Toys to bring with me for shabbos

israel22

Mon, Aug 17 2015, 1:39 pm

We are going away this shabbos and the place has no toys. Lots of space and no toys there. I have my kids and nieces and nephews coming and I am trying to to figure out smartest toys to bring with us. Ages range from 8-1 years old. Girls and Boys.

thanks for the help!

israel22

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 12:57 pm

wow over 100 views and not one suggestion Crying

amother

Green

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 1:01 pm

Board games? Building games?
What toys do the kids like to play with on Shabbos at home?
Any suggestions from children's programs at hotels or shabbatons?

Stars

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 1:04 pm

Anything that doesn't have a million pieces, unless you don't mind losing some.

yamz

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 1:10 pm

Okay, I'll bite. But a bit more information would be helpful. Is there plenty of space? Is there a yard? Do you need to worry about things breaking? Would you be upset if not all the toys came back with you? How many kids?

I suggest taking toys that aren't composed of a million little pieces so you don't have to worry so much about clean-up and things getting lost (avoid legos and playmobile!). A few cheap games where if the pieces get lost it's not the end of the world also works.

Some ideas:
A ball or two
badminton
frisbee
a pack of uno cards - those are cheap
Board games like "trouble" or "guess who"
If any of your kids have midsized toy cars/dolls they like, allow them to bring 3
I know of someone who buys a pack of large plastic disposable cups and allows the kids to build with them on shabbos and then just tosses the cups afterwards.

Have fun!

israel22

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 1:23 pm

thanks to all who responded!

we are going to a big villa type house (which in israel is big for Israel standards!) and there is a big open covered porch and then inside is a nice size dining area so depending on weather if its nice we can make use of the porch.

my dilema was my kids not sure if all kids are like this get bored of anything very easily so to start schlepping all these random toys that they will play with for 10 min I am certainly at a loss

age range we have girls 8, 5, 18mon and 14 mon
boys we have 6 and 2 3 years old.

so I was talking to someone and they were like kapla and cars and menchies and those are things that will get lost and get every where and im not sure I want to loose my toys Sad

I like the ball idea and even the plastic cup idea I feel like the board games also won't last long is this just my kids or all kids have such short attention spans for games toys...?

maybe I will go to one of those cheapy toy stores and see what they have!
thanks to all who gave ideas and anyone else I can use more ideas the better!

imasinger

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 3:00 pm

Double post, please delete.

Last edited by imasinger on Tue, Aug 18 2015, 3:09 pm; edited 1 time in total

imasinger

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 3:07 pm

I like the ideas already posted. Outside toys are great. I'd also consider letting each kid choose one special thing to do that they are responsible (younger ones with help) for keeping track of. Insist on each thing being put back in the bag before the new one is taken out.

And here are some cheap ideas:

For the 8-10:

Have the kids make a cheap Mancala set out of rocks and an egg carton.

Buy 5 dice and print out some Yahtzee score cards (keep score by using bookmarks that they can make.)

Play Pick up Sticks with a box of long toothpicks.

Write the appropriate numbers on index cards to create your own Rat a Tat Cat game. Or, use playing cards with a few extras, and relabel them. This works for many card games.

Bring books.

For 4-7:

Write a bunch of ideas for charades (Torah names, animals, actions, familiar objects) on index cards. Let them act out their card and have the others guess.

Bring a deck of cards for Go Fish, and more.

Maybe blow up some balloons before Shabbos, not too full, so they will be less likely to pop.

For 1-4:

Take the blankets off the beds, and make obstacle courses by draping them over chairs or tables.

Bring a favorite inexpensive toy or two. Something new will hold extra interest. If a cheap toy car or two, and a new set of stacking cups will buy you an extra hour, it may be worth it.

Consider bringing some kind of put-together like peg board or magnet toys, and keep track of the pieces.

Remember, you and your DH are your kids' favorite toys. If you will play Duck Duck Goose, Hot Potato, singing zemiros, or whatever, they will be happy. So, you might not get as much sleep this Shabbos. It may be worth it for the memories and good feelngs you engender.

Have fun!

Blessing1

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 4:14 pm

I usually take books, puzzles, magna-tiles, another kind of building toy.
For the girls dolls & doll strollers.
They usually don't end up playing with the tots so much cause there r so many kids to play with.