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What Are Your Child's Favorite Non-Toy Toys?

082009audreyradio.jpgIf you're a parent, you quickly find out that your baby is more interested in the everyday stuff. Our little one loves paper- anything from the bills we have waiting to be paid to a bowl of wrapped tea bags to books or magazines. Oh, and of course, there's jewelry and electronics too...

 
 

Over at Baby Gear they were asking this same question and listing a few of their own favorites including a parachute (like the kind used at Gymboree classes) and stacking cups.

What items does your baby gravitate towards?

Photo by Julia Cho

Tags

toys - infant, toys - toddler, toys - kids

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Comments (29)

Eleanor loves our kitchen timer. She's fascinated by it!

posted by pinklovesbrown on August 20th 2009 at 3:22pm
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Coaster, phones, remote controls.

posted by BlueLM on August 20th 2009 at 3:28pm
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My husband's Blackberry. The only way we can cut my son's finger and toe-nails is to let him play with it while we do the dirty deed!

posted by lisamfb on August 20th 2009 at 3:34pm
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paper, our cell phones (she somehow knows the difference between our real ones and my old cell i so smugly thought i could give her), shoes, the screen door and anything with a handle

posted by melissah on August 20th 2009 at 3:48pm
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my son loves to play with anything that has buttons especially our automatic garbage can int he kitchen

posted by thesuburbandad on August 20th 2009 at 3:50pm
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We have all these great toys, and she'd rather play with: the velcro closures on her shoes, my sunglasses, cell phones (except the toy ones), the TV remote (the real one, not the fake one we bought to keep her from the real one), any paper than can be ripped to shreds.

posted by surly on August 20th 2009 at 4:05pm
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I forgot to add, she recently discovered an addication to plastic beach shovels. If she's ever upset we can hand her a shovel and it resolves the problem.

posted by surly on August 20th 2009 at 4:07pm
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my son loves the dishwasher buttons and turn dial. cell phone, remote controll, and the KEY BOARD!!!

posted by jackied302 on August 20th 2009 at 4:09pm
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ipod touch- just waiting for the day I find a toy one at the dollar store

posted by Toker on August 20th 2009 at 4:15pm
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The tupperware cupboard, books with bookmarks, my dental night guard, curlers, votive holders.

posted by treber on August 20th 2009 at 4:17pm
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vacuum cleaner, cell phones, keyboard, swiffer, remotes, lamps.

posted by erinpearce on August 20th 2009 at 6:38pm
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My ten month old son has been crawling around with a plastic ladle for the past few days.

posted by mabvt on August 20th 2009 at 6:53pm
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She loves my wallet with all of the credit cards in their little slots (Should I be worried?!). She loves to pull them all out & then intently put them back.
She will also spend hours playing with snap buckles, the kind on her stroller and my camera bag.

posted by abbygraykit on August 20th 2009 at 10:51pm
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mouse, keyboard, makeup, toilet, cell phone, broom, soda cans

posted by Lizzykewl on August 21st 2009 at 12:09am
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My melon baller

posted by tylr61 on August 21st 2009 at 12:56am
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Cuff bracelets, pearls, belts, my perfume bottle (davidoff) with the little cap that comes on and off, on and off, shoes...my son has good taste ;)

posted by complainypants on August 21st 2009 at 1:09am
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keys!

posted by Sol on August 21st 2009 at 1:21am
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iPhone

Just going to buy some apps for preschoolers. I let my child play with it.

posted by stickyricemama on August 21st 2009 at 2:11am
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like a lot of the other posters, i find my son is fascinated with the remote control and cell phones. we recently retired our tivo, so Simon (my son) now has that remote--a real one!--of his own to do i-don't-know-what with.
he also loves paper:receipts, shopping lists, mail, etc. he likes to lick and chew on it!
his favorite household items are chairs and stools. he doesn't crawl yet, so he scoots around to get under the furniture, pull up on the bars, and push the furniture around the room. he's my little strong-man!

posted by Lauren H on August 21st 2009 at 7:18am
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the usual - cell phones, camera, remote control, really anything with buttons. but it has to be real. fake stuff (or even old non-working cellphones and remotes do not cut it!)

posted by pyjammy on August 21st 2009 at 8:53am
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the most "delicious" items are the remote control and my laptop.

My son (10 months old) also loves tearing apart catalogs.

posted by modern on long island on August 21st 2009 at 9:18am
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oh, to entice babies away from real remotes and instead give them broken ones, my pediatrician made a good point... they need batteries in them to give them the same weight as the real deal.....

posted by modern on long island on August 21st 2009 at 9:19am
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The remote of course. I can't tell you all the funny shows she's TiVo'd for us. And some good ones too (like Fight Club on AMC). I'm always interested to see what she's chosen to tape for us.

She goes crazy for my sunglasses.

The cats have also become unwilling playmates. They are truly saints.

Microwave oven buttons.

posted by cwiz24 on August 21st 2009 at 9:23am
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modern on long island raises an excellent point. My little guy can sense when he has a bum remote. It doesn't light up and it's not heavy enough.

He loves the remote and will constantly turn to the polish channel. I don't know why.

He also loves keys and always wants to suck on them and play with the buttons on the house alarm fob.

posted by jensational on August 21st 2009 at 10:03am
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Sungiiis!

or sunglasses as she likes to call them. keys, cups, DVD player, anything in the recyle bin, flashlights, and of course the computer with mouse. She also enjoys going through the dirty laundry basket and announcing which article of clothing belongs to whom. She also loves to carry around her toothbrush.

posted by hoosthatgirl@ on August 21st 2009 at 11:24am
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The babe is 14 months old. My wallet is at the top of the list. If I need her to play quietly for five to ten minutes, I give her my wallet. Fortunately, there's only two pockets and a minimum of cards, so it's not too hard to put it back together. She like both landline phone and iPhone. She like remotes, but I think she really is trying to turn them on. We think she's trying to turn on the Atari Flashback II and play Centipede. Of course there are also shoes, socks, lids to pans, any container with a lid to take on and off, and any bags with a handle that she can carry all over the house.

posted by anatolia on August 22nd 2009 at 1:38am
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Please keep your keys away from you child. Keys are a brass alloy that typically contains lead.

posted by goodsmear on August 26th 2009 at 8:39am
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The crinkly package that baby wipes come in. My 12 month old can play with that for hours. He likes the way it crinkles, and he especially likes pulling out each wipe one by one. We don't even bother with other toys ;)
The close second are the straps on his stroller/high chair. When he's sitting in them, he's entertained and good to go for at least an hour.

posted by simplist on August 26th 2009 at 11:07am
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mine is obsessed with a ball that she has named Spatula. then she found a small spatula in her play kitchen. that one is named Spatula as well. apparently, the ball is the father and the (real) spatula is the child. we are in for an interesting life with her. :o)

posted by monthcalledmae on August 27th 2009 at 12:19pm
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