The Magic Box

I have a magic box. It lives in the car. It stores wonderful treasures that entertain my little people while we are out. It is useful when we go to "child-free" houses and when we are at church. Mr Fun doesn't like going to creche, so the magic box keeps him quiet and happy for most of the church service (we also take snacks).

The secret to the magic box is that the toys are only for when we are out - they are not to be played with at home (that way they are still novel). I do change the toys from time to time and try to keep a mixture of different "quiet" toys (as much as quiet is possible with little people...).

At the moment, our magic box contains...

1. these great trucks from IKEA - not only do they look cool, but they come apart, so you can mix and match to make different trucks

2. small cars in a pencil case - Mr Sociable likes to drive the cars around; Mr Fun likes to put the cars in and out of the pencil case

3. textas in a pencil case - Mr Sociable draws; Mr Fun sometimes draws, but mostly he just puts them in and out of the pencil case

4. a notebook for drawing

5. reading books - including a glove puppet book (I whisper the story into Mr Fun's ear and move the puppets on my finger). Mr Fun LOVES books - so he will often sit on the floor and just flip through the books himself.

6. a couple of balls for rolling/splatting on the floor

7. beads - Mr Fun loved to chew on these as a baby; now he tries to "wear" them.

Do you have a magic box or bag in your car? What kind are activities are in it?