How many times have you heard your kids complain “we have nothing to play with,” or noticed your children are outgrowing the toys they currently have? Ever gone to a friend’s house or family member who doesn’t have a wide selection of toys? Going on vacation and can only bring a handful of toys with you?

I’m writing a blog to educate parents and caregivers about various ways they can adapt or reimagine the use of the toys they currently have to extend their play life. With my experience as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT), I will also let you know what kind of developmental skills these activities will promote.

As a pediatric OT working at an outpatient clinic, children would often find toys or equipment they wanted to play with. Despite my best efforts, it sometimes was a choice of a tantrum or figuring out a way to make/adapt that toy to work on the skills and goals I was trying to achieve. Thankfully I’m easily adaptable and very creative, so I was able to do this often for my therapy sessions. I would like to share some of these ideas with parents, and I invite any questions or toy suggestions you may want to explore in future blog posts!