Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with toys

Help me help my 7-yr-old appreciate what she has.

lucyleaf — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:33:57 -0800

Help me help my daughter appreciate what she has instead of wanting more, more, more. My sweet seven-year-old girl had a great Christmas. She got lots of things she wanted, including an American Girl doll. She has carried it around with her constantly for the past 24 hours... until tonight. She told me she was "tired of her" and talked about another American Girl doll she wants. Sigh. I'm hoping it will pass tomorrow and is just part of holiday overload.

This is emblematic of how she behaves with a lot of toys. She pines after certain things for a long time, but when she finally gets them, the honeymoon is short-lived. She's got some pretty cool things that end up forgotten in her room.

I suspect that this is due in part to the influence of our material-based society. Commercials, tween programming and marketing, friends with different/more toys... My husband and I have done what we can to put up filters - really limiting television, saying no.

It could also be her age as well - maybe some of this is normal? The disinterest in her American Girl sort of breaks my heart. She's been looking forward to this for a long time.

I've started to introduce the ideas of focusing on what we have instead of what we don't have and how important it is to enjoy what we do have. I think she's at an age where she can wrap her mind around some of these concepts. Her room is also overrun with lots of toys - I'm cleaning it out next week and hoping simplifying will help her focus on the cool stuff she has.

I'm guessing this is fairly normal behavior? How do I encourage her to enjoy what she has in a positive way? Coming down on her for NOT behaving the way I want her to will just make this worse - been there both purposefully and accidentally and it dissolves all communication.

Thanks all.

What's the name of this mysterious squirrel song?

obiwanwasabi — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:17:46 -0800

Singing Christmas squirrels toy - what's the name of the song?

Is there decent music gear for kids?

ejoey — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:04:51 -0800

I've got a ~1 year old baby that seems to really like music, especially hip hop and electronic type beats, and I'm wondering if there exists any cool and relatively "babyproof" music gear? It seems like most baby music toys default to awful lite-reggae and kids standards which quickly drive me insane. I'm hoping for something like functions like a simplified version of this with palatable built in sound effects or even maybe the ability to load your own sounds. My own searching has turned up nothing so far beyond iPhone apps. Is this a pipe dream?

Mp3 recorder for kids

FidelDonson — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:11:27 -0800

My daughter would love a toy like the Fischer Price tape recorder from my childhood. A simple sturdy mp3 recorder with a microphone that can be operated by a small child. Does that perfect gift exist? My google skills turn op nothing.

Tell me what to buy myself for xmas!

cgg — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:31:01 -0800

What cool tech toy should I buy? My family isn't doing presents this year. Given that, I'm taking the money I would have spent on them (or rather, them on me), and buying myself something fun. Trouble is, I can't figure out what that fun should be... I've got about $200 to spend, $250 max. I'm looking for something techy and fun. I'm a tech geek, but not an audiophile. I live in a Linux world and love my iPhone, for example, but I'm still ok with the crappy original earbuds. I love some of the the ideas at thinkgeek, but their ridiculous shipping costs to Canada ($15-$50 bucks!) means it's gotta be really really worth it, and so far I haven't seen anything that is. I have a PS2, Wii and Nintendo DS, but I don't use them much anymore. I live in a very cramped condo, so anything bulky is out.

I was debating getting a Slingbox and its iPhone app, which together with a jailbroken iPhone means I'd be able to watch TV and my video library (thanks to my Tivo server) anywhere I want. Although cool, I have a feeling I wouldn't really need to watch a lot of TV on my iPhone after the initial honeymoon period wore off.... or not. I'm not sure. And it seems so... 2005. Still... TV on the iPhone!

But before I meander down to the evil BestBuy (it's on sale this week) to pick one up, I'd thought I'd see if the Mefi geeks had any better ideas. What should I spend my Xmas money on? Difficulty: it has to be available in Canada for less than an arm a leg. What would you buy, if you were me?

what can a toddler play with in the snow?

raztaj — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:32:10 -0800

Toys for the snow, besides sleds and snowball makers? Do you have any suggestions for toys that a kid could use to play in the snow, besides sleds or snowball scoops?

