Fifteen Frugal Battery-Free Toys

ow is the time we start thinking about stockpiling those holiday gifts, and it seems every season we go through the same thing. My family wants to buy toys for my kids but have no clue as to what to buy. Also every year, my kids have this extravagant list of expensive toys that we have to whittle down considerably.

Ironically, though, many of these toys are battery-operated and long about January, the batteries run out. I recharge and rebuy batteries, but some of the toys never get played with too much after that initial first run of battery power.
What do I see my kids playing with? The other toys that they can just pick up and play with. Now granted, they are originally dazzled by the latest toy craze that glows and jingles and baubles all over the place, but then they tire of it and turn to the other stuff they kicked aside. That's the stuff they end up playing with for the rest of year.

Here is a list for parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and whoever else is scratching their heads saying:

1. A Plastic Phone: You know, the kind that has a connected cord. My kids have played with ours in endless games.

2. Blocks: If you are buying this, you might also want to provide a tub with a lid to put the blocks into when they are finished.

3. LEGO: I hate these little things underfoot, but kids can spend hours putting stuff together. The larger Duplo blocks work for smaller hands and increase fine motor skills.

4. Action Figures: My son has been collecting Batman action figures since he was three and now he plays with his action league. Some of these little dolls are over four years old.

5. Barbie: I wouldn't suggest buying the kind that cost so much. Let's face it, what's your little angel going to do as soon as she gets it? Strip it down and put on a different dress. There goes Barbie Magical Inflated Price as she slips into Barbie Bargain Basement dress you bought at the dollar store.

6. Art Supplies: Every year we stuff the stockings with crayons, watercolor paints, colored pencils, finger paints and of course include coloring books, and appropriate paper under the tree. They use this stuff up!

7. Play-Doh: You can make your own play dough and put it in decorator butter tubs or go all out and buy the real stuff. Even the Play-Doh gadgets are not too expensive and the kids will spend hours mooshing it around.

8. Dress Up Clothes: Create a box of dress-up clothes from yard sale finds. A ready-made box can be bought for $30-$40, but you can do better than that! You can find some things second hand and then visit the fabric store for boas and the discount store for those little high heel shoes. Old costume jewelry also makes a good addition--watch out for small parts and sharp points.

9. Magazine Subscriptions: What an easy way to shop and keep on giving all year. Try out Sesame Street, Click, Babybug and Ladybug for the little kids, Jack and Jill, Nickelodeon Magazine, Spider, Child Life, and Disney Adventures for the older kids and Creative Kids, Muse and Cricket for the biggest ones.

10. Books: Buy books that center around the child's interest area. The classics are great if that is what the child wants to read, but to encourage reading, getting a Baby-Sitters Club or Animorphs might be more what they are looking for.

11. Baby Dolls and Stuffed Animals: These can get expensive so watch out. In our family it seems every little girl needs a baby doll and every little boy needs a teddy bear or the other way around!

12. Balls and Sports Equipment: Footballs, Basketballs, Soccer Balls see if they need new ones. Along with that think about protective equipment-shin pads, bike helmets. Knee and elbow pads, ball gloves. Kids grow out and wear out these things from time to time and a new set may be just what they need.

13. Time With You: Make them an invitation to spend a day with you at a museum, movie, concert, camping, or hiking. Take pictures and then get together to make a momento out of the outing. They'll go back and look at it later.

14. A Sleeping Bag: Kids use these for sleepovers, camping and just for fun. They may not have one at all or may want to update that New Kids On the Block bag they got a few years ago.

Finally...

15. Save Your Boxes: You'll marvel how your little ones end up playing in them at the end of Christmas day, while the battery powered supermajigs lay abandoned (temporarily) in the hall.

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Teresa Higginbotham writes articles about frugal living and family life. Visit her website at http://www.tightwadtess.com.