Favorite Toys for a Dollar

It’s been a while since I posted on this blog but I have a good excuse. A few weeks ago my daughter, Fran, stepped on a rock, fell and fractured her foot. Bummer. Big bummer when you have a little boy who will be 2 years old in a month. Enter Grandma and Pop. During the week we have been helping by having them for lunch and putting Zach down for a nap. Pop takes Zach to gym at the Y and Grandma takes him to swim class.
We will be celebrating Zach turning two this weekend and next week I plan to post about birthday presents but today my topic is favorite toys for a dollar.  We enjoy spoiling our grandson, but we also believe in old fashioned simple fun. And many of my readers are on a limited budget.
Here are some things we have bought at the Dollar Store that Zach loves
Alphabet Puzzle
We knew that Zach knew most of the letters from playing with blocks, but we really didn’t realize that he knew ALL the letters. We gave him a $1 foam alphabet puzzle on Easter Sunday and he promptly removed the letters and in no particular order picked each one up, said what it was and put it back in the right place in the puzzle. He loves playing with this puzzle and it’s wonderful to have this quiet and sedentary thing to do with him.

Baseball Bat and Ball

Zach is a super sports fan and loves all types of ball. When we went to Party City to get paper goods for his birthday party I was taken aback when we went inside the door and he said “Yankees” when he saw a big display of Yankee baseball paper goods. He wants to throw a basketball into the hoop in our driveway but it is not in his reach. Aunt Sonny’s birthday gift is definitely going to be a “slam dunk” – you’ll hear more about that when I write about birthday gifts next week.

Anyway, my husband bought a fat bat and light plastic ball set for $1 at the Dollar Store. Wow! What a winner. Zach again amazed us with his eye hand coordination and "power hitting" ability as he hit that ball and sent it flying. His mother tells us that third grade boys in their neighborhood were showing him how to hit a ball. Well, he’s one fast learner. I can’t wait for tee ball.
Bubbles
Have you ever known a kid who doesn’t like bubbles? Dollar Store has them. Perfect - you can just sit there, blow and and watch a two year old run around. If you are spending extended periods of time with a young child you have to do some things that use their energy without exhausting yours. I consider myself an active grandparent but I do try to pace myself. Bubbles are the perfect summer “grandmother energy stretcher.”

The Dollar Store is a good place to look for some good old fashioned, simple, inexpensive ways to spend time with your grandchild.  I highly recommend it.

Enjoy,

Marion