Recycling! Rubbish into toys

[juliet]

Mirrored from Twisting Vines.

I wrote a post over at Natural Parents Network about recycling ‘rubbish’ into toddler toys.

However much we try to reduce the amount of packaging that comes into your house and waste that goes out of it, it seems that we are still constantly throwing things out. Meanwhile, the baby wants something to play with… In true permaculture style, I can solve two problems at once by diverting some of the ‘rubbish’ from the recycling bin to the toy box. Read on over at NPN for a few suggestions that have gone down well with Leon.

Comments

[lnr]

I'm still wondering how long I. CAn get away with eating cereal bars around baby by unwrapping them and handing him the wrapper ;)

We do already have an empty shoe box to play with, but I will have to start thinking about treasures to put in it!

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

We have the opposite problem - so many bits of rubbish adopted by the kids that they get upset if I try to throw away (but usually it's ok if they don't see them go, as they can get replaced anyway).

Loo roll/kitchen roll spyglasses / tunnels are a hit.
Quatling likes shredding tissues - so if I give her a newspaper, that keeps her away from the tissues and loo roll for ooh, a couple minutes.

Classic bunch of pans and bowls and a couple spoons - baby drumkit

Egg box with marker pen face = funny frog/crocodile toy

We had a treasure basket - Ludy diligently acquired all 73 items suggested in one of the educational textbooks on the subject. Some items had to be removed for the potential harm when Quatlet and Fluxlet threw them at each other, but some are still great - Quatlet's favourites were some raffia coasters, which doubled up as teethers and security objects and throwing toys for about a year.

When out and about, those wooden sticks they give you in coffee shops instead of spoons are good toys, and the cardboard sleeves round a cup are great for being toy mouths. Flip-up tables on trains are endless fun - check you don't have a squeaky one!

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

Actually my favourite reuse atm is Quatlet's plaster cast from his broken arm, removed in two pieces and now is a set of cave tunnels for his Octonauts toys to have adventures in!

[juliet]

Coasters have been popular here too -- though ours are wooden ones that are supposed to live on the coffee table but actually migrate around the house in toddler Brownian motion fashion :)

I have already encountered the value of the wooden sticks, but hadn't thought of cardboard cup sleeves -- good to know!