follow up on battery operated toys.

[thetoddlerwhisper]

yesterday there was a post on where someone pulled battery operated toys and was replacing with more creative stuff. it kind of inspired me to do the same. i pulled it all and looking now it let my shelves empty. im in tennessee center care with 2yr olds and were on the star scale. according to my paperwork i have to have 2 manipulatives per child and im down to 8 total 6 kids) not including puzzles. im really gonna need manipulative ideas and fine motor stuff. along with some block and dramatic play to replace my little people sets. didnt realize how many battery toys we had. i have stacking rings and wooden abc blocks in storage to pull for manipulatives. does anyone have any at home handmade ideas i can use until i get a chance to toy hunt?



fine motor i have popbeads, chainlinks, soft abc blocks, duplo, bead maze, magna doodle, stacking cups, a magnetic puzzle.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

we have little people- I just pulled out the batteries so they need to make the noise.
Do you have dinosaurs or animals?

[thetoddlerwhisper]

i have dinos outs. and am actually digging in storage room right now or the others. now that you mention just pulling batteries on little people. would that work with their play computers as well?

[BumbleBee]

I pulled the batteries out of the Little People sets. The Vtech toys (ladybug shape thing and a turtle alphabet story thing) "mysteriously" stopped working too. The Leap Frog octopus & drum don't have batteries either.

I, personally, leave the batteries in the computer type toys BUT I limit how often they use them.

Manipulatives for 2's could be mega blocks, plastic/wooden animals, stacking cups, foam blocks, shape sorters, cars/trucks

HTH!

[thetoddlerwhisper]

I pulled the batteries out of the Little People sets. The Vtech toys (ladybug shape thing and a turtle alphabet story thing) "mysteriously" stopped working too. The Leap Frog octopus & drum don't have batteries either.

I, personally, leave the batteries in the computer type toys BUT I limit how often they use them.

Manipulatives for 2's could be mega blocks, plastic/wooden animals, stacking cups, foam blocks

HTH!

our computer toys just have buttons that make noise no actual games.

[thetoddlerwhisper]

the only toy im really really on the line about leaving out with batteries is the leapfrog opposite toy that does on/off big/little etc. one of my boys loves repeating the words and asd dcb likes the buttons on it

[melilley]

i have dinos outs. and am actually digging in storage room right now or the others. now that you mention just pulling batteries on little people. would that work with their play computers as well?

I have a play computer without batteries and the kids still love it. My kids are all 2 and under except for one 3 yo.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

the only toy im really really on the line about leaving out with batteries is the leapfrog opposite toy that does on/off big/little etc. one of my boys loves repeating the words and asd dcb likes the buttons on it

I have the leap frog frig phonics and a leap pad that I use the Richard Scarry book with. I don't "leave these out" they are used intentionally when I need them There is a time for those but I do not consider them "play".

Food, dishes, blocks, cars, stacking cups, peg boards... there are so many "good toys" for imaginative play. A little laundry basket with washclothes in it can be manipulatives. We can fold, stack them etc.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

pom poms... my kids love a basket of the big pom poms!

[melilley]

I pulled the batteries out of the Little People sets. The Vtech toys (ladybug shape thing and a turtle alphabet story thing) "mysteriously" stopped working too. The Leap Frog octopus & drum don't have batteries either.

I, personally, leave the batteries in the computer type toys BUT I limit how often they use them.

Manipulatives for 2's could be mega blocks, plastic/wooden animals, stacking cups, foam blocks, shape sorters, cars/trucks

HTH!

Isn't it funny how things "mysteriously" stop working. ::

I have a few battery operated toys that stopped working and I keep telling the kids who understand, that I have to buy more batteries but always "forget".

[Meyou]

pom poms... my kids love a basket of the big pom poms!

My kids looooove pom poms too. They play with them every single day. It never gets old.

[Evansmom]

May I suggest writing rid of the electronic toys in phases? Like say phase one, take out the batteries ie:"it broke" then phase two slowly replace each toy with a different one or set of manipulatives. That way it's not really an issue with the kids, like they don't really notice anything is gone, they're just happy they got new toys!

I'm all for open ended toys. We have blocks, a Bilibo (if you can buy two of those do it!! They are awesome!!), we have huge colorful scarves.

[thetoddlerwhisper]

May I suggest writing rid of the electronic toys in phases? Like say phase one, take out the batteries ie:"it broke" then phase two slowly replace each toy with a different one or set of manipulatives. That way it's not really an issue with the kids, like they don't really notice anything is gone, they're just happy they got new toys!

I'm all for open ended toys. We have blocks, a Bilibo (if you can buy two of those do it!! They are awesome!!), we have huge colorful scarves.

bilibo?

[melilley]

bilibo?

I had to look it up! It looks fun, but is on the expensive side.

[thetoddlerwhisper]

i just googled as well. i bet itd be great in my gross motor room. might start watching or deals and coupons