Liam in his Iron Man costume. 

November 10, 2016​

“We don’t need to buy it. We can make our toys.” Liam said this after watching a toy commercial. My children are not exposed to many advertisements on TV since we do not have cable at home. I was a little surprised at his statement, but our family life has changed over the last few years.

Making toys sparks creativity. Liam has even made instruction sheets to follow as he builds. Everything he makes is one of a kind, and after he makes something I can tell how proud he is that he could do it. Of course, there have been a few times when an idea has not worked out. When that happens, we talk about why the idea is not feasible and what we can do to try to make it work. We have a box to store his creations, and once he is finished with it, we recycle what we can or throw it away. I take pictures of our favorite ones beforehand.

I ask myself several questions with everything that comes into our home including the children’s items. Do we have something like it already? Will this bring new value to our lives? Is this how we want to spend our money? Will it bring joy to our lives? Will the joy be short term or long term?

I don’t have a problem buying toys as long as I am buying it with intention. I have noticed that Liam has gone in and out of liking specific toys or action heroes within a few months and moving on to something else. We have saved money, have less clutter and have encouraged creative play by making our toys. 

We Can Make Our Toys
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