Happiness Is A Room Full Of New Toys

Folks, we've been in a playtime rut recently.  Now that the babies are crawling, (climbing, standing, cruising, screeching, barking, etc.) they find it more enjoyable to play with my glass vase full of fake flowers, pretty coffee table books that were never meant to be read (much less touched) and any available power cord, coaster or remote control.

Then it dawned on me, as the obvious eventually does, they're bored with their existing toys.  Why shouldn't they be, rattles really aren't that complicated.  So, thanks to our yard  sale we've upgraded the play area with more exciting toy options.

Here's some of our favorite things right now:

IKEA's MULA stacking rings (come one peeps, for $6 I really should have bought two).








IKEA's KORALL ANEMON lady bug tent.

My sister teaches at a Waldorf school.  I like some of their philosophy on early childhood play, particularly the idea of creating 'secret' cove-like environments for play.

We bought some cool pillows (from IKEA, of course) to go inside Ms. Ladybug.  Each morning I set up a new toy experience inside the tent for the babies to discover when they crawl out of the nursery.





IKEA's SPEJA tunnel

A personal favorite with the babies.  As soon as they started crawling on their hands and knees we ran to store (or rather  drove 4 hours to the nearest IKEA) to get this asap.

Mirabelle loved it immediately, Finn was a little unsure of it for about a day before venturing inside.

Playskool's Step Start Walk 'N Ride

Nana just sent this to us (thank you! thank you!).  Finn is ready to start his first triathlon just as soon as he can learn to walk. This will surely get him conditioned and ready for his first 'Look Ma, no hands!' steps.

B. Wheee-ls! for Target

'Aunt' Shannon told us about these!  You pull them back, let them go and they race forward (just like magic).  


Oddly, Finn was a little upset about them at first and would only play with them from the safety of my lap.  Now he spends all morning trying to recreate the magic on his own.

B. Whacky Balls for Target


Okay, these were geared towards 1 - 3 year olds, but I already believe my children are geniuses.  They understand the concept, but have a hard time with the motor skills.  


The hammer is a little problematic (Finn hit me on the head yesterday for fun).  We now hide the hammer and teach them to hit the balls with their hands.