A few days ago, I wrote about how to give life to old board games. Here are some more ways to stretch the fun out of old toys, while your children are counting the days until they get new ones.
Challenge your children to build the tallest tower of Legos or blocks that they can. Can they build one higher than themselves? Can they build one so high that it will touch the ceiling?
Take those blocks, spread them on the floor, and try to make the biggest square or rectangle that you can on the floor.
Use those same blocks to make small buildings. You can make a holiday village for animals and people. Make a post office, a grocery store, a toy store, an ice skating rink out of blue or white blocks. Or turn your town into a workshop for Santa. Throw in some ribbon on wrapping paper scraps.
Make small block rectangles into cages for a zoo.
Set up a hospital for dolls and teddy bears.
Have Santa visit the doll house. Have the doll house people stage a dog rescue.
Throw a Christmas party for favorite stuffed animals.
Temporarily move sandbox toys into the bathtub for a long bath.
Use play money out of a board game to buy things from the toy kitchen store.
Set up a toy store for the animals to visit.
Place those stuffed animals around the house and go on a safari. Take a camera, or binoculars, or a canteen if you have one. Two empty toilet paper tubes make great binoculars.
Play hide and seek with a stuffed animal. You hide the animal and the children look for it. I will caution you not to let the kids hide the animals, especially if it’s a favorite. Especially if it is a small, favorite toy. They sometimes forget where they hid the toy, then you get to spend the next couple of hours looking in every drawer and under every piece of furniture.
Have fun thinking of new ways to play with old toys while you are waiting to open presents!
Making Old Games New Again
25 Days Until Christmas (activity ideas)