Some cliches turn out to be more than true. In our family we prided ourselves with our gender neutral approach to toys, clothing and activities for our then preschool daughter and toddler son. But as time goes on, our two eldest children have certainly carved their own way towards all things pink, purple and glittery and all activities loud involving cars and dinosaurs. Yes my dear friends, our children certainly schooled us.

It’s my 3 year old son, Mister T, who has been especially interested in all things dragons, dinosaurs, trucks, trains and cars. Although he certainly plays with his dolls from time to time and isn’t shy about making his Mommy some love soup in the play kitchen, by the end of the day he’s back to crashing his cars. And I love it. I adore his enthusiasm and I thoroughly enjoy listening to his small world play adventures.

After we made a mermaid travel tin for Miss Glitter, I put together a dino travel tin for Mister T. Both have been incredibly successful. While I have been loving the fact that we can take these travel tins anywhere, the kids just love the idea of having a special place for their favorite toys. And also, these travel tins are gorgeous. Just saying.

Now, let me introduce you to the latest in what quickly is becoming our very own mini travel tin catalogue: the toy car travel tin. And if I dare say, it’s our best one yet. Do have a look!

What’s in the Toy Car Travel Tin?

There are all kinds of gorgeous play things in this pretty little tin. Which by the way I picked up at our local thrift store. What you put in your tins is very personal and depends heavily on what your child is obsessed with and what you have available to use. So whatever I’m suggesting here, it’s only meant as inspiration. Feel free to run with the idea and make it your own.

But, since I know you’re curious, here’s what in our toy car travel tin:

• toy cars, oh yes, I’m sure if you’re reading this you already have plenty of these!
• diy denim road tracks: I cut up an old pair of jeans with zig zag fabric scissors (pinking shears) and made little pieces of road for the kids to create their own racing track, I also used one of the back pockets as a car garage (kids love to have sleeping bags for all kinds of toys!)
• traffic signs
• wooden trees and shrubs
• wooden people (borrowed from our wooden train track)
• and a toilet paper roll which could be used as a tunnel

It is as simple as that. Have a look at the images below to see some of the above in detail.

Toy Car Travel Tin Small World Play

Doesn’t it look fabulous?

Simple small world play set ups like these are great for encouraging imaginative play in young children. You have got only a few items in a tin with which you can create an impossible amount of different story lines. Less is often more. Now, those of you who have been following our journey here know I can get carried away with small world play in a more is more kind of way. Which is very true when we are talking about loose parts! But when it comes to introducing young children to imaginative play, less is definitely the way to go. Start small, don’t overwhelm and keep it simple.

Enjoy!

Ann*

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