I had an hour long Zoom this morning and needed a quick way to occupy Veronika. That meant I also needed a material that wouldn’t make a mess. Looking quickly around the room, I pulled out all our old DVD cases!

I had forgotten how much my son loved to play with these cases as a toddler, but we almost never think of them anymore (thanks, streaming TV). There are lots of ways toddlers can play with them! Opening and closing the cases is great for fine motor skills, and no doubt the shiny discs inside will capture attention.

But Veronika’s favorite way to play was to build towers. First I showed her that if she opened up the cases, they stood up on a more stable base and she could build the tower quite tall.

This was admittedly tricky for her though, and she mostly loved knocking down the towers. The higher I made them, the bigger her delight!

Much easier for her was stacking them lying one atop another. She delighted in seeing how tall she could make this stack grow by herself.

Probably it would have reached her shoulders, but inevitably the temptation to push the stack over was too strong.

Then she turned the DVD cases into slides for her toys!

How does your toddler play with DVD cases (or other old media equipment)? Please share in the comments!