I'm trying to think of something to get my 3-year old nephew, now that he lives in a cold and snowy climate with his parents. They all get cabin fever in the winter, and he's a little too young to enjoy making snowmen and forts, but there's much fun to be had with the crazy white stuff that falls from the sky when it's cold out.

Are there any seasonal outdoor toys (for the yard) that would be fun for a preschool aged kid?

Uncle Scrooge presents

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:19:23 -0800

What to gift an 11 year old boy with too much stuff? My husband's nephew has divorced parents and doting grandparents, so every Xmas he makes out in the gift department. This year (as usual) we were given a list from his mother but the only things on the list are video games. We gave him 2 games last year. Undoubtedly he will get several games from others this year.

So we are left with a dilemma. Naturally we would like to give him a gift he would really be excited about and use, however my husband would like to give him something that will stand out and be memorable, possibly even give him something that won't be too exciting at Christmas, but will prove enduring. So my question is twofold: Should we just give him what he wants? If not, what are some ideas for something around $50.00? Bear in mind that my husband gave him one of his old guitars for nephew's birthday and is fixing up a used bike to give him just to have around.

Toy For a Grown-Up Daredevil?

tamaraster — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:01:04 -0800

What is a fun, active, motion toy for an adult? I want to get my (adult) cousin something she can play with/on. She likes surfing, skateboarding, and all related feats. Any ideas of an interesting, active type of thing like that? Bonus points if it's unusual...or unusually fun.

What was this toy...?

twine42 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:46:02 -0800

Name-that-toy filter. Difficulty : probably sold in the 60s or 70s in the UK... Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

Each block like that was a 'house' in the minds of my brother and me.

The houses stacked on top of each other to make tower blocks, and they came in strips 1, 2 or 4 houses long. There were smaller houses which fitted into the groove on the top of the awful drawing above. There were also roofs which were the same theory, but no height to the 'walls'.

All the houses were white, and all the roofs were pillar-box red.

Each house was probably 40mm to a side, and were made out of the same sort of plastic (and the same sort of thickness) as Lego bricks.

But they definitely weren't any kind of lego. They're completely hollow in the middle.

Does anyone else remember them?

Where can I find a soap bubble blowing pipe that looks like a realistic wooden smoking pipe?

leptin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:03:52 -0800

Where can I find a soap bubble blowing pipe that looks like a realistic wooden smoking pipe? All the ones I see online are made of brightly colored plastic. Alternatively, is it possible to modify a real smoking pipe for blowing soap bubbles? Thank you very much for your help!

Seeking clicking mechanism or design...

pallen123 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:21:02 -0800

What kind of small toys or devices click when you rotate them forwards and backwards? Seeking mechanism or design... I’m trying to help a friend design a small toy and she needs a mechanism that will click in very small increments as she rotates a small (1 inch diameter) dial that turns 360 degrees on its axis. She needs the dial to click precisely as it turns clockwise and counterclockwise in smallish increments. I was thinking a fishing reel mechanism might work, but that just allows turning in one direction. Then I thought a ratchet wrench mechanism might work, but that also turns in just one direction (and I’m not sure how the inside of a ratchet wrench works either). Can anyone think of existing toys or devices that have a clicking mechanism that freely rotate? Novel solutions? Suggestions? Thank you!

Where can I find speherical bags that will help me turn my trash into toys?

cross_impact — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:45:27 -0800

Where can I find bags of various sizes that: are spherical or ball-shaped when full of stuff are made of durable outdoor-hardy material and close with velcro or a drawstring or some other kid-safe closure mechanism Bonus: Bags of other useful shapes like kid furniture, that can be filled and closed You see, I want to make balls out of trash... We throw away a lot of junk mail, paper, etc since we don't have recycling in our community. I was wanting to find a way to collect that trash in a way that would make a useful outdoor play toy for my kids using paper and other relatively soft, dry trash as "stuffing."

Every year at Christmas, I save all the wrapping paper and make a huge ball of it with masking tape to hold it together. The kids love playing with it before we throw the whole mess away. I was looking for something made of durable reuseable material I could use in this capacity and then keep and not throw away. A trash bag that converts into a ball. I had my eye on making one of those giant earth balls out of out recycled newspapers from a month or so. Or even something the size of a soccer ball would work.

