The Best Toys...

.We've all seen the kid who ignores the toy inside the box and goes straight to play with the box itself- or hey, even the wrapping paper instead of what it was hiding. I love it when kids take ordinary toys and turn them into something that uses their creativity and imagination.

I remember being 3 and playing in some cardboard boxes my dad put together to make houses. He took some boxes that had shallow lids. By placing the shallow lids on the ends of the boxes (perpindicular) and placing a third lid on top, we had our own house/car/store. I remember packing my pink plaid baby blanket and my koala stuffed animal (my comfort toys and favorites of the time) into these cardboard box houses and playing for hours. (Or maybe it felt like hours and was only minutes- I'll have to ask if my mom remembers).

I remember as a child one of my favorite toys to play with was this super-durable hard plastic shopping cart. The handlebars were removable, so it worked as a shopping cart, a stroller, a car, a wheel chair, or anything else that required wheels and could contain a 6-year-old or smaller child. My sisters and I would often take turns (or fight over whose turn it was) to sit in the shopping cart and be pushed around. That's why it was great when we could reach the wheels ourselves and self-propel our tiny bodies around the room (still difficult on carpet).

So, when I saw Miranda inside her shopping cart today, I laughed! Not just because she was sitting inside of the cart (I actually put her in there once before, so the idea was not completely novel) but the fact that she climbed inside by herself!




She's definitely a little climber, and has no qualms about finding tools to help her achieve her goal. I love that she's interested in exploring her world. Now, I just need to find a way to keep her from wanting to run off...