Children’s toys used to be very simple, quite easy to play with, not at all noisy, and often prohibitively expensive – meaning many kids had to do without. Times have changed, and now any scrawny necked, lanky legged individual of an underdeveloped social nature, can pound parents into submission to obtain a legitimate weapons superiority. Lets take another look at some of the candidates of this tactical arsenal – this list, of course, follows on from our Top 10 Toys Parents Dread.
A recent addition to our list, nothing hits the spot more than a 7-year-old screeching out half the words to a Cheeky Girls or Britney Spears number – perhaps only with the exception of four 7-year-olds trying to do the same thing ‘in harmony’. House parties have never been so much fun, especially when you can close the patio doors behind you, and walk several hundred miles in the opposite direction.
A small firework made illegal in most parts of the world. Popular in the 1950′s and 60′s, the banger was the staple implement of torture for many boys who wished to make a huge impact on society. Generally, the banger was used to inflict fear, trauma, and – as a best-case scenario – a severe cardiac arrest on victims of a sensitive disposition.

By looping the words – “Get that off your face!” onto a cassette, it is technically possible to save over 200 hours worth of mental and vocal stress caused as a result of abusing these substances. As the term ‘won’t be seen dead wearing that!’ doesn’t appear to affect the young, many displays of tragically disheveling art can often be seen on the faces of the innocent.

Many parents have learned to patiently applaud the appalling efforts of their offspring when it comes to painted art; much of which finding it’s way to the sides of fridge-freezers everywhere. Paint runs – as fast as it can – into clothing, rugs, doors and pets, and scientific experts have calculated that a single sheet of blank A4 paper typically needs to be surrounded by 8 square miles of yesterdays newspapers to save the carpet receiving the traditional Sunday afternoon makeover.
Aside from the sheer volume of children’s magazines which pile up under the beds of pre-teens, by far the worst side effect of this type of behavior is often the infamy of the included stickers. Many wardrobes have suffered in recent years under the sheer weight of stickers festooned over their exteriors. Nothing escapes the tyranny of the sticker, and to date, no blend of bio-hazardous toxin chemicals have proven effective at removing their blight on humanity.
When Mums and Dads are busy, they may inadvertently place their faith in musical toys to satisfy the hungry minds of their immediate descendants. Unfortunately, this is counter-productive, and leads to a condition doctors have known for years as ‘loosing one’s rag’. If taking out frustrations on inanimate objects is your kind of heaven, please send in your address and you will receive your just deserts.
Learning the alphabet or the numbers using an annoying female voice has been around for centuries, but if your mother-in-law is busy, try to avoid using one of these machines at all costs. Listen; as an endless series of discordant jingles, similes and phonics are played repeatedly by the delicate touch of a child’s whole hand over all the buttons.
Use successfully by the CIA since the turn of the century, nothing works more effectively and damagingly on human levels of tolerance than a 12-year-old playing the violin, a 4-year-old playing a miniature drum kit, or a 9-year-old blowing into a recorder (or flute). Scientists in Russia have termed parental exposure to this kind of treatment ‘neurological meltdown’ or ‘cranium critical mass’, and victims have often resorted to quite drastic feats of human strength in order ensure these kinds of instruments are never capable of playing ‘music’ ever again.
What can you do with play doh that you can’t do with plasticine or real dough? Experts were baffled for weeks when set this question during the late 20th century. That was until one man dejectedly pushed the material into a salt shaker and it ‘looked a bit like hair’. Since then, millions of children of all ages have sat this same simple test; all of whom failed to come up with anything at all. The legend of play doh was born.
Where is the best place to find Lego? In the vacuum cleaner of course! This was the winning entry of many in this competition; runners up include – on the stairs, between the cracks in the patio, in the bathtub, and of course, in beds. There are several ways in which Lego has taken the crown of ‘the most annoying toy’. First of all because Lego is so easy to consume, many ‘consumers’ have found their Lego products have made it all the way down the toilet and into the sea – where they continue to annoy sea life in the same way. Secondly, because Lego is so small, adult fingers can often loose their ability to manipulate the material; similar to trying to pick up a coin using a bunch of bananas. Many triumphs of model engineering have been crushed under-foot, under car tires, under bottoms, and between fingers – sometimes sending lethal Lego shrapnel in all directions at once. Avoid.
Contributor: lifeschool




























Saruka: I would recommend for a little girl an old fashioned music box – the music is gentle and quiet, it can become an heirloom, and it introduces children to classical music
That’s one of the best ideas I have ever read!
I really miss playing with legos.
me too, my sculptures always collapsed D:
What would be good toys? I don’t have kids myself so I wouldn’t know. Just wondering as Christmas is getting closer and my little goddaughter needs a pressie.
all these toys are great!~
I agree, legos were my favorite as a kid.
I gave my niece a bead necklace building set, you should have seen the look my brother gave me. She’s seven.