My search for a commercial version of this has been fruitless. Commissioning a prototype from a craftsman or seamstress undermines my goal of a cheap alternative to an expensive item while reusing what would otherwise go into the bins. Any leads?

Erector Set

jasondigitized — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:44:50 -0800

Google-Fu fail. I had a toy in the mid 70's that I can best describe as a hydraulic-watermill-waterpump-erector-set. It allowed you to connect a series of clear tubes, mills, and various other pieces to create a crazy pump station that ran water up, down and across the tubes, mills. etc. It could grow to several feet high. If I remember correctly, there may have been an electric pump that drove it all. I may be mistaken. The toy may have been a lot older as I used it at my grandparents house. It was basically like one of those electronic kits where you could perform experiments but this used water, and it was awesome. Help me find this toy!

Help me find this old school game...

chump — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:09:02 -0800

I'm trying to find this outdoor game I played back in the 70's. Basically, the game consisted of 2 ropes with handles and a swimming pool float. The float would zip back and forth when a player spread his arms quickly to "shoot" the float back to the other player. Can't remember the name of the game or where to buy it today.

Buying a stuffed onager?

historybuff — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:56:34 -0800

Where can I buy a stuffed onager toy? I have a niece who is really into horses of various types. She is really taken with onagers--a kind of Asian wild horse (Equus hemionus) that's smaller than a regular horse (about the size of a donkey). I am trying to buy her a stuffed onager as a present. However, all my searches have led to 1) generic stuffed horses; or 2) toy onager catapults.

Anyone have a suggestion for a good place to purchase (online or brick and morter stories) unusual stuffed animals? I'd like to do something not-cliche. Thanks.

Subscriptions that aren't to magazines?

Marquis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:27:59 -0800

What are some wonderful things I can buy subscriptions to, other than magazines and newspapers? Curious about interesting subscriptions for things that aren't magazines, zines, journals or newspapers. For example, Amy Lam's My Topics art series, or I guess McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, but really I'm most keen on things that aren't books either. Toys? Sculptures? Cool Maps? Stuff that comes in the mail monthly, quarterly, biannually... Stuff for adults, or stuff for kids.

An etsy search brings up some things, but mostly lacklustre cards/soap/baked goods/lame crafts. I know there are subscriptions out there, but I'm curious about the wonderful ones.

Help my boy teeth without BPA exposure.

ajr — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:54:42 -0800

My wife is going mad looking for BPA-free teething toys for our 5-month old. Can you point me to web sites (or other resources) that might help us find such toys? Additionally, any insights into whether we should really be concerned about BPA in toys, etc. (especially those designed for teething) would be appreciated.

Modern VL-Tone?

dmd — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:24:53 -0800

What's the modern equivalent of a Casio VL-Tone? I've seen suggestions like the microKORG, MINIKP, and KAOSSILATOR, but that really doesn't capture the same segment. I'm looking for something appropriate for a 5 year old.

360 minutes, 48 toys.

Bardolph — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:36:30 -0800

It's small, it's interesting, I WANT TO PUT IT IN MY MOUTH: suggest everyday objects or materials that will amuse and delight a six-month-old baby? Baby B, age 6mo, will be taking her first-ever plane trip this month. The flight is only three hours each way, so rather than trying Benadryl I'm just going to try to keep her entertained for that time. I estimate that this will require one new toy for every 5-15min of flight time (so, as many as 12-24 toys total each way).

Luckily, it doesn't take much to engage her at this stage; pretty much any graspable object, particularly with interesting colors/textures/sounds, is enthusiastically received. (She's still not at the point of doing much with things beyond looking, shaking, and chewing.) Consequently, I'm looking to compile a ginormous list of small household/craft/kitchen/natural objects I could take along as "toys" on this and future flights.

Criteria are pretty lax: ideally, objects would be
(1) small,
(2) not poisonous,
(3) not sharp or pointy
(4) not choking hazards, i.e. big enough not to fit through a paper towel tube, although all play will be under close adult supervision anyway.
(5) cheap-- either <$3 at your standard neighborhood craft/hardware/department/grocery/kitchen store, OR freely found outdoors, OR already present in the average American home.

