Suggestions for a toddler toy that makes a loud noise?

September 7, 2017 1:44 PM

My neighbours' toddler enjoys throwing those fireworks poppers that make a loud bang when they hit, but hearing them especially when I'm trying to work in my yard gives me anxiety. The bang is very loud! I've asked them to stop, but I feel bad taking this enjoyable thing away from the kid and wanted to give the neighbours a gift as a gesture of thanks for respecting my request. What sort of toy do you think a toddler would enjoy that is similar, but can be done inside the house so that I don't have to hear it?
posted by Pwoink to Shopping (17 answers total)

Best answer: HAha, I get where you're coming from but I think there's a very good chance it might be taken as a "here, YOU listen to this" kind of jab.

That said, a toy toddlers love, that is loud as hell and designed for indoors, is the corn popper (not to be confused with the cornballer.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 1:53 PM on September 7, 2017 [10 favorites]

I wouldn't do this. It's almost 100% likely going to come across the wrong way. You've already asked them to stop and they responded kindly? That's a huge win.

If you want to give the kid a toy, don't weirdly give a loud toy for inside (and don't give a conspicuously quiet gift either). Just give a nice, age appropriate gift if you want to do anything at all.
posted by vunder at 1:55 PM on September 7, 2017 [16 favorites]

If there is a corner of your lot that they can access easily, a nicer gesture could be to make a little dirt plot specifically for the kiddo to dig in, maybe edged with strawberry plants or marigolds or other nice little flowery things. A fairy garden to play in or look at?
posted by jillithd at 2:01 PM on September 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I was also going to suggest the corn popper! Good classic toy.
posted by radioamy at 2:05 PM on September 7, 2017

Your neighbors are good people, and sounds like you are too. Maybe bake them a treat for being really great, and also kindly offer to let them know when you won't be at home for a bit (food shopping, dr. appt, etc.) so their kid can make some noise?
posted by the webmistress at 2:11 PM on September 7, 2017 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: A friend recommended these rubber poppers, which seems like a similar type of fun.
posted by Pwoink at 2:34 PM on September 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

We just bought our niece a "make your own bouncy ball" kit, which combines making them with getting to throw something! And they don't make very much noise!
posted by nakedmolerats at 4:37 PM on September 7, 2017 [3 favorites]

A toddler has these? Hell no. I'm from a country where they can't be sold to anyone under 16, and now live in a country where they're banned completely. That's gonna be one deaf toddler soon.
posted by scruss at 6:11 PM on September 7, 2017 [6 favorites]

In a different direction, a bubble gun (soap bubbles) would let the toddler "throw" bubbles outside, but it's quiet.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:26 PM on September 7, 2017 [4 favorites]

Give them a friendly thank you note and $25 gift card to toys r us.
posted by studioaudience at 7:06 PM on September 7, 2017 [6 favorites]

Bubble wrap! Unless that's not safe for toddlers.
posted by artychoke at 8:22 PM on September 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Pounding board with hammer is noisy and kids like to accomplish tasks. Toddlers are plenty capable of making noise on their own. Get an age-appropriate toy that the child will like. The toddlers in my life love toys that have a person to take out and put back in.
posted by theora55 at 10:11 PM on September 7, 2017

BTW, those rubber poppers are fun, but even my nearly-six-year-old doesn't have the hand strength to flip them on his own.
posted by wyzewoman at 10:33 PM on September 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

The general rule of thumb me and my brothers used when giving toys as gifts on Christmas or birhtdays was, NO BATTERIES. Batteried toys make a lot of noise and batteries are expensive. You will be trading one annoyance for another if you give them a different noisy toy.

I think a gift card to a toy store or some other outside toy that is less noisy like a balsa wood airplane would be what I would aim for. Maybe a toddler musical instrument.
posted by AugustWest at 11:51 PM on September 7, 2017

I don't have a concrete suggestion to add beyond the great noisy toy ideas you've already gotten, but may I make a procedural suggestion? Whatever the toy is, please make sure you clear it discreetly with the parents first, out of earshot of the toddler.

The worst case scenario is that the parents have worked out their own complex compromise that balances their need to have quiet inside the house, your need to have quiet outside the house, and the toddler's need to make noise -- and then you upset the whole balance by giving him a new noisy indoor toy.

Honestly, if you just tell the parents what you've told us here, that might be enough. Knowing that they have a reasonable and sympathetic neighbor who will speak up if something bothers you, but who understands that children are human beings with their own peculiar needs... That knowledge in and of itself is one of the best presents you can get parents.
posted by yankeefog at 1:24 AM on September 8, 2017 [6 favorites]

Not just bubble wrap, but an entire roll of bubble wrap. I really liked the big giant bubbles when I was small.
posted by fiercecupcake at 12:37 PM on September 8, 2017

(Both my kid AND myself found the rubber poppers hard on our hands...)

Might I suggest that you are approaching this from the wrong angle? The kid has not done you a favour; he should not have been making a racket outdoors anyway. The parents don't really need anything more than "thanks so much!" -- but because so many people are jerks about this sort of thing, and they were not, I would drop off a card and a drinkable bottle of wine or a six-pack of quality beer. I know, I know, many people do not drink, but it is really, really easy to re-gift booze.
posted by kmennie at 8:27 AM on September 9, 2017