Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A toy with endless possibilities

Leaving plenty of time for Christmas planning and shopping, Shannon asked our opinion on "The Toys Worth Buying". Here's a frugal toy from our home that might be considered mostly for boys (but girls who like Legos would also enjoy) and is mostly used outside (but, hey, if you want to bring it inside, no problem!)

Lukas gave us the idea for this toy, because he was always playing with leftover pieces of sprinkler piping...you know, the leftover pieces that you're looking for when a sprinkler breaks and you have to make a repair, but you can't find the pieces because your child has absconded with them for his own creation and enjoyment.

So instead of wondering if we would have enough pipe pieces in storage, we purposefully bought Lukas a set of his own sprinkler pipe pieces. You can buy a 10' piece of schedule 40 white pipe for about $5, cut it into pieces with a pipe cutter (if you don't already have a pipe cutter, this will cost about $10), and then buy 10-20 fitting pieces for $0.10 each: straight connectors, elbox, Ts, Ys, etc. There are so many different kinds of pipe fittings, that the possibilities are endless. (It goes without saying that we don't give Lukas the pipe glue, so the pipes come apart at the end of playtime!) Natalie and Konrad also get into the action with the pipe set.

Here are a few pics of Lukas using his pipe set (he's made many creations with them, but these are the only pictures I could quickly find). Lukas stores his in a real toolbox (less than $10) in the garage.

Plastic sprinkler pipes as toys works for me! Visit Rocks in My Dryer for more toy ideas.

18 comments:

Jennifer said...

That is a wonderful idea! I would have never thought of that.

Audra Krell said...

This is very, very cool, I love it. Thanks for sharing.

Niki Jolene said...

Very cool! Kinda like large-scale Kinex.

:)

Mombrud said...

This sounds like a fun idea my boys would love! Hubby wondered if our boys might turn them into swords instead and bop each other. We'll have to see. I already have a pipe in the garage!

Delighted Mom said...

Great idea!! Will have to remember that one when my boys are older!

GeonHui's Bakery said...

I love this idea! Thanks!

Holly said...

Fabulous idea! A few years ago we made marshmallow shooters out of PVC and connectors.

Kim said...

Excellent idea!

Raise Them Up said...

Never thought to buy our boys their OWN, but like you, our spare pipe pieces always go mysteriously missing! Great idea!! Thanks!

MediMonsters said...

Very cool!! TFS

Alesha said...

What a great idea, my 5 year old would love this...

Lisa said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS IDEA!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

Heather said...

I can see myself buying this for my son, only to have my husband confiscate this for himself! Both of them are very much into putting things together. Thanks for the great idea!

Dawn said...

LOVE this idea!!
dawn

Becky A. Schick said...

THANK YOU! i've seen an expensive version of this on ebay, and i've been wondering if my husband could make a thrifty version. this is perfect. i'm printing your post & we will be headed to the "hardwork" store for Cmas shopping. :o) thanks again!

Unknown said...

I love your creativity : ). Great idea! Aren't boys the best?

I think people like to get comments on their own blog instead of getting comments back to themselves on your blog. But that is just my opinion : ). I don't really need any kind of response to my comment, I just wanted to tell you that I like your use of PVC Pipe. Super creative and cheap! Lovely!

Mamma Pie said...

are they paintable?

abbiegrace said...

WHAT a great idea. Seriously. My children would absolutely love this. I've bookmarked this post so I can remember the details. thanks!