For the last five or six years, I’ve been dreaming up games and activities for my littlest girl. I love being one of her favorite playmates, but it has become clear to me lately that she needs to be able to play on her own just a little bit more.
To encourage her to play on her own (and give mom a little break), I put together some playtime kits. I used some bright pink bins I already have and started grouping things we had around the house. Here are some kits I made:
Money Kit:
- Play money and coins
- Money board game
- Toy cash register
- Price tags
- Paper grocery bags
- Wallet
Science Kit:
- Kid’s microscope
- Microscope slides kit
- Tasty science kit
- Sea shell collection
- Rock collection
Jewelry-making kit:
- Beads and pendants
- String
- Wire
- Mini pliers
- Tweezers
Handicrafts kit:
- Yarn
- Knitting needles
- Paper doll kit
- Mini weaving kit
- Mini weaving loom
- A few half-finished craft projects we never got around to finishing
Sure, these are toys and items we already had, but somehow putting them together in a kit made them more interesting! I found that it is even more exciting when some grown-up (but safe) items are added. For instance, I added some of my beading tools to her jewelry-making kit and some of my craft glue in her handicrafts kit.
I plan to switch these around in a few months when she’s grown bored with them. In my house, I already have the makings of a play-cooking kit, a sculpting kit, and a photography kit. I’m also thinking any one of these could be a great gift idea!
What do you have in your house that you could turn into a playtime kit?
Angela tries a little bit of everything as she homeschools her two girls and is finding that she’s not as smart as she thought. You can catch her blogging at Angela Mills.
This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday, Finer Things Friday, and Frugal Fridays.
photo by Angie @ Many Little Blessings
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This is a great idea. My 4 year old was just plain bored this morning. Usually, he plays outside while we start school and then comes in time to do a project with my daughter. Today it rained and he did not want to play with the same old toys. This is a great way to make old toys new again!
This is a great idea!! I think I'm going to look through some of our toys to see what I can group together.
I LOVE all these ideas! I have two younger kids that need something to keep them occupied while my oldest does school. Thanks!
I really love all of these fun ideas! I need to put some things together like this. We have played with many things like this, but I haven't had them in sets all ready to go. I think even my older kids would have fun with this.
I love this idea. I do it for my classroom, why not at home for playtime?
:)
Excellent post!
Stop by and visit me sometime over at Free 2 Be Frugal!
love the kit idea!! I can already see cute baskets and labels for each one :)!
I'm glad some of you are trying it! And yes, I do find that my older daughter likes them, too. Of course she's playing with her little sister, but Sophia can leave the room, and Chloe (almost 13) will be sitting there, still making a necklace or something :-)
whats even better, is that this is the kind of stuff that would normally be clutter,
but when it is organized like this, then it has purpose
Super idea. I want to join in and try this! Thank you.
Awesome idea! I like the thought of using things like this for gifts. I have three nieces (5, 5, and 9) and I like to give them activity gifts, not just useless or brainless things. Thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful idea! You're so right about how putting them together makes them special and more intriguing. I'd like to try something similar for my 2 preschoolers. Thanks for sharing!
Great idea! I'll have to try them out on my little ones.
This is fabulous. I've often thought of grouping my kids' toys in big tubs and just pulling one tub out at a time. Must get busy on it!
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