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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Has Anybody Else Noticed This?
cheerfuldom 01:48 PM 10-03-2011
I see commercials on TV for kids toys and 95% of them show mom and dad playing with the toy just as much (if not more!) than the kid! Several years ago I tried out a toy I saw on TV, that looked like so much fun ha ha and ended up being something that my kids could never play with on their own. It seems like more and more toys are marketed as "family time" type toys and that is very annoying to parents that want their child to learn independence. It is pretty rare that we buy any toys these days at typical department or toy stores. I shop at the teacher store, used (for vinatge toys) or we make our own. This Christmas, my husband is making my girls a dress up cart and puppet stage. We will buy the dress up clothes (plus what we already have) and then buy or make the puppets. I am so sick of modern toys! The few things we have ever had new, broke within days of purchasing, were incredibly loud or complicated to use, or were for one kid at a time and usually involved pushing buttons.
grandmom 02:03 PM 10-03-2011
I totally agree.
And I don't like toys that flash and make noise. Seems to me they are training the little ones to be professional gamblers at the machines that make all the nosie.
And I don't like toys that flash and make noise. Seems to me they are training the little ones to be professional gamblers at the machines that make all the nosie.
Oneluckymom 04:15 PM 10-03-2011
I agree! Now days they try to get parents to entertain the kids. You can't even find toys that are simple anymore without batteries, unless you go to the teacher store( Which you pay an arm and a leg for). Kids today are having a hard time just using their imagination. 
sharlan 04:27 PM 10-03-2011
I'm tired of buying things just to get them home and find them broken already.
My dd bought a light bright last week and had to take it back, broken in a sealed box. I had to go through 7 things of play doh last week to find one that wasn't ripped open.
My dd bought a light bright last week and had to take it back, broken in a sealed box. I had to go through 7 things of play doh last week to find one that wasn't ripped open.
Meyou 04:43 AM 10-04-2011
Oh, I'm with you, lady!! I found two boxes of 100 unfinished wooden blocks on clearance for $8.00 a box and I left the store with them practically tucked under my jacket I was so excited. 
Nice, quality, simple toys are either a million bucks or impossible to find.
Nice, quality, simple toys are either a million bucks or impossible to find.
countrymom 06:04 AM 10-04-2011
funny you mention this, yesterday I saw this commercial where the infant was about 8 or 9 months old, and the mom got her this toy dog (I think its playskool) you can tell the little girl was afraid of the dog but the mom was the one playing, it was one of the stupidest commercials ever.
MN Mom 06:38 AM 10-04-2011
My husband and I went to an auction about a month ago where they had several totes of old old games (clue, monopoly, Parcheesi - all originals) and puzzles. We bid on the lot of games and got a sealed extra large tote that felt like it was filled with gold bricks. We open it and to our amazement it was home made wood blocks, all sorts of shapes, all sanded and unfinished. My kids LOVE them...and we only paid 5 dollars for the lot of games, puzzles, and blocks. They have built forts and castles with them, using a bunch of my husbands old figurines to "guard the castle/forts". Hours of fun, no batteries, no noise..except for kids playing nicely and having fun!!
melskids 06:55 AM 10-04-2011
i had a little guy (just turned two this past weekend) come in this morning and pick up a new stuffed animal he's never seen before and say "how dis turn on?" i find it pretty sad that kids, especially such young ones, expect every toy to "do something".
SilverSabre25 07:04 AM 10-04-2011
Originally Posted by MN Mom:
My husband and I went to an auction about a month ago where they had several totes of old old games (clue, monopoly, Parcheesi - all originals) and puzzles. We bid on the lot of games and got a sealed extra large tote that felt like it was filled with gold bricks. We open it and to our amazement it was home made wood blocks, all sorts of shapes, all sanded and unfinished. My kids LOVE them...and we only paid 5 dollars for the lot of games, puzzles, and blocks. They have built forts and castles with them, using a bunch of my husbands old figurines to "guard the castle/forts". Hours of fun, no batteries, no noise..except for kids playing nicely and having fun!!
bolding mineMy husband and I went to an auction about a month ago where they had several totes of old old games (clue, monopoly, Parcheesi - all originals) and puzzles. We bid on the lot of games and got a sealed extra large tote that felt like it was filled with gold bricks. We open it and to our amazement it was home made wood blocks, all sorts of shapes, all sanded and unfinished. My kids LOVE them...and we only paid 5 dollars for the lot of games, puzzles, and blocks. They have built forts and castles with them, using a bunch of my husbands old figurines to "guard the castle/forts". Hours of fun, no batteries, no noise..except for kids playing nicely and having fun!!
It WAS full of gold bricks! Wooden blocks are really expensive. That's so cool!
SilverSabre25 07:10 AM 10-04-2011
I have definitely noticed that kids often aren't sure what to do with toys that don't play for them. I notice more issues with attention span and independent play when DD has/had a lot of exposure to electronic doodads. I notice that the few things I have that make noise/do something (some Little People sets, a train track piece, a cash register, and a few baby toys) are like crack to my dcks. They gravitate to the noisy one and make it "go" overandoverandoverandoverandover until I ask them to stop.
It's strange...most batteries around here can't be replaced. Not sure why...
I even have very few noisy baby toys these days...they just don't hold a babe's attention as well as the non-noisy ones. There are a few I like--the Leapfrog music table being one--but those are so limited I barely notice them. By hook or by crook, my kids WILL play!
It's strange...most batteries around here can't be replaced. Not sure why...
I even have very few noisy baby toys these days...they just don't hold a babe's attention as well as the non-noisy ones. There are a few I like--the Leapfrog music table being one--but those are so limited I barely notice them. By hook or by crook, my kids WILL play!
Meyou 07:34 AM 10-04-2011
I love that my kids PLAY. It's hard on new ones starting because they have to learn but they see the fun that the others are having and they figure it out. We didn't go outside this morning because when I told them it was time I got three sets of puppy dog eyes looking at me and one said, "But.....you boughted us new blocks and we buildeded a big cassle. Can we stay in pweeeease??" So we stayed in and played cassle.
cheerfuldom 02:09 PM 10-04-2011
I have that leapfrog music table! One of the few electronic toys here.
countrymom 02:58 PM 10-04-2011
right now the sit and spin is being fought over and this piano that belonged to my 13 yr old dd, we bought it when she was 1, they love it, they fight who gets to sing and who gets to play it and they love to dance. I have less battery toys because I hate replacing batteries.
daycare 03:04 PM 10-04-2011
I dont have battery opperated toys as part of my daycare, however, my child is head over heels (or heals?? I hate this, lol) with thomas the train track master and the trains all require batteries. My son is a great track builder and often builds tracks that blow my mind. Some times he will invite the DCK into his space and allow them to play with the battery operated trains. The DCK get the wooden thomas tracks and those are just as loved.