Rats

Last month I bought some small stuffies from IKEA.  They fit all my criteria for good playroom toys;

• Small enough that I can have several of them in the room
• Not too small for the infants and toddlers
• Inexpensive – they cost just $15 for all six of them
• And most importantly – can be used in a variety of ways

Since they were first introduced into the playroom they have been popular with all the children.
They were used during dramatic play in the housekeeping area – as a food source;

They went on adventures.  This one is having a bath;

They frolicked in the field in the nature area;

The toddlers are impressed by the convenient ‘handles’;

And of course they are great to cuddle up with when reading a story;

Great connection to the book she chose too

Mr Brown Returns

I’ve mentioned before about how I periodically change the selection of toys available for play in the playroom.   Sometimes toys are rotated out of the room because the children have lost interest in them and I bring out ‘fresh’ toys.  Sometimes the change is made to make room for something that the children have requested.

Occasionally toys are removed from the playroom due to unrelenting conflicts over their use.  Mr. Brown (name given by the children) was one of those toys.  I don’t know why Mr. Brown was so popular but in a bin full of stuffies he was always first choice.

The last time Mr Brown was out the children would arrive and immediately rush in to get Mr Brown.  If someone else was already playing with him there would be moping and sometimes wailing.  Other stuffies didn’t have the power of Mr. Brown.  Personally I liked many of the other stuffies better but I was in the minority.

Then problems began to arise over hiding Mr. Brown instead of putting him away at clean up time.  The first children in the room would look in the bin for Mr Brown and discover that he wasn’t there.  Arguments would ensue over who had him last and what they had done to purposely prevent others from playing with him.

Mr Brown and the other small stuffies were eventually removed from the play room and other toys were brought out.  It has been more than six months and this week Mr Brown returned.  He brought friends – some old and some new;

It has been interesting to watch the children as they negotiate the power of the new toys.  New members of the group may have more importance than Mr. Brown.  I also find it interesting how small stuffies are the toy of choice given the wide selection of toys available.  Even the school age children are drawn to these toys over others.

The new farm toys are popular too.

It is just one of the toys I purchased from the Nature Shop and from my first ever visit to the new Ikea last weekend.  I’ve already made a list of more toys to get this coming weekend.  Mr. Brown has some competition.