Where are your cool toys?

My children receive toys on their birthdays and at Christmas. Occasionally there will be a surprise toy from a relative during some other point of the year too. Otherwise we intentionally keep the amount of toys to a minimum.

I'm not anti-toys by any means. In fact I feel we have plenty! When we have too many toys the kids get overwhelmed and don't help up around the house. (I'm kind of the same way myself. ) We've found the kids return to the same toys over and over. So those are the ones we keep. Beyond that they use their imaginations. It's made watching the kids playing and drawing really fun too.

We have neighbor children that seem to get toys much more regularly. They've even come to our house and asked where the cool toys are and then when they find we don't buy toys every week ask for the tv instead. I've had to bite my tongue and not say, "Cool toys? Your brain is the coolest toy you've got. Use it!"

Here's an example of what I love. What's this to you? A couple blocks and a ball point pen most likely. Oliver saw these items and saw a tank!

Spencer had a different idea. He found a mop, propped it up on a shelf and a chair and made his own bar to hang on. We might have a gymnast here. Or maybe just a dare devil!