It's a fact that the life expectancy of kids toys are short but we have to face the reality; with the high pricing cost of basic commodities nowadays it is really not practical for us to buy toys frequently to replace broken ones. It is therefore important that we teach our kids how to maintain their toys. We know that at one point those toys will be broken but what we could do is to extend the life span of those toys.
We should start by keeping track of how many and what kinds of toys of our kids have. Let us have a record which contains information such as when we bought it and when it was broken. You could also include when a toy is lost or if it would be found. It is like a record of incoming and outgoing toys from our kid
So why do we need to have a record? From our record we could easily find out details. How long one toy does lasts in my kid? How frequent do we buy them toys? The record would tell the toy-playing-and-breaking-pattern of our kids.
The next step is to watch our kids when they play with their toys. We should observe closely if our kids intentionally break their toys. Sometimes, kids do this because they seek attention from us and they see toys as platform to release pent up emotions. Once this is the case, it is better that we spend more quality time with our kids
In some cases, kids' toys will get damaged because they played it too much, which is not really bad but if this happens frequent, we should talk to our kids and tell them the value of their toys. It is never too early to teach our children responsibility
We could tell them that taking care of their toy is like us taking care of them. But let us be worthy models for our kids. If our kids see us not organized with our own stuff how could they follow us if we do not practice what we preach?
We should remember that maintaining kids' toys is a process, take it one step at a time. We should start by having a "toy box" where our kids will place their toy once they finish playing with it. Another good way on promoting to our kids how to take care of their toys is taking part of their "toy maintenance" like joining them when they are wiping their toys wit when it gathered dust. We should make them feel that they could have fun when they maintain their toys.
To sum it up, we must remember that we do not just leave toys to our kids for them to play with until they get broken then we would but them new one. Let us play with our kids and be a part of their lives. One best way to inculcate to our kids the value of responsibility is when we established good relationship with them which is could develop when we join them play and maintain their toys.
