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Simple Toys

© Diane Marquette

As grandparents and step-grandparents, don’t feel you need to buy your little visitors expensive and elaborate toys and games. Sometimes it’s the simplest toys that provide the most fun. Remember the observation that children often play more with the empty box than the toy that came in the box?

For the youngest ones, colorful plastic beads and nesting cups can provide wonderful fun. They can carry these around with them when they crawl or are just learning to walk. Anything that makes (a little) noise is a treat. Small plastic balls with bells inside are always intriguing.

Favorite stuffed animals provide comfort when grandchildren of any age spend the night at your house. When you make up their bed, line up their stuffed animals so that they will serve as a welcoming committee.

You may not be enthusiastic about purchasing and constructing a swing set or a fort and swing set combination in your yard. If your grandchildren don’t visit that often, it may not be something that you want to see everyday from your kitchen window.

A very popular alternative is the sandbox. It can be constructed inexpensively and in a more secluded spot in your yard, preferably under a shade tree. When not in use, it can be covered, and even camouflaged with potted plants. Construct a three-foot by six-foot frame out of treated lumber. Line it with a plastic tarp that is stapled or nailed to the inside top of the frame. Across each end, secure a piece of lumber to serve as a built-in seat. Cut a piece of exterior grade plywood to fit the opening, adding handles if desired. Fill with sand, toys, and children. Look for age-appropriate toys that reflect the children’s personal preferences, such as dinosaurs or dump trucks. This is guaranteed to provide hours of imaginative fun for everyone.

When my older step-grandson, Graham, was about two-and-a-half years old, I bought him a bag of 50 craft sticks. They were plastic, of many colors, and had slits and notches in them, so that they could be attached to each other. Graham was in awe of these sticks. He said, “You bought these for me?” I said that I had. He said, “At a store?” He played with them for hours, and tried to carry them around with him by stuffing as many as he could in his little pockets! Those sticks cost about $3.00 at a craft store, and he still plays with them fours years later. Nowadays, he uses them to construct fences and cages for various small plastic animals that we have at our house.