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My neighbor has a 1 year old toddler who always tries to take their soda can to play with. They're not concerned about the mess if it isn't empty but they're concerned the toddler will hurt themself.
They think the toddler might be interested in the tab or interested in the crackling sound. Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking about suggesting aluminum foil next time I come across them but I didn't really think it out.
It's fairly common for people to allow children to play with (mostly) empty soda cans, though it's certainly not entirely safe - if the tab is too loose it could be swallowed, and there are sharp edges.
The issue here is that not only is the soda can fun to manipulate, it's also interesting because Mommy or Daddy find it interesting (obviously, since they have it in their hands a lot!). So simply replacing the sound/color/etc. isn't going to cut it - you have to get them to be okay with a replacement that distracts them from that.
I would usually try, when possible, to replace first with an equivalent item - in this case, a drinking cup of their own. If you use sippy cups, that would be the thing to use; we didn't, and so we'd give them small metal cups with small amounts of water in them in cases like this. This helps the toddler learn what role the can plays, and what the child-appropriate version of it is.
We'd also let them examine the item - in our control. This helps satisfy the curiosity. Don't let go of the can, just show them what you do with it, and let them touch it in safe ways. This would go for many items the toddler might be interested in - wine glass, steak knife (obviously even more carefully), whatever the toddler can experience tactilely without danger, but cannot hold by themselves without too much danger.
I would not, however, give her a soda can of water or similar, unless that's going to be something you keep around constantly (perhaps if it's La Croix or similar?). She'll start expecting to get sips going forward, which won't always be available.
On a separate note, I would probably avoid kitchen foil (as it tends to risk being eaten), but baby-intended foil is a great toy at that age, and is easily available in a safe form factor. Toddlers love to crinkle it and see the reflections and hear the noise and feel the bumps!
Shameless plug here, but we just unveiled our newest product which solves this very problem.
It's a baby-safe soda can toy. You can find it here.
Also, we penned a blog post delineating the dangers of real cans for littles ones. You can read it here.
Crush and dispose of it immediately. Cans are moderately dangerous, especially if they pull the tab off. Mine did that, and put them in their mouth several times. The best way for us has been to put the tab in the can, crush it, and put it in the can. If they get it at that point, they can't get their fingers into it, and the tab is already removed.
Metal cups are very attractive to our 18 MO boys, though they like to turn them upside down and scrape the rim across flat surfaces, making a horrible grating sound. They love it.
