Toy Crazy: Fall in Love With Cardboard Dec. 2006

When you have kids, your home becomes invaded each year with toys. (The other day my husband found a magnifying glass under the fitted sheet in our bed!?!)To help you regain control of your home, I’ve come up with the perfect solution. This holiday season, instead of buying slick, packaged toys, try my simple, and inexpensive Toy Replacements. Your kids may be a little disappointed at first but soon they’ll be playing for hours with these fun filled imaginative TOYS.

The Frumpy Housewife’s Official 2007 Christmas Toy Replacement Guide

Extra Large Cardboard Box
Replaces:
Clubhouse, Pirate Ship, Kid Kitchen
This simple toy has many uses.
Turn box on side, hang a blanket over the top and you have a clubhouse.
Turn the box upright, and it becomes a pirate ship. (Spyglass not included.)
Turn the box upside down, draw 4 black circles on the top and you have a stove. Add some paper plates and plastic forks and your kids will be cookin’ for hours.
The best part of this toy is that when the kids are finally bored with it, the box can be recycled thereby eliminating storage problems.

Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Cardboard Tubes
Replaces:
Musical horn-like instruments, Pirate Spyglass
The paper towel tube is the perfect music maker. It only gets as loud as your child’s voice, and is antiseptic. When the end of the tube gets wet, put in the recycling
bin and wait until next week for a new one. Much better than plastic spit filled mouthpieces fermenting until the next time your child puts it in his mouth.
The toilet paper tube makes an excellent pirate spyglass, perfect for use
with the Cardboard Box Pirate Ship.

Dried beans
Replaces:
Moonsand, Marbles
The new art item advertised this year is something strange called “Moonsand.”
(I foresee a big mess!) But with my clever replacement, Dried Beans, clean-up becomes a snap. (Pardon the pun.) Fill a container with a variety of dried beans, put out measuring cups and bowls, and you’ve got your very own indoor sandbox.
All kids love itty bitty ‘chokable’ toys like marbles. At least if they swallow a dried bean, it will provide some nutrition.

Bonus Buy: After reading Jack and the Beanstalk, give your child a handful of “magic beans” (dried lima beans are perfect).


Brown Paper Bag
Replaces:
Indoor/Outdoor Basketball Hoop

For an Indoor Basketball Hoop, roll up a sock, and let your kids practice getting
the sock in the bag. For an Outdoor Basketball Hoop, use a rock.

I hope this list helps you with your holiday shopping. May your home be filled with love,
laughter and warmth during this magical time of year.