to think my kids are strange

[Racheyg]

Ok, ds 1 and 2 have some amazing toys, we sit down and play with them encourage ect but all the want to play with is........cables, switches, plugs, remote controls and such like.

When ds1 started doing it we were like, oh well he's unique but then ds2 does these things and ds1 has started back up with these quirks.

Is it just my kids that are strange?

please note this is lighthearted

[iamEarthymama]

I saw lots of those busy boards on Pinterest the other as I am looking for a break from the usual toys.

When my grandson3 was about 3 yrs old his favourite game to play with his best friend involved wearing sieves on their heads and brandishing items of toy food, a piece of celery and a banana, as their devices.
I have a fab video of them, it used to draw many amusing glances on public transport.

[SleepFreeZone]

DS3 recently attended holiday club and after one session I picked him up and asked the care stuff that he'd been up to. Apparently he'd taken it upon himself to fix their printer and it was now working perfectly. The kid is three and obsessed with gadget, buttons, cables and 'fixing stuff'. His favourite toy at the moment is a big of old phones/routers and obsolete tech shit. His father is an engineer so I'm assuming this is where the compulsion comes from.

[altik]

Yep, house full of toys, but when they were younger my girls used to love playing a game called "dead people". Made themselves graves and everything!

[VioletBam]

Imperial that's bloody genius! I'm laughing here at the thought of those thrilled little boys and their parent's faces when they arrived home with a plunger!

[Racheyg]

Omg that is such an amazing idea. Literally everything on that board my ds's go crazy for.

I second the sky remote both dcs had old ones to play with..,,,,,,,and what the hell is it with the Christian channel ds2 always managed to find it to

Melissa and Doug do a doors and key thing that dcs will love, I just can't bring myself to buy it thou

[ShtoppenDerFloppen]

Oh, and when they get a bit older, a board with drilled holes, a small set of tools, some screws and some nuts and bolts can make for an afternoon of low-tech fun.

Even better if you have wood scraps, nails and a hammer. I still ahve the first 'dinosaur' DS made when he was 5

[ShtoppenDerFloppen]

To make it, I just used a piece of plywood, painted it before I attached anything, and secured everything with plain wood screws.

To decide what went on it, I went to the hardware store and played with things... latches, switches, hinges, caster wheels, those spring things that keep you from banging your door against the wall... if it seems interesting, it probably is.

15+ years later, it is still making its rounds

[tripsymae]

Shtoppen - that is just brilliant!

Please could you post some details of how you made it - what kind of board, how did you fix the thingies on it, etc?

DGS would love something like that, and DD and I would love making it.

[ShtoppenDerFloppen]

We made a board similar to this one when our oldest was a toddler. We would change the pictures under the doors so that they never knew who was coming to "visit".

It was always the most popular toy around here, both with our DCs and guests.

We have since passed it on, it is now making the rounds with our friends.

[ImperialBlether]

I've told this on here before, but it reminds me of taking my son and a couple of his friends into a pound shop to buy things for his party bags - there were going to be ten boys and he bought ten sink plungers. They all loved them - said it was the best party bag they'd had.

[Ifeelyourpain2]

This is my son to a T!! He has had a lot of comments on his future as an engineer due to his constant desire to investigate anything mechanical, electrical etc. Quite often when we have visitors he greets them with "Come and see our hoover!!!!". He has just turned 3.

It's fine if he finds something appropriate he can play with, but a lot of the time it is really inappropriate things like plugs and things that can be quite dangerous (and I'm pretty laid back about whether what he is doing is actually a risk), or that he can break (ie. my camera!).

I do feel it is a good sign though as he is meticulous in the way he examines things and tries to work out how they function, but he is quite obsessive over it....

[AudreyBradshaw]

My sisters favourite toy as a toddler was the cheese mouli grater.

[Marmite27]

Oyster babe, I feel your pain, I've spent far too much of my ML listening to Christian Radio

[Nataleejah]

Even toddlers can understand the difference between plastic tat and a 'real thing'

[Oysterbabe]

We've just given DD 8 months her an old sky remote to play with as got sick of her changing it to the Christian music channel all the time. She's never been happier but we have to tell her she can't play with it and take it off her frequently to ensure she still wants it. Toys she's allowed to play with have limited appeal to her.

[LuluJakey1]

DS, 20months, has loads of toys - DH is always buying him stuff and it drives me mad because it has taken the house over and actually DS prefers:

Playing with the cats' catnip mice
Emptying his toy box very carefully and then putting it all back very uncarefully - this is a good time occupier I find
Running in and out of a large cardboard box
Looking for the empty snail shells in the garden after the starlings have eaten the snails out of them. He brings them and puts them in his toybox
Jangling a bunch of old keys
Hiding the channel changer
Throwing a small ball around - in any direction at anyone and anything that happens to get is its way and he laughs like a drain at it

[sleepy16]

Atm my 7 month old is only interested in sucking her brothers toes!
And the cable of the hoover!

[PoohBearsHole]

[PoohBearsHole]

mine turn boxes into box troll outfits //hmm and they aren't toddlers anymore......

[VioletBam]

Not strange...my younger DD is like this too. She loves the components of computers and when a device breaks, she wants to keep it to play with and alter.

She and her friend sit in the garden with a tiny hammer, breaking stones open...they're looking for crystals but haven't found any...doesn't stop them looking for hours bless them!

She has tons of toys which are barely played with. She also loves sticks and branches.

[Marmite27]

My 11 month DD is obsessed with cables, devices, switches, remote controls, keys etc.

Unfortunately she likes wrapping the cables round her neck, so you have to watch her like a hawk.

[Eminybob]

DS is 2 and his favourite playthings are as follows:

A shower hose that attaches to the bath taps that lives in the airing cupboard

His old cot mobile which is dismantled and lives under his cot. He wears it as a hat and walking stick ensemble.

Belts. He will sniff one out at 500 paces and parade round with it round his neck like a feather boa.

The washing basket. It's a car, a boat, a cage etc

This morning he was running around with the box for his train set on his head, bumping into things. (To be fair though he had already spent a good bit of time playing with the train)

[Racheyg]

book I meant the box.

That's such a great idea about have a cupboard with " stuff" just for them. As both dcs love it when we say no, that's not a toy.

[BittyWanter]

Keys too!

The first time I took ds3 on an escalator at Tesco (out of the trolley) he pressed the emergency stop button! We (and others) were stranded with our trollies full of shopping on there quick little fecker

I think they have an alarm in their brain and if they see something they probably shouldn't have, the alarm sounds and they have to have it/touch it.