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Nearly Free Kids Toys that Keep On Giving

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dylanjohn:
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moof:
Cardboard boxes.
Rocks.  Seriously, my 6 year old picked up a rock about 1/3 of a mile into a 9 mile overnighter backpacking trip and it was his only "toy" for the two days.  He would carry that sucker and talk about it, and make sure he knew where it was.  Basically a kids imagination will fire up once you stop pelting their brain with excess stimulation.  I am sure if it was not a rock it would have been a stick.  He did find a deer bone, and that lead to an hours' worth of discussion about how why I thought it was from a deer and not a dinosaur or some such.

Parizade:
Garage sale and thrift store scarves. My mother kept a box of old scarves for her grandchildren to play with, when she passed away the grandchildren (now grown) divided up the scarves for their own kids to use because they had so many good memories. Kids can turn these into different "costumes" and they cost next to nothing.

Just Joe:
Minecraft. I know, I know - it cost more than a nickel. Best ~$30 we ever spent. Both kids have used it for years now. Other games have come and gone, Minecraft remains a big deal.

havregryn:

--- Quote from: moof on November 28, 2018, 04:38:53 PM ---Cardboard boxes.
Rocks.  Seriously, my 6 year old picked up a rock about 1/3 of a mile into a 9 mile overnighter backpacking trip and it was his only "toy" for the two days.  He would carry that sucker and talk about it, and make sure he knew where it was.  Basically a kids imagination will fire up once you stop pelting their brain with excess stimulation.  I am sure if it was not a rock it would have been a stick.  He did find a deer bone, and that lead to an hours' worth of discussion about how why I thought it was from a deer and not a dinosaur or some such.

--- End quote ---

Yes, one of most played with things my 5.5 son has right now is a huge stick, partially covered with moss, that he dragged home from the forest. He calls it his staff and it's more precious than any toy we actually paid for. We store it in the guest bathroom (otherwise I think he'd sleep with it) and just the other day a visiting 11 year old was impressed by it. So it's not just that my son is weird, kids of a wide age range seem to think it's a cool toy.

I also second Minecraft, also because the Internet is full of tutorials how to make fun Minecraft inspired toys that kids actually play with (most crafts usually end up as clutter so that is refreshing). I am no master crafter but I've converted old cardboard boxes into a crafting table and different types of blocks. It was also fairly easy to make a diamond sword. The only Minecraft gadget that he has that is not homemade is a bow and arrow that he got as a bday present.
We also made this http://www.pixelpapercraft.com/project/chess  to get the son excited about chess.

Legos are also not free but can be bought cheaply second hand or some wannabe legos cheap brands (basic blocks are most versatile anyway, sets are overrated), they get a lot of playtime and stay interesting for a long time.

I have two boys and still we get a lot of use for years now out of having a wooden doll house https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50290785/
I am sure somehow handy can make this at very little cost.

That's pretty much it, everything else we ever bought was a waste of money.

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