You say “10 more toys parents dread” I say “10 good Christmas gifts to the kids of other people.”
I think # 9 is the worst on the list, I have seen what trauma pets go through a week before and a week after 5 November.
hahaha, i had like 6 of these at one point or another…..but now i see how annoying they are.
Children having fun and toys getting thrown out the window, is a very thin line that is often crossed (especially by toys made by Plays-cool and anything sticky and wet)
When you do go crazy, make sure your child isn’t recording you on their fancy karaoke (number 10) , as this may be used in court as evidence for child abuse.
I love legos and in fact may still have a box somewhere. When i was a kid, we had a whole back room set up just for legos. Ahhh nostalgia (excuse me if i spelled that wrong. It’s 2 AM here)
I’m 38 and still have a huge box of lego.
I had a deprived childhood. I had paint, and proved to be utterly inept, and musical instruments, and went on to gain several qualifications in music, become a published composer, and sing on CDs, international television and in the Albert Hall, London (as part of a choir). So there’s no telling where childhood toys my lead.
Well actually, once you’ve removed the plastic part of the sticker, eucalyptus oil is fantastic for removing sticker gummy crap.
Lego is epic.
And this list was timed well. people jsut starting to think about what to get people for christmas…
Amen @ 7.
whats wrong with these toys there is nothing that horrible about them a bad toy would be a watergun or anyting violent i dont see anything wrong with these toys except for the banger ofcourse
I never had any of these..
But then again, I DO have loving parents.
Of course, these toys do not bother grandparents at all. We can give them to our grandkids, and call it payback.
Seventeenth comment! Holy crap that’s the closest I’ve ever been to a first comment!
Anyway’s, and I have to ask (great list by the way) does anybody know when Shark Week is going to be on the Discovery Channel?
My kids have at least six of these and they don’t bother me at all, but then again I am very immature myself.
I used to love legos too.
I have a five year old girl… There are stickers on her walls, on her stuffed animals, on her bedroom furniture, on her backpack, on her books, on her baby brother… etc.
PirateEsque- I would be weary to believe that eucalyptus oil has any erosive properties that would aid in the removal of the sticker-glue and that any efficacy attributed to this method would more likely be the alcohol used in the extraction of the oil. But I pulled that out of my a**.
What about racing tracks? Nothing like a 10 cm car smashing into your knee, while trying to complete a loop. Or flying over the edge in the corners, despite the little white “blockers”. Hurts like h… and are not that funny to step on either!!!
i miss lego…
legos were one of my favorites when i was younger and my middle sister was a play doh fan. my mom hated when we got creative and wanted to make things out of them together! we realized my baby sister had an artistic hand when we would give her washable paint when she was younger!
im 18 and still play with legos when im really bored sometimes haha
legos are the best. definitely the only toy my kids are getting.
Playdough is bad, but not as bad as moon sand! It’s fun to play with, but not fun getting it out of every nook and cranny in your home! I have never heard of bangers.
You learn the dark side of Legos the day you step on a rogue piece barefoot.
I’ve got just two words for ya: Moon Sand….I swear it would top any list of annoying toys ever made. My son got it for x-mas and after a week we kept trying to think of people we hate to give the Moon Sand to…just remember you’ve been warned!
Ahh… I’m a nanny for a four year old boy, as well as auntie to two nieces, 2 and 4 years. I would add matchbox cars to this list, for the same reasons as Legos – the Boy has, ( literally, we counted! ) 173 matchbox cars, and they ALL must be used to play with several times a day. Also, beading/jewelery making kits should certainly be on here.
And BTW, I think Shark Week is usually in June or July, but I might be wrong about that.
Legos are awesome, but my dad doesn’t appreciate stepping on them.
Also, play-doh tastes HORRIBLE! I mean, it smells ok, and it says “non toxic”, so that’s like an invitation to eat it. But when you do, it’s like: AAAHHHH!!! *RETCH* Just think of the most disgusting this you have ever tasted… ok, well that’s just peanuts to how bad play-doh tastes.
I love/hate legos I would always want them but when I finally got them my little attention span would kick in and I would abodon them. I feel bad for my dad now I always wanted what was on the box so I would make him build it for me
Thank you! I know have a shopping lists for my nephews and nieces.
adult fingers can often loose their ability
Lose, not loose.
I had 3 children, born in a span of 33 months. My family is a family of artists; musicians, photographers, writers, painters, and because of this we have a slightly different view of life than other people might.
For example, paint, legos, musical instruments, play doh (I could list a dozen more) have extraordinary value because they encourage creativity.
There was never a time when I put the mess that would be left, over the fun of the activity. Most of the “toys” which can leave messes, can be dealt with ahead of time so that clean-up is is reduced to almost nothing. Paint, for example, can be assigned to one table in the home. When it’s paint time, a dropcloth placed beneath the table and an oilcloth tablecloth on the table (unless it’s a melamine top table, in which case it’s good to go), takes care of any messes they can make!
