Everyday Items, Extraordinary Imagination
To little ones, magic can be found in every corner of the home – from the smallest piece of cardboard to a loathed household appliance. Real moms share the everyday household items that fascinate their kiddos.
Kitchen Drawer
“I give my little ones one drawer in our kitchen and fill it with plastic containers, wooden spoons, etc. They use the containers to stack or put stuff in. I wash them before I use them again, but it’s a great distraction when I’m cooking. They’ll either mimic me or play music.” - Cheryl C.
Flashlight
“My son loves to play with our flashlight. He really just has fun clicking the light on and off, but we also use it to play with in the dark and as a spotlight on stuffed animals or hand puppets (to make it look like a show).” - Jean S.
Hand-Held Sweeper
“Alex loves to play with the Swiffer and the hand held Dirt Devil vacuum. He goes around hunting ‘fuzzies’ and then either sweeps them up or vacuums them up. Really, he does this on his own – I didn’t have to put him up to this to help keep up with my house cleaning.” - Catherine G.
Pots and Pans
“My kids favorite ‘toys’ are the famous pots and pans to play music with by banging on them with spoons — it’s much more fun for the kids than for the parents.” - Linda R.
Cardboard Boxes
“We shop at Costco a lot, buying necessities in bulk, so we end up with a lot of large cardboard boxes. My daughter loves it when I place her in one of the boxes and pull her around the house in the box. We pretend it’s a choo choo train!” - Carissa L.
Shopping Bags
“Lexie likes to use small shopping bags as a ‘purse.’ She’ll toddle around with one or two of them on her shoulder and collect random things around the house and squirrel them away in the bags.” - Tanya M.
Toilet Paper Rolls
“The funniest everyday thing we use as a ‘toy’ around here is a toilet paper roll. We get the huge pack at Sam’s or Costco. There are a ton of rolls in there! So, we stack them, roll them and toss them before putting them away. Every now and then one will actually unroll and the baby likes to be wrapped in it or tear it into confetti which is fun too…sometimes!”
- Maureen L.
Paper Towel Rolls
“My daughter likes to use empty paper towel rolls as a magic wand. If I’m feeling particularly crafty I’ll attach streamers to the end of it, so that she really feels like a fairy.” - Kelsey A.
Water Bottles
“We use empty water bottles as bowling pins and my son has so much fun throwing a ball towards them to see how many he can knock down. I like to think of it as one of the ways we recycle!” - Jana T.
Fly Swatter
“Matthew loves the fly swatter. Whenever he sees a bug he runs to get the swatter.” - Karen R.
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