5 year old toy/play ideas!?

[ordinarymum1]

I have recently noticed that my 5 year old isn’t too interested in her toys anymore. She used to be able to play and use her imagination for hours on end, but recently she’s just not too bothered or interested!
I assumed it’s because she’s used to being at school with all of her friends and having endless new things to do and learn and play with?
we have limited screen time so I’m just looking to see if anyone had any ideas of what their 5 year olds are enjoying doing at the moment?

I think it is important you reflect on the timing and type of screens and how these two components impacts on imagination and play.
It is harder to use one's imagination after a screen session, so if she has screen during the week, have it later in the evening if at all.
Hand held screens such as tablets, phones, are imagination killers, so if there has to be screen, make it the TV.
Djeco has several boxes that improve creativity and imagination, and you could direct also role playing with her toys and soft toys, and create a circus, school and so on.
Screens are fast paced, and that triggers a young brain, whereas real play has a slower pace.

@Cormoranin my post I state we have very limited screen time? She barely has any at all, she never asks for it either, she’s not interested in it. Even when she’s bored, she never asks for the tv etc..

My 5 YO granddaughter has also lost interest in playing with toys recently. I bought a secondhand Plufsig gym mat from Ikea and she spends hours practising handstands, cartwheels, forward/backward rolls - hours! I also bought marbles and we play that a lot (hit the biggest marble with the smaller ones or aim the marble at a plastic pot and whoever gets the most in the pot wins) I also taught her the clock card game if you know it? That's great for 5 minutes peace! Baking is also a good shout - she really enjoys doing that with me.

Is she the same in the week & at the weekend? My DS was surprisingly tired the first year of school & just didn't have much energy on a school night, so we stuck to activities where he was tucked up on the sofa, piles of books, the odd puzzle etc.... but he still played happily at the weekend.

If it's the same all the time, is she at a school where they set the play areas up, does she need a bit of a prompt from you. What happens if you set her small world toys up as a zoo/vets/family on holiday etc.... does that help her settle into a game?

My DD had a lovely inexpensive mini theatre with curtain - she’s make plays with finger puppets.

crafting also went down well then

@DoIWantThisthank you for these great ideas! I will absolutely be trying them all. My daughter does acro on Saturdays so a blow up bar would be her dream! I’ll look into that straight away

@Feeltoooldtostudybutdoingitanywayoh bless him, school really does take it out of them doesn’t it. So surprisingly I hadn’t noticed this at all until the Easter holidays that we are currently having. After school she seems fine to potter about etc! I will definitely try setting more things up for her though, I think that might really help!

@curious79what a lovely idea! I’ll have to look into getting one of those

@ordinarymum1 my ds is 5 and in reception, his favourites nowadays are -

Playmobil - his biggest love, he'll do set ups and make up scenes/stories for ages BUT mostly loves when we do it with him so not a great one for independent play, but perfect for some quality time.

Lego/Duplo/Magna tiles - we can take a back seat with these, he'll build forts, towers, pyramids and "Lego blobber monsters" etc.

Garden stuff - anything with water or sand still. Anything where he can get muddy. Washing the car 🤣

Activity books - he loves these since starting school!

Crafts/paints/drawing/writing - again since school he's more interested in this stuff. He'll draw and write notes, we sometimes get the paint and glue out but rarely because his attention span still doesn't always make it worth it, but your dd may last longer! He still loves play doh too.

He had a box of science experiments for Christmas that he absolutely loved doing.

One thing we noticed is his tastes have really moved on - he's obsessed with "spooky" or "gross" things so we've changed things up - his dolls house is now a haunted house, complete with ghost and monsters (Lego blobbers) and so on.

I've recently car booted loads of his old toys and there is now space in the garage for the next lot of stuff we'll eventually move on - his paw patrol figures, a bunch of cars he rarely plays with now, boxes of "bits" he now ignores in favour of his beloved Playmobil. It's always changing I suppose!