Cheap but popular present for small children

[Scandisaurus]

There was another thread about children not always wanting to play with the more expensive toys like wooden toys etc but instead picked something unexpected as their favourite toy ever.

Our most played with toys ever, was a big box with real food cartons (washed) like juice, milk, ice cream tubs, baking powder, ketchup bottle etc. They played for hours and years with that stuff. And easy to replace when broken. The wooden pretend food wasn’t even looked at. Anyway, just a tip if you have children who are into pretend play. 🎅🏼🎁

I once bought a friend's small dd an umbrella for Christmas. Apparently it was the only thing she wanted to play with all day, and all their expensive presents were ignored!

I can imagine an umbrella would be a popular gift! 🙂

Silly putty. Always a win

I once bought an old fashioned spinning top for a child who had everything. They loved it.

I once bought an old fashioned spinning top for a child who had everything. They loved it.

I used to love those as a kid. And yoyos!

A slinky for running downstairs

@BigWholeBean even I want silly putty! 😂

@MintJulia love slinky, we never had stairs. 😭

Remembered another thing that was hugely popular - playing balloon tennis with balloons and one of those plastic fly swatters! Cheap as! 😂

In here is plastic cutlery we have a little tub of it in one of the drawers and always gets taken out

Little sauce packets were also popular with my first!

I’m a civil engineer. My kit bag of hi viz jackets, waistcoats and over trousers, all in orange and yellow, plus hard hat, boots, goggles etc used to entertain my DC for hours. little grotbags still don’t believe I have a proper job though because I work 4 days for their benefits

Mini torches are a favourite with mine.

A yo-yo was a very popular present for my brother when he was small. And my niece is always very happy with her felt-tip pens and a colouring book.

A skipping rope.

A pair of empty tin cans and some string - punch holes in sides of the cans at the base, thread through string, loop around and tie, and you've got stilts. Endless fun for us, and now the youngest generation too.

The insert tray from a box of chocolates (lots of little chocolate shape holes) and a selection of play doh and tools in different colours. Ds would ‘make chocolates’ for hours.

@WellTidy

The insert tray from a box of chocolates (lots of little chocolate shape holes) and a selection of play doh and tools in different colours. Ds would ‘make chocolates’ for hours.

That’s a brilliant idea!

I've bought loads of silly putty eggs for adults this year 😂

Blu-tach

Smelly Balls where a huge hit one year.

No technically a 'toy' but as a kid me and my siblings delighted the year someone bought us a bug zapping tennis racket, we spent all day electrocuting each other while driving our mam up the wall with screams of 'Mam, he's shocking me again'.

An empty box of After Eights with the little envelopes for the chocolate still inside. Painted the box becomes a post box and they can pop little notes inside the envelopes.

My kids would wonder where the after 8s were.... but really lovely idea for play after - my child is older but loves that kind of thing, I will suggest thankyou 😊.

We've had fun from a cup and ball and diablo recently.

A torch.

My mum always goes on about the year she spent a load of money on my older sister (her first child) when she was little and her gran bought her a bottle of Barbie bubble bath and that was her favourite present

Most years so far for us it has been kind of as expected, everything loved and play with and those bigger items that were the main presents did give the wow factor.

This year I have a horrible suspicion that it's going to be those bloody pop-its in their stockings stealing the show; I hope not though as DD asked for about 5 quite big valuable toys and I have got them all.

@headintheproverbial

An empty box of After Eights with the little envelopes for the chocolate still inside. Painted the box becomes a post box and they can pop little notes inside the envelopes.

I love this idea, my kids would love that!!

I loved to play with old tea bags and empty them and plastic trays that come in chocolate selection boxes!