I'm looking after my grandaughter today, she's 11 months old now

[dotty.]

I've given her a small empty cardboard box, some small tupperware containers with lids and some wooden pegs, she's almost cross eyed with concentration. cbeebees is on, aren't kids programmes ridiculous, whatever happened to The woodentops and spotty the dog? She's falling asleep in the buggy now as she's worn out already trying to pack this box!

[sunny-dave]

flobadob ...

[ummmm]

Cardboard boxes, saucepans and wooden spoons. As long as you have those then there's no need for expensive toys.

[excelsior-1]

good morning dotty.

that is priceless . . . the simplest things etc. etc.

i agree with you though - bring back :-
trumpton
mary mungo and midge
mr benn
roobarb and custard
andy pandy

[sp1814]

dottty

When I was very young, we had a fridge freezer delivered. Back in the 70s, if you had large white goods delivered, you had to unpack and install the thing yourself.

I begged my mum not to throw away the cardboard box it came in, and for a glorious fortnight, it became a fort, then a boat, then a racing car...then it fell apart.

X-Box schmex-box.

[Ric.ror]

I love looking after my grandaughter - her favourite thing is my phone as it shows her the Nolans singing 'When you are a king' which she loves much to her fathers disapproval - when she goes to her little nans (my mum) she love to play with a tablet bottle with half a sweet in

[dotty.]

last week i put a few bits of uncooked pasta in a small pepsi bottle and she looved throwing it about! made a great noise that made her laugh out loud!

[Dee Sa]

bless xx

[maggiebee]

Remember buying a doll's house for daughter one Christmas. She played all day in the box it came in.

[albaqwerty]

One present my youngsters received was a seesaw. The box was loved more.

[dotty.]

I can remember my own mum making a toy for my eldest son when he was a baby, she threaded half a dozen wooden cotton bobbins on a leather boot lace , all three of my kids cut their teeth on that! anyone else remember wooden bobbins?

[andrew1707]

I remember my sister and I spent one Christmas morning popping the bubble-wrap that our presents had been wrapped in. I bet you can get an I-phone app that simulates it now.

[joannie10]

the time we spent playing row row row your boat on an upturned coffee table :-)

[wolf63]

I still like playing with bubble wrap.

[sherrardk]

Andrew - you actually can!

[dotty.]

well grandaughter has had a long sleep, daren't tell her mum , they're doing this 'controlled crying' thing at night, which when mine were little meant you let them cry themselves to sleep, but they have to put a label on things these day! Grandaughter has woken up and is still playing with the box! she's worling out how she can get in it along with the bricks.

[wolf63]

Well - that's Andrew's Xmas present worked out.

I bought a DVD for the cats to watch a couple of weeks back. It is supposed to keep them entertained for hours. It doesn't.

[dotty.]

not house bricks BTW lol i bought her a pack of coloured plastic bricks from poundland and she absolutely loves them, not as much as trying to close the lids on the tupperware mind!

[wolf63]

dotty - how does she get on with your cats? It can be a dangerous combination.