Her Current Obsessions

How amusing it is to see which toys attract your child and which kind does not.. even more amusing when it is something so simple and cheap! Quite subjected to gender, girls are less likely to be attracted to uhh, cars and tricycles, and are more attracted to colourful playthings. These are some of the simple things yet are much loved by our then not-yet-2-year-old daughter, and now, at 2-years-2-months old.

1# Before two years old

Yup, its the small plastic storage drawers you can find in most supermarket, multipurpose, something I got as a gift. Looking for something for her to play with one day, I put that in front of her, together with some random objects, brooches and such. She called it rumah and was instantly hooked up with it. Pulling out the drawers, taking the stuff out, and pushing it back in. Then repeating the process on other drawers. Sometimes talking to herself. Totally fascinating to see her! Then we got the idea of putting IKEA hand puppets (10 cute animal puppets for RM20), one in each drawer and called it their rumah. Now, together with other small figurines/toys, it becomes a great toy storage as well, everything nicely sleeping inside, as she calls it, after every play session! Its amazing how something so simple and cheap can be something she enjoys so much. The drawer is priced at just RM 15 at Mydin. Of course, after a certain age limit/some time one gets bored of it :)

2# Two years until now 

PlayDoh! Hihi, this was the case of the Ummi yang tak sabar-sabar nak main. Obviously with the colourful, soft, and wonderfully smelling, soft dough, its a delight. And it comes with the small container, a very convenient storage. Unlike plasticine it does not stick to the hand and is much much easier to collect after playing. But being a 2-year-old, with limited motor skills, we need to play with her or she'll get frustrated sebab tak boleh buat objects sendiri. So after some thinking, I bought these cheap cookies cutter, and she happily plays on her own. Although she always say, "Ummi duduklah sini main", patting the space beside her. And she would continue with "Duduklah sini betul-betul" if I don't bersila next to her nicely. PlayDoh is priced at RM30 for 10 colours (like in the picture) at ToysRUs, and the cookie cutter at RM2.90 for 10 objects. And yeah its better to play on the small japanese/children table as it might stick and slightly stain tables and carpets. This is still her favourite - tiap tiap hari nak main!
p/s: Actually 'cookie cutter' is also sold (separately) with PlayDoh, but of course mahallah kan. Cookie cutter biasa ni can be found so easily at any bakery/supermarket, and the function is the same. Double satisfaction kalau can have fun without paying extravagantly for it kan! hihi.

3# Two years until now 

Eva puzzle mat. I suppose this is a common plaything for toddlers. At one point  (probably after I pester her with ABC) she seems bored of anything that resembles ABC. So I was really happy when she seems to love this mat! We bought it at Tesco at RM22 per set of 24 pieces. She had so much fun putting the letters in and out as well as us building 'houses' for her to go in, buat pintu tingkap semua. So much so we bought another set (tiba-tiba dah jadi RM27 kat Tesco, huhu, tension) so that we can build a bigger house! And she is suddenly interested in ABC again.

The thing is, it delights me to no end when she enjoys something because she has this whole big box of toys collected from birth yang dia lansung tak nak pandang dah! She has a real boleh duduk dalam car, tricycle (presents from others), teddy bears, miniature cars, masak-masak, banyak lagilah, things which doesn't seem to interest her much, if at all. Which is why I so appreciate the things she loves! I belief each child will have their favourite, but with simple and cheap things like these, less risk of wasting money! Plus the simple things are usually best loved because it allows more creativity to grow.

And I always belief the more we play with our child, the easier it will be to teach him/her. She will trust us not only as someone to go to for physical needs (like bathing and feeding time), but also as her main play companion (for now) and story teller (now and especially later), which means it will be easier to selit good messages, understanding of akidah, faith and belief. Starting with simple stories and doing more of conversing as she understands more, story sharing is the best method of bonding after nursing!

So any other good games and toys you enjoy with your child? Do share! 

P/s: One that does not involve expensive doll houses, barbie toys and expensive mini toy kitchen, huhu.