or popsicle sticks.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Xandra@heart-of-service says:
We’re finally past this stage, but once upon a time the industrial size Huggies box would provide hours of entertainment as a:
a) boat
b) car
c) airplane
d) hiding place
e) turtle shell
Xandra
September 4th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Darlene says:
I wrote a post not long ago about why I had a Capri-Sun box taped with black electrical tape to my kitchen table.
Oh yes, it was cut in half long-ways (by my husband, the biggest kid of them all!) and taped over the edge, like the thing that catches the hockey pucks in air hockey.
My kids were standing at each end with a blue plastic cup from the cupboard in their hand to hit the bottle cap “puck” into each others box.
HOURS! HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT— FROM TRASH!
If you need a picture, here you go: You’ll have to scroll to the bottom of the post. :)
http://kachoo5.blogspot.com/2008/07/funday-monday.html
September 4th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Erin says:
Non toy fave - the cats. One of ours is so laid back he lets my daughter push him in a baby stroller. :)
September 4th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
susieshomemade says:
My husband always gripes about the fact that we spend tons of money on big expensive toys for our daughter, only to have it discarded for the box it came in.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Anne says:
In our house it’s the carpet sweeper. Chickabid absolutely adores it - he loves pushing it about and playing with it…he’s 7 but it is his all time favourite toy.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Mindy Richmond says:
My 15 month old son’s favorite non-toy is the empty pop bottle. We live in Michigan where we save and recycle our bottles to get the 10 cent deposit back, so we keep a small recycle bin in our kitchen. He loves to take them out and carry them around the house. Keeps him happy for minutes.
Oh, and when he’s teething or overtired? The remote control works wonders. Better than a teddy bear. It’s strangely comforting for him. I fear he’s turning into a tv junkie like his Momma.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Melissa says:
These are all great ideas!
Here’s a few more that my almost 2-year-old daughter enjoys:
1) an empty peanut butter jar and lid (to be filled with small objects and shaken until they fly all over the place)
2) Post-it notes
3) plastic lids off of juice bottles and milk jugs
4) flashlights
5) the light switch on the dryer when I’m doing laundry
6) a wet washcloth - she will wash down anything in her path if you give her one of these
September 4th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
We are THAT family says:
Well. This week it’s the expired plastic cards that I cleaned out of my wallet. My toddler immediately wanted in on the plastic action and confiscated several library/grocery cards. She worked very hard to slip the cards down her onesie, where they stayed all day. She did not learn this technique from me. I almost NEVER hide my valuables in my onesie.
When I went to changer her diaper a few minutes ago, an offer I couldn’t refuse (and that we’d both forgotten about) was stuck to her belly.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Jenn @ Casa de Castro says:
Don’t have any kids around here, but I remember a non-toy fave that my dad built for my sister and me when we were little.
He worked for a big national company, and one summer they were buying a large lot of new Steelcase desks. He brought home several of the huge cardboard cartons the desks came in and “banished” us from the basement. For two full days and nights, we weren’t allowed down there. When finally the unveiling came, we were giggly with glee. He had cut and whittled and fashioned those boxes into a five room “house” complete with working windows and doors. He’d used old hardware he had for the handles on the doors and latches on the windows. We called every friend we had, moved in a ton of pillows and blankets and stuffed animals, and our parents didn’t see us again for about six weeks! Because the cardboard was so sturdy and the “house was inside, it lasted for a long, long time.
We LOVED that thing. My dad has always been so clever and creative, and I think he got more joy out of watching us adore his creation than we did playing in it.
Thanks for that walk down “Memory Lane.” I’m going to call my dad now and thank him for making such wonderful memories for me.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Jenni says:
Once I had some old oranges that were not moldy, but were too “pithy” to eat. My kids begged me for them, and they played with them ALL DAY LONG. They all had names and personalities.
The same thing happened once when I was digging up some bulbs from some sort of daylily that I didn’t want anymore in my garden. My kids carved faces in them (their roots were hair), and played house all the livelong day.
It warms the cockles of my heart when they do stuff like that. For all the techy-ness of the world, imagination still rules.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Lesley says:
My boys love the fly swatter (ewwww!)
