Best toys for under $10 (or free?)

[Boobycino]

I just thought I'd put this out there.

I bought Jasper a washing basket from woolies today, as they were $1 off at the grand asking price of $3 and he LOVES it, he's been sitting in it, putting stuff in it, dragging it around. If he breaks it, I'm not worried, and heck, I could even use it to put washing in from time to time!

Aside from the obvious rice in a plastic bottle (which is still AWESOME, dont get me wrong!), what other things have you found to be great for bubbas on a budget!?

[MummaFug]

I bought the IKEA clear tupperware with blue lids (its something like 20pcs for $7) and have made HEAPS of different things ...

* Buttons - cut a hole in the top and DD puts the buttons in

*Pegs - clip pegs around the outside

*The sml containers... Blu tack on a tray and paste coloured card in the bottom... I then give DD a bucket with diff coloured things in them and help her sort them into colors

*stacking

*give her a wooden spoon and let her drum away

*pasta scooping/pouring

I have used the tupperware in the bath, dirt, sand ... anywhere and it is all hers :laughing:

[Mum2Mimi]

cardboard toilet paper roll
Pots & wooden spoon
Playdoh
Blowing bubbles

[Lateralus]

DD just loves shredding paper... so any old magazines go in the 'Zoe' pile and she sets to work demolishing them. Granted it makes a pile of mess, but it keeps her quiet and happy!

[BabelFish]

Empty tissue box and cheap packet of hankies. She puts them in, pulls them out ... lots of fun!

Also, just hankies full stop. It's amazing how many ways a child can find to play with a bunch of hankies.

[TacoFest]

You can make play dough for really cheap. Dd loves cardboard boxes. Dp's brother is a carpenter and collected a whole heap of wood cut offs and sanded them down and painted them and made her the cutest set of blocks. This could easily be done using sandpaper. Also instruments can be made with cheap pvc pipes. Just put rice pasta buttons etc in pipe and put plastic over the ends

[HuntersMum]

I sewed a lot of short (3cm) pieces of scrap ribbon onto a piece of material. Both my DS's loved it they would sit for hours looking at the tags, chewing on them, flicking them back and forth. Great for developing fine motor skills.

[Annabella]

cheap stickers- another great one for fine motor skills. just to stick on paper, or can draw circles for them to stick them on etc.

Also textas/crayons/pencils etc and paper

coloured water and glitter in a bottle

[Poppetfish]

Food coulring and water frozen into ice cubes and put the child in the bath. My children paint the bath tub until the cube melts.

Also tins of food. They both love rolling and stacking and lining up all the tins in my cupboard. My DS has his fav (canaolli bean tin) I cant bring myself to use it as he loves it. It is in his bed ahile he sleeps tonight.:laughing:

[Tam-I-Am]

A bottle filled with water, containing glitter, buttons, interesting beads etc, with the lid glued on.

A pillow case with bits of cellophane, things that make noise, things that make different shapes etc, sewed shut.

[Mummy2Kobi&Hailee]

one of the net bags that oranges come in (2.5kg bags) and place paper/tissue paper or cellophane in it and it keeps them occupied aswell. It also simulates their senses with the touch and feel and the sound.
You could also use a stocking leg with split peas/paper/tissue paper/cello.
My son used to love a tissue box with coloured card with the families names/picture written on them so he could post them a letter. Example card with Daddy on it he could place in slit on tissue box and send daddy a letter at work. I would wait for a while and remove the card and place one in there with his name/pic on it and he would think Daddy sent him 1 back.
I also used to fill several balloons up with different things so they felt different but wouldnt hurt bubs if they broke. ( rice Flour sand pebbles.)
i would also have little plastic containers and coloured pegs and pegs of different sizes that son would sort out into size/colour groups.

Hope that Helps
Broni

[Amara]

The bottom drawer & one cupboard in the kitchen with unbreakable kitchen items in it including cardboard packaged items & things stored in plastic containers. Only a couple of disasters in that time & they cleaned up fine.

Short broom - the type that comes with a dustpan - the handle goes up about as high as a short adult's leg. My son loves getting around the house sweeping with it.

Remote control from your old tv or dvd or whatever.

