After five years, we’re beginning to build up quite a few layers of toys. Going through them is like discovering a time capsule, or playing at being paleontologists — the lower in the wicker toy basket we go, the farther back in time we visit. It’s both sweet and sad to find old toys that aren’t played with much, if at all. You’re likely to remember exactly when and where each toy was acquired, and the reaction from your child when it was presented to her. You won’t want to get rid of any of them, but sometimes physical space is a serious consideration, especially when new toys keep coming into the home.
However, there’s an even better solution than simply donating them to friends or the Salvation Army: repurposing. This is like recycling, but instead of toys being broken down into their components for use in other products, the entire toy is reused as part of your child’s continuing developmental play. Reused toys also take the place of new toys without using more space. Here’s how it works:
Take a good look at an old toy. Is it still whole and usable? No broken pieces or splinters? If so, then it’s ready to be pressed into service. This will exercise your imagination, and that of your child’s as well. Take, for instance, those old baby rattles. Chances are you’ve got a bunch of them lying around. Kids love noisemakers, so why not get some string and tie those rattles together to form a new percussion instrument?
Or if your child has eschewed old board games for the fun of creating new buildings and cities, you can use the boards themselves as walls, or a stable surface to build upon, and the game pieces as additions to the structures themselves. If these games have cards with characters on them, they make great windows — simply cut out a rectangular space in a wall, then tape or glue the card with the character facing out, and voila: When your child looks in the window of that new house, someone’s already home!
Remember: Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Repurposing old toys will help you and your child exercise your imaginations, while saving money otherwise spent on new toys, and best of all, getting the most value out of the old ones.
