It's no secret that I love to rummage through the second hand toys in "treasure shops" (Op Shops). I've found countless treasures - puzzles, ABC or ELC games, construction sets like the ones found at kindys and pretty dolls with their accessories. I'm keen to find educational toys in great condition but sometimes I find things that are not so educational but still a great treasure all the same.
Today's treasure find was a Fisher Price Drop and Roll Dinosaur. What a treasure! We've borrowed this toy from the toy library before. It's good to encourage hand/eye co-ordination for littlies but mostly it's just a lot of fun. They have have a great deal of fun posting roll-a-round balls, watching the lights, listening to music and seeing where the balls pop out. Miss M loved this toy when she was little so now it's Miss H's turn but we now have one of our own and all for $7. As you can see it's quite filthy but part of finding treasures is seeing what lies beneath. This treasure isn't broken however I will take some time to clean it up before we have some fun with it.
Here are a few tips to finding good second hand toy treasures in treasure shops....
Today's treasure find was a Fisher Price Drop and Roll Dinosaur. What a treasure! We've borrowed this toy from the toy library before. It's good to encourage hand/eye co-ordination for littlies but mostly it's just a lot of fun. They have have a great deal of fun posting roll-a-round balls, watching the lights, listening to music and seeing where the balls pop out. Miss M loved this toy when she was little so now it's Miss H's turn but we now have one of our own and all for $7. As you can see it's quite filthy but part of finding treasures is seeing what lies beneath. This treasure isn't broken however I will take some time to clean it up before we have some fun with it.
Here are a few tips to finding good second hand toy treasures in treasure shops....
- Look on a Monday or Tuesday after people have done their weekend donation drop-offs.
- Check inside damaged boxes to see what is within - I've found some of our greatest treasures this way. eg construction sets, matching games in cardboard boxes.
- Buy new plastic boxes to house your treasures and throw away the damaged boxes.
- Go with a budget - I like to have a few coins ready so I don't spend too much.
- Keep an eye on the toy catalogues to see what the new prices are. You'll know if you are getting a bargain. Some Op Shops charge a lot for old goods. Get to know the brand names.
- Clean marked toys with 'Gumption' which you can find in the cleaning aisle of your supermarket or to do a general surface clean and disinfect wipe over with 'Milton' (also found in the cleaning aisle). It is safe for the toys and ok when kids chew on them. This product is used for sterilising baby bottles.
- I choose not to buy stuffed toys but if you do, throw them in the wash and hang them out to dry before play. We have way too many of them already.
Off I go to clean up our exciting dinosaur treasure. It will go perfectly with the roll-a-around balls we already have so I must go and find them too. What I like about this toy is that it will encourage Miss M and Miss H to play together. Miss M can show Miss H how it works while she is still little. When they are done with it and all the other treasures we have we can bless someone else with them or return them to the treasure shops.
Do you like to shop for treasures in treasure shops? What great treasures have you found?
2 comments:
I love to op shop as well. I could go on for hours with all my bargain stories! I love to read about other people's though too!
Lovely to have you stop by Busy Brissy Mum. It's great to find another blogger with a similar interest plus the passion for encouraging and inspiring other mums.
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