Secrets and Toys

As a child, I had LOADS of toys. My folks must have spent a fortune on them! You name it, I had it.
So, what was my favourite toy growing up? I'll tell you what I have the fondest memories of....

Was it my vast collection of My Little Ponies? Nope.

Was it my ridiculous amount of cuddly toys? No way!

Was it my three storey Barbie house that was as tall as me? Not a chance.

My fondest memories are of playing laundrettes with my sister, using state of the art washing machines that my dad made using cardboard boxes and spray paint.

Going to my grandma's was another treat, because we would get together with my cousins and raid my grandma's collection of hats, shoes and handbags. Hours of entertainment, making up characters and scenarios with all those glamorous items!
That's when we weren't all fighting over my grandparents' wooden bowl filled with ornamental wax fruit. That was the holy grail of child's play, we loved it!
My poor parents, they must have been gutted to know that for all the money they spent on toys, our favourite memories are of playing with things that were, well, not toys.
What can I say? We were kids. We knew The Secret.

Of course, we got older, and we forgot The Secret. We had our own kids, and I for one spent a fortune on toys, especially for Charlie, being my first.
The sad thing is, not only had I forgotten The Secret, I'd forgotten how to play. These hundreds of toys were good and all, but not very inspiring. You press a button, the toy dog barks. You post the shapes through the shape sorter. You make up the jigsaw.
All very good, but they don't hold anyone's attention for long.
To my frustration, the things my kids were most interested in were my keys, the remote control, the wrapping paper from their expensive presents, and the phone. Always the phone.

Then, when the kids were 9 and 5, I met Steve, and without even realising it, he reawakened something within us all. We began to have adventures, playing in rock pools, making up games with stone circles, and playing shadow puppets at sunset. We rediscovered The Secret.

So, what is this Secret? I'll tell you. Come closer, let me whisper it.
Closer, come on, don't be shy! The Secret is.....

Kids don't need a lot of toys.

They really don't! In fact, not only do kids prefer playing with things that aren't toys, they actually learn more when they use their imagination to turn an everyday object into a toy. They become better problem solvers, they become more independent, more able to think outside the box, and better able to entertain themselves.

Now, three kids later, I've finally learned to chill out on the toy buying front. Amelie has toys of course, but she also has treasure baskets full of regular household objects that she loves to play with - wooden spoons, silicone egg poachers, sponges, various boxes, old sunglasses, old phones, you name it!
The best thing about these (apart from the fact that they cost nothing!) is that it means when we go out and about, I don't need to worry about taking bags of toys to entertain her, we can use our imaginations and find things to play with wherever we are.
Even better, it's reminded me how to play, and enjoy spending time with my kids.

More to come soon on making treasure baskets, and what to do with various household objects, to reawaken your imagination and let you in on The Secret, too.

In the meantime, what were your favourite toys as a child, and what do your little ones like to play with? Please share!