My favorite toy as a child was carbon paper. I could make a mean job app at 10 yrs old.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Auburn Gal Always (Keri) says:
clothes pins
baskets or bowls or boxes
shoes (my 19 m-o son LOVES to walk around in anyone’s shoes)
my kitchen sweeper
September 4th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Sarah at themommylogues says:
Shoe boxes. They are doll beds. Dog cages. They store ‘llections. Also laundry baskets. My girls flip them upside down, and one of them will be a caged animal.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Melissa says:
When my youngest was about 18 mos. old, he carried around a spray bottle of glass cleaner and a wad of toilet paper for weeks. He could not actually turn the nozzle to make it spray, but he pretended. That bottle went every with him - to the pool, in the high chair, the bathtub, etc.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Kim says:
The all time favorite in our house is boxes/laundry baskets. They play with them all the time in different ways. So funny, that I posted a pic on my blog.
The second favorite is credit cards. Either the ones that come in the mail with a fake name or old expired ones. They love to pretend to “buy” stuff
September 4th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
susan says:
cut a pool noodle in half. it makes a great marble “slide”. use the two halves to have marble races.
beware of marbles underfoot though.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
tammy says:
Most recently an empty diaper box. The 2 year old and 5 year old played till all sides collapsed and came to tears a few times while trying to ’share’.
Oh, almost forgot…
An Elmo birthday card.
The 2 year old loves Elmo (don’t they all!) and when he opened his birthday card with Elmo on the front, held it tight, talked to Elmo incessantly and invited Elmo to have cake and ice cream. He had no idea what his gifts were…it was an all Elmo night.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Big Mama says:
My couch makes an excellent trampoline when I’m not looking.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
scott says:
Icaught my girls making their own “technology.”
One of them made a small cardboard iPod. Saw her walking around the house with an actual set of earbuds plugged into the box.
They’ve also made a laptop out of a pizza box, I think.
They’ve saved us hundreds of dollars.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Clara Soundara says:
My son has had one of those telescoping swifter duster handles for over a year. He uses it for everything from a sword to a microphone and just today it was a “hobo stick” to carry his bandanna that he had all his stuff tied up in. It’s way better than any toy - and the thing hasn’t broken after all this time.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Bob Cleveland says:
All the Stormtroopers, DOWN the TUBES?
I’m betting Darth Vader is fit to be tied!!
September 4th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
jana (sidetrack'd) says:
Gotta love those imaginative “toys”. “Round here it’s a bag of black beans, a muffin tin, and a coffee scoop; keeps the toddler happy for hours (minutes at least).
September 4th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Hope@Pinkadoodledoo says:
Non-toy toys around here usually involve food (even though they aren’t supposed to play at the table!) Just check out the post I put up this afternoon.
http://pinkadoodledoo.blogspot.com/2008/09/name-that-picture.html
September 4th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Libby says:
My 7 month old loves to play with measuring cups.
Oh, and the dog’s tail.:)
September 4th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Lori says:
Long time reader. First time comment leaver.
I took one look at that picture, and thought to myself. “That’s the worlds most super awesome, biggest light saber I have ever seen”. Now that I know what it really is I can spread the word to my 5 & 3 year old.
In are house anything that has even a slightly tubular shape is a light saber. Their favorite is the straw. We have them all over are house. They often eat there fast food real quickly so they can use their straws, then steal yours. Then they have the world’s most super awesome, biggest, light saber battle ever seen.
The funny thing is we have 5 of the toy light sabers. One in every color. Go figure. They hardly ever see those little hands.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Ann G says:
Exercise mat!!! We bought it to stretch and exercise….our 4 year old slides down the hall with it, does flips, treats it like a trampoline, all manner of activities….Who woulda thunk it???
September 4th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Chelsea says:
Daddy’s tie rack. Not the rack itself, but the ties. My kids spend HOURS creating very clever (although skimpy) costumes using those ties.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Texas in Africa says:
The kids I babysit, who are clearly future engineers, build suits of armor by cutting up coke cans, punching holes in them, and tying them together with little pieces of wire. Then they line it with duct tape, so they won’t get scratched. Unbelievable and a VERY good way to consume hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of mischevious little boy time.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Amanda says:
Jackson’s is the cardboard backing from the packaging of one of his monster truck toys. It has pictures of a bunch of other monster trucks and he loves to look at them. The thing has gotten a little funky lately. I might have to laminate it. Fun question!