[Justboys]

go to the cheap shops and get lots of crafty things that just sticks on my 2yr old loves that stuff, just show/help him pull the things of and buy a big piece of cardboard (which you can cut up in to small pieces) or paper:yes:

[flicker]

shoe boxes. you can make anything with a shoe box:laughing:
out of all the toys my 2 yo ds has he plays with a box! One day we were bored so i cut holes at both ends and made a tunnel for his cars and trains. i cant believe how excited he got out of something so simple. ''nunnel mummy nunnel!" :rolleyes:

[moozle]

What great ideas! You are all so creative :yelclap: Just trying to think if I can add anything else.... DS LOVES balloons but he went through a stage of biting them and I couldn't really handle it and the stress of making sure I found all the bits was a little much!

[mum2bubba]

Bubble wrap
Stickers
Food dye used as paint, the girls love painting paper plates and cups lately
celephone, they love looking through it on the window
Magna Doodle (though it's broken now, might need to get a new one, it was $10 from The Reject Shop)
musical instruments (I found an old childrens' piano at an op-shop a few years ago, same as what I had as a kid and the girls love it)
cheap bath toys or plastic containers which they can use outside on a hot day in the baby pool, also bath their dolls or Barbies
Stamps
Finger/hand painting
Painting with nature (leaves, twigs, stones etc)

[FertileMertile]

DS loves any type of ball u can think of and u can pick them up so cheap! He also loves hot wheels cars

[becca022]

Ds & dd love ripping up paper, balloons, playdough, those cheap rubbery, stretchy toys from cheap shops, bubbles, bottles with water in them. Tree branches. There's heaps of things you can do if you put your mind to it.

[peanutbutter&jelly]

Storage tubs. Like this one - http://www.furniturestoreblog.com/images/tub%20trugs%20laundry%20baskets%20storage.jpg

DS loves to sit in them with an old set of keys and pretend that he's in the car.
He loves buckets, balls and one of the biggest hits was a little turtle, filled with sand. My Mum bought it for him at an African stall in our local shopping centre, its only about 5cm long but its the perfect size for DS to take with him everywhere.
Also, a cheapie lipstick or texta :rolleyes:

[lovelymum]

For us it bubbles. Make em yourself with washing detergent and water. We spend hours and hours outside blowing and chasing bubbles and the sheer delight the children get is priceless. I must admit I buy the bubble mix and some brands are better than others, the more expensive ones (around the $5 - $8 mark) give you better bubbles that are huge and will float for ages without popping. We blow them up in the air and the kids run around in circles chasing them until they land and they jump on them or pop them in mid air with their fingers. Sooo much fun. When DD was just a llittle baby and we did bubbles with DS she would sit outside in her bouncy chair loving every moment of it

[EDIOH]

my daughter is only 7 months old and i find she loves baking paper as it makes lots of noise and doesnt rip appart as easily as paper.

[JabberJaw]

My kids all like cups, the plastic ones that come in a million colours from the cheap $2 shop. They are like $2 for 80-100 and even my 12 yr old plays with them, stacking them, building stuff or filling them with things.

Pegs are another good one.

Empty containers and a couple of wooden spoons.

[StretchmarkBarbie]

Pegs!!! seriously a $2 packet of pegs keeps my kids entertained..... well for weeks. Lol they peg clothes up on rope, cover each others clothes in pegs. Make peg chains. Pegs on their body, like fingers and toes, etc.

[naebie]

cheapy shower curtain rings- She loves to collect them up in containers (or shoes) or links them together, puts them on her hands or feet

[Kyles72]

When DS was a bub I used to attach coloured pegs around an icecream container and he used to pull them off and try to put them back on. He still likes playing with pegs, but now hes older (20 months) gets his fingers caught:rolleyes:

[Teegzie]

Old handbags/keys/purses full of cards are DD's favourites. I've bought her a couple of old handbags from opshops that cost about $2 and put some keys that don't go to anything (or not that I can remember! :laughing:) in there so she can "unlock" the house. I also give her my old purses with things like Flybuys cards in them so she can shop like DF and I do.

More often than not though she fills the handbags up with rocks from her ever growing rock collection! :p The rocks are a bargain because all they cost me is a walk to the beach where she can collect as many as she can carry! ;)