THE PARENTING BOARD that I participate on is having a discussion on what types of toys we allow our children to have.
Here’s the question as posted by g’smom:
I find this [another discussion on Barbies and Polly Pockets] so fascinating! I thought it would be fun to discuss these questions:
1. what toys are banned from your house? (or will be banned)
2. what toys do you allow that others might ban?
What think ye oh internet ladies? What toys do you allow or not allow? (now or in the future)
For us, I think it comes down to two things.
FIRST: Read THIS POST on children’s appetites (referring to things, possessions, attitudes etc.)
SECOND: Read THIS POST on what is “BEST” vs. what is “good enough”.
As an example: Barbie Dolls- Do they feed an “appetite” that I want to encourage? Probably not. Are they “good enough”? Probably so. Are the BEST? No. What is BEST for our daughters (and I’m speaking of our specific daughters in our family- your answer might be different for your daughters) in terms of toys- probably baby dolls, kitchens and play food, play doh and crayons, puzzles, blocks, doll houses, dress up clothes, construction type toys (wedgits, duplos, etc.), outdoor toys such as ride-ons, trikes, balls, etc.
How do I determine what is BEST? Does it encourage a behavior or an attitude that I would like to see in them as adults?
Examples of toys we currently allow:
-Big trucks- especially the BRUDER TRUCKS
-Little People stuff- house, garage, farm, Noah’s ark… I wish we had the airport.
-Plastic zoo and farm animals
-Cash register
-Telephone
-Building systems- Duplos, Wedgits, blocks, legos, lincoln logs, etc.
-Baby doll and her things
-Kitchen set with play food
-Pirate ship, pirate swords (more in the searching for treasure, ahoy matey, land-ho vein than the rape and pillage vein…. )
-Dress up stuff- Especially THESE CLOAKS because they are so versatile- each child has one.
-Real toys- Mary has a rolling pin, pie plates, cookie sheet, bundt cake pan, muffin tins, etc. that are for real use but are child size. Nathan has a neat HAMMERING SET that encourages fine motor skills. He also has real yard tools that are child sized.
-Tons of art stuff- paper, scissors, glue sticks, crayons, markers, stickers, etc.
-Play-doh, puzzles, games
-Instruments
-Educational type activities- i.e. lacing cards, peg boards, flash cards, shape sorters, etc. \
-Castle set with knights, king, queen, dragon
-Doll House
-Rocket ship
-Hot wheels
-Pretend tools
-TAKE-A-PART VEHICLES (We love that these are like a big puzzle to take apart and put together and that they encourage the notion of fixing things)
Examples of toys we currently ban:
-any and all video games
-Barbie/Bratz/Polly Pockets- any of these type “fashion” dolls
-Any sort of monster type stuff
-Most “character” toys- I hate all that cheap, plastic, trashy Dora, Sesame Street, Elmo type stuff. yuck.
-Anything that’s super loud- (loud noises really bother Mary)
Still on the fence about guns. I’m not anti-guns. I believe strongly though in gun education and the proper training and use of guns. Often toy guns are played with inappropriately. I would allow them for target shooting or play hunting… I would not approve of war games. The first rule of gun safety is to never point your gun at anything you do not intend to shoot- so, war games between siblings/friends would be out. So, anyway- still undecided about this.