September 4th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Karate Mom says:
My daughter loves to take the junk mail and receipts from when I balance the checkbook and play games with them (store, school, whatever…she’s 8!) My son’s best non-toy is probably Blankey (that’s the blanket’s name!) which was made for him and is very big and great for making into a cape or a sling or a holster for his swords or for making forts. They also have a game that they made up called The Thorn Game which is something like the carpet is made of thorns so they have to lay out things like pillows and blankets to step on and if they step on the carpet, they die. They can spend HOURS playing The Thorn Game!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Pastormac's Ann says:
My 3 year old daughter (home from Ethiopia just one year last month) likes to talk on an old land-line telephone that used to hang on the wall in our kitchen. Just tonight she was talking to someone who was going to bring her a cheeseburger, french fries and a peanut butter sandwich. Think I’d like to talk to that guy. I’m kinda hungry.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Amy in AL says:
Our kiddie potty seat makes a lovely hat.
Now if we could only use it as God and/or the manufacturers intended…
September 4th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Kel says:
Laundry baskets and boxes are perennial favorites around here. They also love building forts with the couch cushions and blankets.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
rachel says:
A bottle of Germ X. My baby (4 months) stares it down!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Stretch Mark Mama says:
Oh glory. OH GLORY. My (almost) 7YO has always been the most resourceful kid around. Spooky is what it is. I’ll ask him if he wants to pack a toy up for the van ride (etc) and he’ll show me some scrap of garbage and say, “This is fine, mom.” AND IT WILL BE, much to my amazement and embarrassment.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Megan says:
The 18-month-old prefers Grandma’s cane, although I can’t say I particularly enjoy all the times he’s hit me with it in his ardor to play.
The 3.5 year old likes to play with the other grandma’s iPhone and other equally expensive gadgets. He’s able to make the TiVo yield to his will and he’s better at Wii golf than I will ever be.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Kit says:
I have two things.
Today at Costco, all the children wanted to bring home his or her own box, just for a toy. I thought, “This is it! Why have I been buying toys? All I need to do is come to Costco and we can all get FREE boxes!”
My daughter actually plays with the fake credit card that sometimes comes in the mail. She calls it her “baby dahlin’” and tells me that it is sleeping and not to wake it up. Too much!
September 4th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Holley says:
My kids had days of fun with the boxes our kitchen cabinets came in. They were all connected across the front yard in a complex fort that served as a space station, Great Escape-like tunnels, military fort, and cowboy hideout. It was a sad day when they had to go, but the kids still talk about the monumental fort.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Krista says:
Yeah, I have a “no sticks or rocks in the house” rule, too. Seriously, my son needs no outdoor toys. He is perfectly content with a rock in one hand (we have an abundance in our *lovely* landscaped apartment complex) and a stick in the other. To poke things with of course!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Jackie @ Our Moments Our Memories says:
Tomatoes…picked fresh from the garden. My 2 yr old gets the biggest kick out of playing with them…she even carries them around in her purse. I have to watch her closely or she’ll go and pick them while they are still green. I mentioned this on my blog and some sweet southern sisters jumped in and commented that all I needed to do was fry those babies up…I’m sad to say I don’t have a clue as to how to do that.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:31 am
Susanne says:
I love the toys that kids create themselves! They are the best ones. One day my little girl was role-playing with pencils. Kids are so precious!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 3:56 am
mandy says:
My kids love the tops of acorn. They become little beds for any bug they find & then kill…
They also love my hard cheese grater. You know the style they use at Olive Garden. They take out the blade & use it for a space car for their veggie tales.
Washrags. They make great Barbie beds. Or roll them up to use as couch cushions.
This list could go on & on.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Happy Geek says:
MY kids liked the costco sized empty bottles of tide. (Back when they were HUGE.) THey called them their orange cars and would push them around the kitchen island for hours. Literally.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Becky Jo says:
My sweet little princess girl LOVES - and I do mean L.O.V.E.S! her daddy’s turkey decoy. So much so that her daddy had to go out and but a new one for himself, as it is now HER turkey decoy. Or, as she calls it, “tuwkey fwend”. So, I would kill for scattered stormtroopers and/or Barbies sliding down a tube. Instead I have a limp, dead looking, rubber turkey floating around my house and being wrapped in blankies on a regular basis.
