If you were stranded on a deserted island…or if you had to pick ONE toy, just one toy for your toddler to play with, what would you (or your kid) choose? I never would have predicted this, but we’d probably choose these little pom poms. We got a bag of them at the dollar store last year and they have taken us quite a distance (our son is 3).

There must be 1001 uses for these things. I know most people think of them as craft materials, but for those of you who shy away from household hurricanes of glue, paint, and (shudder) glitter, here are a few other slightly less messy ideas:

Carpet Caterpillar: This is good for counting, AND this segues nicely into researching caterpillars online…

By the way, I realized, when doing this, that caterpillars are the coolest creatures on earth. I’m inviting all these guys to our next party.

Driver and Passenger: Speaking of cool, I must give my son full credit for this one. Even though Yellow doesn’t have a driver’s license and neither of them have seat belts on (tsk tsk), they’ve put about 47,000 miles on that Shelby around our living vroom [sic.]

Tong Time: I saw this activity online – great for fine motor skills. When our son mastered the transfer from one bowl to another, he was quite pleased with himself…and I was pleased to think that we would soon have a chef or a sous chef in the house. On that note, the green ones are obviously peas, the blue, blueberries, the purple, grapes, and the red ones, strawberries. If you are lucky enough to be served these delicacies, remember: don’t put them in your mouth.

Construction Site: I’m not sure what is being built here, but like most construction jobs, it’s taking far longer than estimated (and in this case, that’s a good thing.)

Container Fest: Our pom poms have been placed inside then poured back out of this hollow wooden mushroom and this basket so many times I’ve forgotten what their original purpose was. (Oh yeah, decoration – but that’s so boring… and so pom pom-less. Why would you ever have a container in your house without pom poms in it?)

Pillow Pets: Again, this was my son’s handiwork. While finding anything unexpected on your pillow can be alarming, I’ll take these any day over LEGOs, rocks, or a pile of half-chewed raisins…point is, our kid had fun putting these EVERYWHERE and your kid could too.

Color Sorting and Collecting Specimens: Little fingers plus little jars plus little samples…perfect for budding scientists.

Or you could throw them up in the air as if they’re snow…serve them at tea parties…balance one on your head as a hat…make them talk with alien voices…And the list goes on and on. Your turn.

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For more home tome, follow the trail of pom poms to my facebook and twitter accounts…