2 Year Old Loves Playing with Dvds :)

When my little girl was 2, she also loved playing with DVDs. Only she never put them back in the case! :) She'd just pull them out and I'd say while there was no harm to her in doing this, we did end up having to trash hundreds worths of scratched DVDs. Thankfully we got a storage unit that was more difficult to open and she outgrew the stage.

Probably worse for your DVD's than it is for him!

It is very typical for kids to like to open and close things, and put them into a matching slot. Can he be redirected to do this with something else, or is it the DVD only that he is attracted to? I would be asking that question myself, for developmental purposes, if he has an odd attachment to this item you should keep an eye on it.

M.

I don't know if it would hurt him, unless he broke one into pieces. However, it sure isn't any good for the DVDs. They scratch easily. Can you put them out of reach and give him something else to play with? I had one kitchen cupboard that my children could play in - it had plastic containers and other things that wouldn't hurt anyone. Those were their "grownup" toys in their toddler years.

This is just my opinion, but I don't let my daughter (21 months) play with anything that I may need to find later. This includes cell phones, tapes, dvds, keys, etc. We have agreed that we don't want her to mistake her toy for our essentials. We do make sure she has kid version equivelants, which she likes. On one of our walks, she even had to take her keys...LOL. This has seemed to work well for us. I don't go overboard either. I have gotten several of her toys at yard sales and thrift stores and cleaned them up. I have also found that the Dollar Tree has some interesting items. Good luck.

I think it's great how littles want to manipulate all the fascinating grown-up stuff they see – my grandson was/is a lot like this, too.

Your son is not too likely to harm himself, unless he's putting them in his mouth (many plastics have undesirable ingredients, as we've all been hearing). Or unless he's running around with them in hand.

But he could scratch the DVDs. If you ever get any promotional ones in the mail, set these aside as a dedicated set for play. A couple of used ones from a thrift shop is another option. And this is a great opportunity to begin to show him how to handle items with care, without having to worry whether his fine motor skills quite allow success yet.

Lots of toddlers also enjoy anything that has buttons on it; an uplugged adding machine or computer keyboard, a dead cell phone. This appears to be so much more satisfying than a specially-molded, highly-colored "kid" version for many children.

Well, DVDs are very difficult to break and a 2 year old probably can't, BUT I wouldn't take the chance becasue if it did break, it's like glass and that would be bad. Not to mention the fact that if your child is playing with your DVDs it could cost you a lot of money because it's likely that they'll end up being scratched! I'd definitely find a distraction, something more kid friendly...

I absolutely would not let him play with DVDs that is teaching him they are a toy and it is very easy to scratch a DVD and make it unplayable.
Not a good idea for him to start this habit when he gets older it will continue.

I doubt there is anything he could do to himself unless he broke one and cut himself (not likely). I have not heard of any specific chemical dangers or anything like that from chewing on DVDs-- other moms?
What is likely is that your DVDs will suffer, with scratches that ruin them. Better to let him play with old CDs that you've burned and no longer need-- maybe stick them in the cases instead and let him have his fun!

It can ruin them. I had some software CDs that my daughter got into when she was little (taking them in and out of the cases) I thought I'd just pick them up afterwards and make sure she couldn't get to them after that. She didn't put any in her mouth and I watched her very closely but even though it looked like she was being fairly careful many of them ended up scratched beyond use after that. If they put them in their mouth the hard plastic might cut them.

I am a toddler teacher with a child development degree and this is a great fine motor building activity! I If you are worried about the DVD getting scratched, just give him some that are not going to worry you.(Just about everyone has old cds that they would toss or donate to this cause...you could even pick up a few of those netflix or AOL cds next time you are in line at the grocery store.)

FYI- This activity builds fine motor manipulation, which prepares him for handwriting. It also builds cognitive skills, as he is figuring out how things work.

Also- Just saw Peg's suggestion about dead cell phones, and this is sooooo true! Kids love them. Just be sure to take the battery out first. I also found out you can get display models from the phone area at Best Buy- they don't even have electronics in them. They keep a box with the old sales display models for the kids to have when they come in:)

Jilly,
It should be fine but not so great for your DVDs. I suggest switching it with something else. That age is all about putting things in & taking things out. My youngest love to walk around with a container with lid that he is continually filling with different things. This is a great opportunity to learn sorting techniques: by color or shape. Blocks, Big Legos, Cars all of these are great sorters. We also have that great game Uno Moo that we play as well.
Hope this helps!
Suzy & her men

Well, it's ok to play with them if he is not breaking them and if you no longer care about your DVD's. They may not work well after a while and would monitor him of course.