Try explaining THAT one to the pastor when he brings his daughter over for a playdate!
Yeah! That is how we roll here!!!
Becky Jo
September 5th, 2008 at 7:00 am
WriterChic (Monica) says:
Seth is only 8 months, so we’re still discovering non-toy toys, but so far, a power strip takes the cake. Photographic evidence here: http://writerchicnlawnboy.blogspot.com/2008/08/weekend-in-review-part-i.html
And lately he’s taken to eating carpet like a goat, so that’s keeping him entertained, too. Oy.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Michelle says:
Mylar wrapping paper and playing cards. When we were in China picking up our daughter, she kept trying to get the plastic hotel room key. We finally figured out that we could give her a playing card and that would keep her entertained for hours. If she lost it, that was okay, there were plenty more in the deck. She also got a present while we were there that was wrapped in red mylar - and that went everywhere with us. It even made it home and I think she still had it for a few months after that. She would cover up her animals, crinkle it, and use it to wrap anything else she could get her hands on.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Melissa in Mississippi says:
My two boys fight over the cardboard tubes left at the end of rolls of toilet paper and paper towels. My youngest, who is 3, likes to pretend he’s a pirate by putting one over one hand and saying “Arr” or by putting one on his foot and running around the house screaming “peg leg, peg leg”.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Suzie says:
The splash guard off of the potty was a real hit for a while. It’s on hiatus at this moment, but will make a comeback for one final season in a few months.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Dnksmommy/ Lorrie says:
My 7 yr old dd spent the afternoon one day a week or so ago making a big screen TV and some popcorn out of construction paper for her two favorite stuffed animals. She spent HOURS playing with these items.
I spent hours later finding all the paper popcorn pieces all over her room and the living room……
September 5th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Amanda says:
If I buy my little girl (4) a new toy, she will take off the tag and I kid you not, THAT is what she will play with. That little piece of scratched up cardboard will get toted around FOR WEEKS. Lord have mercy how much money I could have saved if I’d known this earlier!!!! Get me a box of tags!! It’s even better if it has a little rubber band on it, they’re her favourites!! She’s a treasure :-)
September 5th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Jen@!Balancing Beauty and Bedlam says:
Since I am 70 gazzillionth down in the comments, I have worn out just reading them with absolutely no input…except to say with five kiddos my self, yep, we have a few (too) many.:)
September 5th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Francine says:
Ha ha ha, this has me cracking up. But I think I can top everything. My oldest (now 16) would love to play with a wipee. Whenever she got restless in church on Sunday nights when there was no nursery, out would come the wipees. She would wipe her face and hands and everything else for an HOUR! After church Sunday nights she would never need a bath. They would also work on long road trips! Good stuff, those wipees.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Tara says:
Send me the prize. My sons have spent HOURS AND HOURS outside in the past few weeks with an ice cream bucket. Which they’re filling with June beetle exoskeletons.
Yes, I have a VERY strict “nature stays outside” rule. The bucket is in the barn. :)
September 5th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Stacey says:
The hose wins at our house. All summer long the boys play with the hose. They fill up buckets, they make mud puddles, they hook it up to the sprinker, they make their own rainfall, they make the playyard into a water park.
Good thing we are on a well.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Bob Cleveland says:
When I was a kid, my favorite nontoy toys were..
A huge ray about 2-1/2 feet wide, made of metal. It was shaped like a typical inner plate, with an edge angled upwards. I used to roll a marble around the edge, seeing how many circles I could make with it.
Then there was big cardboard boxes. I’d cut one box into strips and make channels that would go from top to bottom and all around another box and then roll marbles down through it. Dad said I should have been an engineer.
And remember, we’re talking about the mid- and late-1940’s here, young’uns.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Bob Cleveland says:
“Ray” = “Tray”.
Darn laptop keys.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Moriah @ Please Pass the Salt says:
Oh I can so see my kids doing that! Drew sometimes up-ends a flat box or somesuch and zings his matchbox cars down. For hours.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:38 am
KountryMama says:
My daughter used to make cell phones out of notebook paper.
