There's no room! (Toys for small spaces)

When I was young we would visit my Nan in her flat. I remember them as happy visits and I also remember the box of wooden bricks that lived under the settee. She can't have had that much room to spare but she made sure she had something for us grandchildren to enjoy and play with.

Boats have limited storage which means that things really have to earn their space. When you have children on board they still need toys and games whether you are day sailing, summer holidaying or long term cruising. The same things apply to those in other small places like RVs, flats, tiny homes and those relatives looking for some toys to keep for when they have little visitors that won't take up too much space when they are stored (edit. I mean storing the toys, not the children!). There are lots of different options, its just a case of finding what works for you. This is a few of the things that we found worked well for our boys and  hopefully will give you some ideas.

Image: young boy lying down reading a comic

Image: Young child with sticker sheet

When we moved on board the boys were 4, 7 and 9. The all out favourite and most practical toy was Lego. We had a lot of Lego. It started off in a big sack, actually an old naval kit bag. Once it out grew that, Mark made a bigger bag out of sail material which also opened up into a play mat with edges that was the shape and size of the (covered) cockpit floor so they could spread it all out then you just pulled the bag back together again. We found that it was so universal that they were able to play with other children with it whether or not they shared the same language. It is now in a large deep shelf and still comes out quite frequently - definitely a laster but never allowed out all over the floor whilst underway in case anyone stands on a brick!

Image: dog lying on sail cloth surrounded by Lego

Playmobil takes up more room but does allow for all sorts of imaginative play; as do the smaller bits of wooden train tracks with the extra bonus of a small loop looking quite cute under the Christmas tree. We did have to sell off the bigger bridges/tunnels/stations before we moved onboard but it triggered a lot of creativity when the boys found other things they could use to replace them in their games. In the picture you can also see the car mat we used to have that was used a lot. It was kept rolled up when not being used. There is usually a box of cars around somewhere close to our boys too that they used with and without the mat. Many times I found little vehicles lined up around the cockpit when they were younger.

Image: 2 young boys with wooden rail track

Imagination is important and we found that the children spent time making up games and playing them together. A post office set was the basis of many games for a long time and packed up quite neatly into a reasonable size post box. A small dressing up box was popular too when they were younger and especially helpful for things like Carnival.

Image: small boy playing with post office set

Sometimes thinking outside the box and away from traditional toys gives some fun ideas. Magic stuff takes up very little room and often one pack of cards can be used in many different ways. There are loads of packs of magic around things can always be added to it. Visual magic is also another of those things that does not need a common language.

 

Image: young boy holding pack of cards and wand

Play dough was really good and also got used quite a bit for teaching. I know that some people get squeamish over the idea of the colours mixing but you can use it however you want. We made a solar system once and they did animated films using the camera so it was very flexible (pardon the pun). We went one step further one Christmas and got air drying clay to make figures for a nativity play.  

Image: play dough solar system - sun top left down to bottom right

We enjoyed board games such as Pictionary, chess and Upwords; these were good for learning too. We were given an Oca board in Spain and played that a lot. We take board games out of their original boxes and store them in plastic bags with the instructions cut out if they are printed on the box. This reduces the storage room a lot and keeps them safer from damp. That works well for jigsaw puzzles too if you cut the picture out.

Image: two young boys playing chess

As they got older we got into some very complicated dungeons and dragons games. Now they spend hours doing Warhammer. It's another one that needs to be spread out when they are using it but works well on board as it packs away easily. We use plastic boxes with clip shut lids and boxes for things like this, they stack well too. I have been impressed at the skill and detail they have achieved in the painting of the figures.

Image: Warhammer characters painted by the deckhands

Soft toys were used for many games as well as for cuddling and we even made sure that special ones were in one of the grab bags whenever we were underway - just in case.  

These are some of the things that are/have been popular with our deckhands. Maybe you have found other toys/games/things that worked well for you or found that yours like similar things - we'd love to know.

Image: young boy with large cuddly Bob the dog

Edited 29/10 to remove repetition of 'box'