I'd love to get a list as comprehensive as possible, so please err on the side of inclusivity in suggestions. Ideas so far include a sheet of waxed paper, silicone basting brush, kitchen prep bowl... what else?

Can you recommend any feminist princess dolls I can buy for my 6-year-old goddaughter?

mythomane — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:22:23 -0800

Can you recommend any feminist princess dolls I can buy for my 6-year-old goddaughter? I don't mind getting her princesses, but they have to be awesome princesses who really are heroes in their own right! Mulan is the best of the Disney princesses, IMO, but I don't really want to give Disney my money. So far all I've thought of are Wonder Woman and She-Ra (not that I can find affordable She-Ra dolls nowadays anyway), but I worry that they won't seem 'princessy' enough for my goddaughter to really appreciate and love them. Lots of pink and fancy clothing is fine, but I want to show her princesses who save the prince (or don't need one, or ditch him for another princess, or whatever) and kick ass on their own. Any suggestions?

NameThatToyFilter

UrineSoakedRube — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:57:05 -0800

What is this type of toy called (and where can I buy one)? A recent Metafilter (and BoingBoing) post linked to the Gabe Askew fan video for Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks". My question is about a type of toy that appears roughly between the 2:22 and 2:25 mark. It's like one of those figures used by artists for modeling the position of limbs of human figures, but there are elastic strings running through the sections, so that when one presses a button on the bottom of the base, the figure collapses.

My questions:

1a) What is this type of toy called?

1b) Is there a good source for buying these? I'd be happy with the plain jane model, but I'd be interested in seeing other, customized versions as well.

2) While we're at it, what is the articulated human body model used by artists called?

Did cleaning my old plastic toys make them unsafe?

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:47:33 -0800

Should I dump my old toys, or give them to my toddler to play with? I have a large box of Fisher-Price "Little People" and various related plastic/wood toys from 30-40 years ago that were well-loved by me and my siblings. They were very grimy, so I dumped them in a sink full of warm soapy water and used a scrub brush to try to get the dirt off. That did nothing. I then used a Magic Eraser, which did really well getting the old grime off of the plastic.

My husband wasn't so happy about this - he reminded me that the Magic Eraser is just very fine sandpaper, and what I did was remove very fine layers of plastic from each toy. Now I wonder if I have rendered these old plastic toys unsafe for my small child to play with.

Is it possible to tune this toy guitar?

TheManChild2000 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:05:04 -0800

Are Hearthsong's "Play & Learn" kids' guitars tunable? Wife bought Kid3 a junior sized classical acoustic guitar from Hearthsong. The sticker inside says "Play & Learn" and nothing else. The website says they sell Hoehner guitars but this guitar doesn't say Hoehner anywhere.

The fret buzz and etc is insane on this thing, and I've never seemed to have been able to tune it. Are these even expected to be tunable?

Please help me find this children's night light/lamp!

JPowers — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:05:01 -0800

I've seen this revolving children's night light in 2 TV shows (Undeclared and Sex and the City) and 1 movie (One Fine Day) and I have been trying to find it since. I've searched online and I can't seem to find one anywhere. Can anyone help me find where to purchase these revolving lights/lamps?
Pic 1
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Pic 3

What should I import to New Zealand for resale?

redzarf — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:26:42 -0800

What should I import to New Zealand for resale? I'm looking for ideas of products that I could buy in bulk, ship to NZ, and resell for a modest profit. http://www.kk.org/cooltools/ is great, but a little frustrating because I'll often see products there or elsewhere that I'd love to buy, but can't because only shipping one is too expensive or they don't ship overseas (Amazon only send things like books and dvds overseas.)

At the same time I'd like to try making a little extra money on the side by finding a few products that aren't available in NZ, and resell them with a 10-20% profit I'll be happy. Manufacturers/sellers are (hopefully) more likely to ship overseas for a bulk order.

NZ is a long way from anywhere, so shipping costs a lot, so I'm particularly looking for products that are small and light. My preferred price-range would be about US$40-100, though outside of that would be interesting to know about too. Theres lots of cool unique products from the US, but from anywhere else is also of interest.

If you don't have any specific products in mind, are there any other lists/blogs/stores/etc like Cool Tools that I should look at for ideas?