Also, she got a karaoke machine when she was small, with a real microphone. Instead of the real microphone, she prefers to use her hairbrush, a toilet paper roll, or any other cylindrical object for a microphone.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Amy says:
Don’t laugh, but my son is always amused with empty Pampers boxes. He can spend hours playing with them.
Too bad diapers aren’t quite as cheap as cardboard boxes…
September 5th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Natalie @ I AM (not) says:
Pull-ups make great hats.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Julie H. says:
This summer it was cardboard boxes for the kids. They make great boats as well as a super fast slide going down the stairs.
Take care,
Julie
September 5th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Angie Sellers says:
I had to share a picture instead- because a picture is worth a thousand words, on what one of Noah’s non-toys are-
http://www.helpmeeettosam.blogspot.com
Angie
September 5th, 2008 at 9:28 am
nicole says:
Laundry baskets of course. My kids like to stand on them, grab a sword or other club-like object, and pretend they are playing guitar in a rock band. Well, a rock band that sings Chris Tomlin and VBS songs. While wearing sunglasses too. It is pure gold.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Christina says:
My 17-month-old son LOVES playing with toilet paper! It’s been funny to see that as he gets older the way he plays with it changes. He used to just shred it and pread it everywhere, but now he puts it in his pots and pans, in boxes, or in the trunk of his truck–and he picks every single little scrap up.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Superchikk says:
Chickster’s (just turned 1) favorite non-toy items include:
*An old computer keyboard (the boy sounds like he can already type, just clicks away at the thing)
*Just about anything he can open/close. Cabinets, drawers, etc.
*Empty yogurt tubs, the big ones, pringles cans, empty Puff cans, etc. He’s learned how to take the lids off and is just about to figure out how to put them back on.
*A basket full of laundry. Apparently it MUST be emptied.
*And anything that will hold still long enough for him to figure out how to get his teeth on it. He loves to use his new top teeth (all four of them) to bite things.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Dina Crawford says:
My boys love playing with the laundry basket, they push other toys around in it all over the house.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Short Stop says:
The toilet.
Flush. Giggle. Flush. Giggle. Throw in random objects. Flush. Giggle.
Repeat until Momma figures out why it’s so quiet in said bathroom.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Kelly says:
The new toy of the moment is the ring that came with our monster lawn dart set. The safe kind, not the kind with metal.
The ring is about as thick as a straw and you can unhook a part of it so it turns into a jump rope. My 20 month old will play with that ring for a good hour, unhooking it, putting it back together, stepping on it, shaking it, etc.
Who knew the ring was more entertainment than the darts.
I doubt this will be the Super Slide of Awesomeness. How can you top that.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Marie says:
My son used to love emoty paper towel rolls. Free entertainment for hours !!!!
My 17 month old nephew loves balloons so much that I have threatened to buy him balloons for Christmas.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:59 am
lynn says:
Cardboard box that the washing machine was in….. days and days of forts, playhouses, etc. When it finally was coming apart - it was a sled.
great stuff
September 5th, 2008 at 11:03 am
gwen says:
My son’t favorite non-toy toy is a vegetable steamer. It is a great spaceship…The sides go up and down…It is even silver…Hours of entertainment.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Lisa says:
My Tupperware. I seriously can not put away left overs because every plastic container is being used as a doll bed, or swimming pool, or pet cage, or…. Our fridge is full of mysterious foil wrapped food.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Jen says:
When my oldest daughter was around 3 months old she squealed in delight at the site of a red Pringles can. The friendly face on the front became “Mario” and it was her BFF for months to come. He even went on vacation with us.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Ren says:
My little Evie loves to play in the laundry. She has spend HOURS sorting it, putting it back into the basket and resorting it. At only 11 1/2 months she is well on her way to taking it over for me ^^
September 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Barb says:
When Blue was about 2 he found a tube of Christmas wrapping paper. He unrolled it from the front door straight to the back door, for about a year he would run back and forth on that paper “trail”. When Brody and Kristin moved them to Nashville, I sent it in a box. Wasn’t any use to me without him.