Lego’s? I had a Toy Room. Things like lego’s and erector sets could be played with to their hearts content in the Toy Room.
Musical instruments? Of course they start out sounding like cats having pins stuck in them, but they get better!
You have to let children be children. That means, often, being uncomfortable as parents for short periods of time. But children are only children for short periods of time, then they’re grown up and gone and and you don’t want to be left with the feeling that you’ve short-changed their childhood.
So don’t.
I understand the love/hate relationship with Legos. More love than hate though, I sometimes think I had children just so I could shower them with all the cool Lego kits I didn’t have when I was a kid…. I now play with the Legos more than my kids do.
Hahahaha stepping on a lego when you’re walking around barefoot is the worst!
AVOID LEGOS.NO
Holy crap, I didn’t know I could do that.
Mr. Crow.
you can’t
read the FAQ please. your comment was edited.
When I was a kid, my uncle got me one of those firefighter hats with the noisy siren atop it from Radio Shack. My parents cursed his name for months!
I used to have Legos. A huge box of them. My mom kept buying me more. Then my sister was born and my mom gave them all away because she was afraid my sis would eat them. I’d build little cities for my hot wheels to drive through. YAY Legos!
deepthinker – bangers are part of the Guy Fawkes celebrations they have every year on November the 5th. In my country the skyrockets cathran wheels and sparklers are allowed.
The bangers or crackers as they are called here, have got very big and powerful over the last 3 – 4 years, you put a match to the wick and toss it away, a big bang follows.
As I mentioned in a earlier comment it is very stressful to pets.
the discriptions in these were histerical.
Ahhh I used to LOVE play doh
And Lego’s do freaking hurt when you stand on them
Our daughter has (or had) ALL of these at some stage. God bless you for bringing much needed attention to the anguish that they cause!
Thanks for the list, lifeschool! It is odd to see this one posted because it was just yesterday where I was revisiting the first Top 10 Toys Parents Dread list and reading back through all of the hilarious comments. I can’t wait to read the comments on this one!
My kids had all of these things but the bangers – didn’t stop then though, when they got a little older they had no trouble finding things to blow up.
Although I wouldn’t deny my kids any of these things, and for that matter no parent would, it in no way contradicts any of the points made by Lifeschool. The pain of lego underfoot cannot be underestimated nor the tendency of play-doh to become one with the carpet.
Excellent list.
48. Mom424:…the tendency of play-doh to become one with the carpet.
****
Ah ha! I always had hardwood and/or tile floors. Problems with carpet never occurred to me (it never had to).
Kids Karaoke Machines! My 6 year old cousin would sing with the same 3 stupid Hannah Montana songs over and over. Horrible.
OK, here’s a toy you forgot, Beanie Kids. I have 2 kids that love Beanie Kids and at last count they were heading somewhere up to about 50 between them.
Even as early as yesterday, my daughter came home from the market with Winky Monster beanie Kid or something and she has informed that she wants to go back and get the Elf Beanie Kid.
Be Warned, don’t let your kids get into Beanie Kids, they multiple.
It’s been a while since I laughed out loud at something online, barring videos! The list items are on-target, and the descriptions are absolutely hilarious. Oh, and I just have to mention:
“You learn the dark side of Legos the day you step on a rogue piece barefoot.”
This statement is beautiful, just beatiful! Thanks for the list, I love it.
Chatter Rings!!I don’t know how popular they were in other countries but in NZ they were massive when i was at primary and intermediate. i can remember the constant noise of metal on metal, they used to drive my parents nuts!
If your kid is too young/stupid to know better than to eat Legos, then maybe you shouldn’t buy them for him/her. Otherwise, it is a pain finding them EVERYWHERE, lol. But I loved playing with them as a kid. We used to have Lego Demolition Derby parties at my uncle’s where we’d build Lego cars and smash them together, to see whose car would last the longest. I never won but I always had a blast with my family.
Lego’s are the best childrens toy ever made. Finding them everywhere is a small price to pay for what your child will get out of it. I loved them and wouldn’t be the same person without them. Never avoid Legos, EVER. At least, that’s what I say.
I think pets should be on this list somewhere. People should never give pets to other people’s children!
Comment #14, the problem with most of these toys is they are either very loud, or they have small parts that get scattered all over the house, later to be stepped on, sat on, or ingested by the family pet. I’m 39, and my parents still find the odd light-brite peg in their basement.
I love legos, despite my parents never allowing any in the house…or possibly because we never had any
As for the musical instruments, they are pretty annoying when the child starts learning them, but after approx. 5-10 years of fairly hard work it might even pay off
I think Duplos can be a substitute for Legos.
world class list….i love the sarcasm!
Lego’s are great, but try extracting a tiny piece from the vacuum cleaner when you accidentally swallow one up and the kid’s seen it, and demands it back! Gross.