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Toys, books, costumes, and art supplies are used every day at ChildSavers. Play, sand tray, and art therapy help children express themselves when they can’t find words. Many of the child care providers with whom we work serve low-income families and are often unable to afford new supplies and equipment.  Below is a list of our most-needed items (click here for a printable PDF list):

Dolls and Accessories

• Multicultural dolls
• Loving Family dolls (dollhouse size) - multicultural
• Baby dolls with bottles and diapers - multicultural
• Doll clothes and accessories; strollers
• Dollhouse furniture (beds, kitchen and bathroom, etc.)
• Barbie dolls and clothes - multicultural
• Cloth puppets/hand puppets - animals and people
• Soft dolls without button eyes or other features (removable features can pose a choking hazard)

Dramatic Play

Dress-up clothes (male and female) – hats, shoes, clothes:         

• Fantasy dress-up clothes
• Magical figures, etc.
• Police uniforms
• Toy guns and handcuffs
• Firefighter clothing/gear
• Monster costumes
• Non-latex costume masks: cartoon characters, action figures, fantasy figures

Household items (toy-sized):

• Dish sets
• Pretend food                                              
• Cash register
• Shopping carts                                          
• Cultural foods
• Toy telephones
• Global costumes
• Housekeeping items (child-sized)
• Toy doctor kits                  
• Workbench (child-sized)

Blocks

• Small blocks
• Soft blocks
• Wooden unit blocks
• Foam unit blocks   
• Stacking or linking sets  
• Interlocking blocks
• Hollow blocks (can be homemade)
• Building toys
• Accessories: cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, people, animals, dinosaurs, traffic signs        

Finger Play Items/Games

• Beads with strings
• Puzzles                               
• Pegs and pegboards
• Lincoln Logs
• Sewing cards
• Rattles
• The Ungame, pick-up sticks, Uno, Jenga

Books and Pictures for Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Young School-Aged Children

• Nature and science
• Pictures of realistic familiar objects, routines, different styled homes, people, food
• Different races/cultures, ages, gender, and occupations
• Different abilities: wheelchairs, eyeglasses, etc.
• Counting, comparing, shapes, written numbers, etc.
• Fantasy books appropriate for toddlers or preschoolers
• Board books for infants and toddlers
• Posters or pictures of realistic people, homes, familiar objects, science and nature, race and culture, children playing, or representing people with different abilities, ages, and genders

* Books should be new or like new with no torn or written-on pages.

Art Supplies

• Paper
• Crayons
• Non-toxic felt pens
• Thick pencils
• Play dough or clay
• Wood gluing/carpentry
• Safe scissors
• Hole punches
• Tape dispensers
• Tempera paint/finger paint
• Easels 
• Aprons/smocks
• Paint brushes
• Glue/glue sticks
• Water colors
• Chalk/small chalkboards
• Construction paper
• Fabric

Music

• Toys that make sounds
• Maracas
• Xylophones
• Toy drums
• Bells
• Rhythm sticks
• Sand blocks
• Tone blocks
• Tambourines
• Castanets
• CD players
• All types of CDs that represent different cultures and types of music

Furnishings

• Pillows - all sizes
• Small padded chairs
• Carpets - all sizes
• Small child-sized bean bags
  

For more information, please contact Angie Smith at ChildSavers: (804) 591-3913