Beyond The Cardboard Box

I love finding great toys for my son, but often it’s the everyday household objects that end up fascinating him the most. At 15-months-old, he manages to have fun exploring everything from Tupperware containers to shoe boxes. There are a handful of items that have been strangely mesmerizing to him (keeping him busy for almost an hour at a time!), so I am sharing them with you in the hopes that your child will get just as much satisfaction out of this stuff as we did. On a rainy day, a long car ride, or just an afternoon that seems to drag on forever, they can be lifesavers!

Spice turntable (pictured). Typically used to store spices in a kitchen cabinet, this object has recently become an obsession of my son’s. He puts it on the floor and spins it around, then sits back to watch, mesmerized. He also loads it up with small objects, like Legos or stacking cups, and watches them whiz by. (You can buy one at Bed Bath & Beyond.)

Post-it notes. I grabbed a pack of these off the kitchen counter as I was about to leave on a long car trip recently, in the hopes they might be a fun distraction for my son when he got fussy. He ended up peeling one Post-it note after the other off the pack over the course of half an hour. Now I break them out when we’re playing at home and need a new diversion.

Radio. The radio is endlessly fascinating to kids, who love to turn it on and off, fiddle with the volume, and switch stations. The more basic the radio, the better. My son and I play a game where he presses the button to turn the music on, at which point we dance like crazy, and then he turns it off and we freeze (or at least I do–he doesn’t really grasp that part of the game yet). It makes me exhausted just thinking about it, but it’s fun!

Empty tissue box. Children love to fill up and empty containers, and what better one than a tissue box. It’s fun because you can’t always see what you’ve put in there, so kids have to reach their hand in there and feel around for whatever is inside. My son fills an empty tissue box up with wooden rings, plastic straws, legos, of whatever else is laying around.

Purse. Kids love zippers and pockets and opening and closing things. For a fun activity, empty out one of your purses and fill it with little surprises for your child to discover as they explore your bag. This is also fun on plane rides!