Barb
Brody’s Mom
September 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Tabitha says:
My 3 year old daughter likes our broom. She drags it all over the house. Her favorite thing to do with it is lean it up against the arm of the couch and climb up to the top. She will do it for hours - which drives me crazy, but is apparently lots of fun for her!
I’m glad you’re still doing the before and after thing. I have been taking pictures of all of ours, but I need more time too - so the 26th is perfect!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Courtney says:
My 3 1/2 yr old LOVES looking at Thomas the Tank Engine catalogs. Or any of the toy catalogs that come around Christmas time. Great for long car trips.
Thankfully, he thinks it is a “book” and doesn’t ask me for any of the toys!
I agree with EVERYONE about the boxes and bubble wrap. My mom brings a stack of it every time she visits.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Lavonda says:
for the boy AND the girl in my house, it’s definitely two things - always together:
pillow shams and afghans. (let me clarify: every single pillow and pillow sham and blanket and afghan in the whole house.) All manner of tents and towers and castles have been built, propped, and anchored around here. And absolutely ANYTHING will do for an anchor: a door, a chair, a box, you name it.
and for all the work it takes to assemble these masterpieces, you CAN NOT take it down the same day. It must be enjoyed and played in for at least two or three days.
and it’s a bonus if they can get the dog to stay in there too.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Suzie Eller says:
When my twins were a little over two, I walked in the back door from getting the mail. I heard “catch me!”. In horror I looked up and saw a little flying body propelling off of the top of the refrigerator. I dropped the mail and caught her little body with relief–until I heard one second later, “catch me, too!”. Her twin hooked me by the neck on the way down and we all slammed to the floor. I lay prostrate with the breath knocked out of me while my twins sat on top of me and giggled. It was the best ride of their life.
In the two minutes that I had been outside, they had climbed out of their playpen, onto the hamper, up to the washing machine, and somehow gripped their way up to the top of the fridge. Anything climbable was their favorite toy, including me.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Shawna says:
Unfortunately it is the boys’ mattresses. They are their superslides. Downside? We have to help put the bed back together. Ugh.
Also, the bed provides an awesome fort. Can’t say that I blame them, there.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Sarah Morgan Whitfield says:
Hi! You don’t know me, but my name is Sarah Whitfield. I love the layout of your blog!! How did you get it like this? I’m new to the whole blogging thing & I want to change my layout.
Thank you,
Sarah Whitfield
September 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Katrina (Callapidder Days) says:
Hey! One of those tubes is sitting on our landing right now, clearly resting in between bouts of being a tunnel or a slide or a hiding place for legos.
Other favorites here: anything cardboard, bubble wrap (for me..er..I mean, for the 2-year-old), and my 9-year-old would love to play with packing peanuts but I just can’t allow that. The potential for Gigantic Mess is just too great.
September 5th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Missy says:
My 10 month old’s favorite toy is the remote control. Unfortunately she has to fight daddy for it, but usually she wins! There’s a button that makes all the other buttons bright red and she loves to push that and laugh like crazy. When she learns how to turn the channels I think we’ll have to find a new toy!
September 5th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Gail Sowell says:
We have an all-out war in my house about every other day. You see that is when the toilet paper roll is emptied and one little princess becomes the proud owner of a brand, spankin’ new telescope.
September 5th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Mel says:
Hmm…let’s see.
Laundry baskets
Paper towel/wrapping paper rolls
Headphones - My daughter would wear them and say she is a movie star. I’m not sure where she picked up that.
Large boxes
September 5th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Amy says:
Mud pies. The other night, my son wanted to bring them in, place some on his bookshelf and sleep with one. Um, no, not ever, son! Can you imagine the horror if slob and mud pie were to mix it up in the night?
September 5th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Elizabeth says:
NOTHING beats a cardboard box. My kids can make anything from a cardboard box. The latest was a sled that my daughter made. Too bad its summer…. oh, and we live in the Middle East- in the dessert!
September 5th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Michelle Burrill says:
The kids usually love our old dead cell phones or our old dead remote controls. The boys have also always loved the roll in the middle of the paper towels or the roll in the middle of the toilet paper. They use these in similar fashion to how your son uses his. Boys are very inventive with their tubing.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
kristen says:
An empty under the bed plastic storage container. I actually just put pictures of how they “play” with it up on my blog…
September 6th, 2008 at 10:45 am
jen says:
Miller’s favorite non toy in the house is the vacuum cleaner attachments and he wears me out with them…when i get that cleaner out he starts taking the attachments apart…aghhhh!
