I came across a blog post via Scary Mommy written by Leigh Anderson addressing overabundance of toys for little kids, and what toddlers/kids prefer to play with. She talked about using found objects in home such as toilet rolls, soup ladle, toothbrush, mom & dad’s shoes vs. toys. I’ve asked a number of friends who are parents for their thoughts on this blog post. Bottom line, everyone has different opinions on what their kids like best to play with. Toddlers often like to imitate what adults are doing. Know your kids and what makes them happy. Less is more.
When they were toddlers, my grandsons’ favorite pastimes included exploration of recycling bin contents (in kitchen), playing with measuring spoons, mixing spoons, pans, and mixing bowls (unbreakable), putting things in a shopping bag and then dumping them out! Another fun thing was turning a waste basket upside down for use as a bongo drum or regular drum with a spoon used as drum stick.