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Original poster

Toys that aren't toys...

30 replies

JoAnne427 · 09/04/2002 14:06

As I was watching dd this morning play with her absolutely favorite thing in the world - a plastic medicine dropper - I wondered what other curious items babies/toddlers have made into toys that were never intended as such?

And thought it would be interesting to hear from other mothers what has placated babies at desperate moments...dd also just loves tubes of diaper ointment! When I am changing her, it is the only thing that will keep her from squirming off the table!

OP posts:
Tillysmummy · 09/04/2002 15:48

Our DD loves to play with Evian bottles. She quivers with delight when we drink from them and generally starts giggling. If we give her one to play with she puts it to her mouth and mimicks us, trying to drink from it ! This always placates her.

sjs · 09/04/2002 15:49

My dd loved an empty shampoo bottle for ages - little tesco's baby shampoo with a flip top lid. We used to take it with us when we needed something to distract her. Travelled on the flight from HK to London and back for just that reason!
Current favourite would be the remote control - preferably with the tv switched on so she can create chaos.
Emptying and filling the waste paper basket is also a great game.
And talking about toys never intended as such... what about pieces of toast as earings, and carrots to cover up your eyes... (is it better than cucumber?)

janh · 09/04/2002 16:05

A bottom drawer in the kitchen - my older son had one that was "his", full of bits of tupperware, empty bottles etc aged about 18 months and he used to tip everything out, climb in and bang things. Kept him amused for hours!

Marina · 09/04/2002 16:21

For ds' first Christmas we were given a bottle of pink champagne all wrapped up in bouffant pink cellophane. This sheet of cellophane, scrunched up, kept him happy for hours, to the detriment of all his carefully wrapped wooden toys...
Keys, anyone's keys, but especially ones that must not be lost at all costs, are always popular. And dh's work pass.

sis · 09/04/2002 17:03

when ds was about 9 months ols dh could amuse him for hours by turning a drinks coaster on its side and rolling it down a cushion.

As ds is not allowed to play with the remote control, he wanders round the house pushing imaginary buttons on the plastic clips that you are supposed to use to seal plastic food bags.

Marina, you are so right about the fact that they love playing with key that absolutely must not be lost!

Art · 11/04/2002 18:40

I was recently given some photos of ds (9mth) at nursery and in each picture he was ignoring all the lovely toys they have got and was clutching a wooden spoon.
He has also got a nonstick ladle at home and shakes with excitement when we get it out to play with.

Original poster
JoAnne427 · 11/04/2002 23:20

Art, same here on the wooden spoon! When Christmas shopping, dd was being fussy - we were in the kitchen department of a store, I handed a wooden spoon to her that was in a display next to us - and she still loves it! (she is 11 mos.)...

OP posts:
Bears · 09/06/2002 00:12

My 11mth old's favourite atm is a wooden pestle & mortar. Only snag is he's just discovered he can bang it on the glass oven door..

susanmt · 09/06/2002 00:36

my dd (2+4months) has a plastic link from ds (4 months) baby gym. Today it has been a baby and had its hair washed, been to the hospital and beena phone on which she talked to tigger for an hour! It is her favourite thing in the world!

LiamsMum · 09/06/2002 04:14

Ice cream containers, old plastic bottles, and the garden hose.

tigermoth · 09/06/2002 08:38

Dripping drainpipes, unfortunately.

batey · 09/06/2002 09:18

Plastic funnels and jugs, great for bathtime or sand play.

bea · 09/06/2002 09:28

the blue container of my asthma inhaler... there are numerous ones scattered around the house... so much so i usually have to go digging in the toy basket when i want a puff of my inhaler!

tillysmummy - snap about the water bottles!

dd also loves playing with my watch... i use it as a last resort when nothing else will placate her! (she likes licking it and chewing on it!)

GillW · 09/06/2002 13:36

9 month old DS loves the brass pans from my weighing scales - they make a great noise when dropped onto my tiled kitchen floor!

Tillysmummy · 09/06/2002 15:54

Dd thinks the telephone is hilarious and loves it when we are on it and hold it to her ear. She now has her own 'real' phone (an old one of ours ) - and loves it. Not mobile ladies, so don't panic !

She also goes mad about my car keys. They are now sticky and dirty !

jenny2998 · 09/06/2002 23:45

Wooden spoons; (clean) nail brushes; sheet of tin foil; bubble wrap (supervised, obviously); the contents of my kitchen cupboards - saucepans, plastic bowls etc; and this evening, while we were packing for a week a way my 1yr old dd walked around with a pair of my (CLEAN!!!) knickers on her head....

threeangels · 10/06/2002 04:40

My ds loves to play with this water bottle which I fill eveyrday with fresh water. I guess he likes to squirt it in his mouth for some reason.

chiara71 · 10/06/2002 10:57

remote control, phones (only real ones), old water bottles filled with pasta shapes, any container with a lid thats he can put on and take off on her own (Heinz plastic jars from the PURE FRUIT range are great), brush (so she can brush her hair and ours, but it usualy ends up in my eyes), clothes pegs, keys of course, mugs (but we don't let her play with them), empty envelopes, (she loves peeking in them to see if there's anything and then ripping them off), my sanitary towels, her nappies, one of her favourite games is taking out ALL the tissues (alternatively, baby wipes or nappy sacks) from their box, but I only resort to this when I'm desperate.

my filofax is another old favourite, so far she has not managed to rip off a single page, I can't believe my luck!!!

she also loves cewing on a watch strap, so we give her an old plastic one.

we have to make up somethng new everyday to amke her eat so this is a never ending list, can't think of anything else now

SimonHoward · 10/06/2002 11:00

Not really a toy as such but my dd who is almost 4 months loves mirrors. She loves them so much that we have bought her a musical one for the playpen and we will be getting one for her bedroom.

Enid · 10/06/2002 11:18

Mummy's pants (clean!!). They are hats, scarves, baby blankets and have many other uses. This morning dd tenderly tucked a pair into bed saying 'Poor mummys pants'.

WideWebWitch · 10/06/2002 11:20

lol Enid!

mollipops · 11/06/2002 08:45

The colander, the whisk, the egg separater, the muffin pan, paper patty pans, paper bowls, measuring cups, tins for rolling, bottles with dry pasta and/or rice for shaking, Very Important Papers, mummy's shoes, popsticks, fabric scraps, scarves, necklaces, wrapping paper, empty boxes, wool (best when a whole ball is wrapped around every piece of furniture at least twice), foil...who needs to buy toys?!

But of course, we do!

aloha · 11/06/2002 10:22

My 8month old ds loves the remote controls of the TV/video more than anything else and likes to sit with as many as poss of them clasped to his chubby chest. Typical male, huh?

Java · 11/06/2002 11:05

ditto aloha - my 8mth ds is exactly the same. Dh suffers from remote withdrawal syndrome if it is beyond his reach, so it definitely is like father like son.

MotherofOne · 11/06/2002 13:03

Clothes pegs, freezer clips, and those clips for crisp bags (Chip Clips?). DS (2.5) LOVES them and calls them his 'little crocodiles' and terrorises dh & I by attaching them to our body parts and clothing when we're not looking.....