September 6th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Janice says:
TAMPONS…yep. They discovered that they swell up to 5 times their size and they have awesome cords to swing them with. Then the use the cardboard pieces as building blocks. This was my first time leaving a comment although I have read your blog for a year now! Love it! And I actually saw you in passing at Deeper Still in Atl and I was so shocked I saw you… I couldn’t say, “hey, I know you!” for the life of me. It is a small small world. Janice in Dublin, Ga
September 6th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
PJ says:
Cardboard tube!! Right up there with the bubble wrap from boxes. It makes a wonderful dance surface. Much better than the ones that play real MUSIC when you dance on it. The plastic bubble wrap not only pops if you stomp just right, it also provides texture and bounce to the bare dancing feet.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Paige says:
Oh, little cars go through those nicely, too. When I got my two chairs from Ikea, you should have seen the fun that the kids had in those big old boxes!
September 6th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Cin'sforgivin says:
Our most favorite non-toys were anything you could swing on. Like the refrigerator door. Or the cabinets. Or the shelving in our closets (until he pulled one down on top of him). Our son is now 18, but all of our heavy oak cabinet doors are warped due to his hanging on them.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Susan says:
Well, my children are all teenagers now, but they still get creative. My 17 yo son just returned from working with my BIL this summer. My son made Mr. Plank to entertain his young cousins. He is a piece of a plank, about 6×3 inches tall, with a goofy face drawn on him. He doesn’t do much, according to my boy, just sits and watches - he’s a good listener. But my nephews loved him. A piece of wood. He has also entertained these same cousins by getting everyone under the table and shaking the table, making “space ship” sounds - they traveled the galaxies together for an afternoon. The little boys had a blast - and I think the big boy did too! ;)
September 7th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Roxanne says:
When my son was 2, he began speech therapy. His therapist had a bean box–a big old plastic box FULL of dried pinto beans–kind of like a rice table but in a box and easier to clean up. She would bury toys in it, and Thad would have to say the name of whatever he found. He LOVED it, so we replicated the bean box at home.
After much playing, the bean box went the way of the do-do and was forgotten, then dismantled.
Our son is now 7.
This summer, we repainted our house to put it on the market. My husband was taking off all of the outlet covers when I heard hysterical laughter. We had one cover that had a round hole for a stereo wire–which we’d never installed–and it was the perfect size in which to put a dried pinto bean–and at the perfect height for our then two/three year old son to reach–and it had been in a little corner behind the couch which was a PERFECT place to hide. Inside the outlet box, behind the cover, were enough dried pinto beans to make some Tex-Mex.
So, I’d have to say a box of dried pinto beans and a wall outlet.
September 7th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Greta says:
First time commenter. Love your blog and I love this post!
My two girls (4 and 2) love to play with tissue wrapping paper. Their favorite thing to do is to spread it all over the floors and declare the house has been decorated. They also spread them all over and say they are their gymnastics mats. Then proceed to do somersaults for at least an hour.
Runner up is cardboard tubes (paper towels, toilet paper, wrapping paper)….perfectly used as telescopes or swords.
September 7th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
mommymel says:
My triplets favorite toy for a long time was a big bag of frozen juice can lids. I saved like 100 of them thinking I’d make a memory game or something with them (still a good idea). But I never got around to it. They used those lids as play money, letters to mail, made paths for their cars and dolls, everything. They were all over forever.
Runner up is a quilt - the designs are great for driving cars on!
September 8th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
jubilee says:
My youngest son, aka whirling dervish, loved my mom’s cell phone and fax machine. He somehow knew the difference between the toy ones that we tried putting in his path and the real thing. Only the real thing would do.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Shelly says:
I don’t know if you’ll actually read this comment, since I am MANY days late in responding, but my son gets all upset when he sees an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll in the trash. Ever since his daddy annointed them “ta-doo-ta-doos” he has been hooked!
September 11th, 2008 at 5:15 pm