Know of any great toys?

[Lynette]

I have Alaina's 2nd birthday coming up in a couple of weeks and then Christmas is 2 months later (ACK!) so I was wondering if any of you have any toy recommendations that your kids just *loved*? I asked a similar question on another list and the ones people recommended were a big hit while the ones *I* thought would be fun she didn't like as much :)

Go ahead and list all toys at any age so others can participate and use the info too but if you would note at what ages each toy was a hit that would be great!

I'll start:

Ball Popper- Alaina got this last Christmas when she was a year but still loves it. The balls tend to fly all over but it helped with walking that she had to chase them, be sure to get the new ones with the replacement balls!

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-4584519-9267835?_encoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B00007G39

Bubble blower- her's happens to be a Nemo one but that doesn't matter to her. We put it on her dresser so they have some distance to fall and she loves to dance under them, poke them, try to catch them, chase them, and just generally squeals like crazy when it is on. Not sure why it says 3 and up, maybe that is if the kid has access to it but Alaina can't reach it so don't know if it matters?

http://www.funrise.com/detail.aspx?id=32346

And of course books. Even at this age she will sit and look at books in her room but she is terribly rough on them and has torn apart all the pop up books but she likes the Usborne ones with the different textures in them, especially if they have animals or other babies in them.

[My3sonsplus1]

Trains and matchbox type cars come in and out of style here but I figure they are "classic toys" and like I said interest for them comes and goes but it always seems to come back around (going away after purchasing an add on pack and coming back around long enough to buy another add on of some sort ;)). I think the fact our table stores under the futon couch makes it "out of sight out of mind" a bit. Trying to decide if we shoudl make a plunge and get an actual train table that stays out and is raised up off the ground, not sure where we'd put it is the only issue.
We also are big book readers here.

[meeg124]

For Caden's 3rd birthday, we got him the big Home Depot work bench and a bunch of tools that go with it. He still plays with that almost every day and says that he is making tools, like dad.

Last Christmas (right before he turned 3) we bought a train table and train set. Caden loves this but he is also a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan. I have two recommendations about the train table though: Buy a set that has the biggest set of tracks you can afford (we bought a smaller one and wish it was bigger) and glue/nail down the tracks. If you don't, you will most likely spend your entire day putting track together.

When Caden was not quite two, we bought him a little kids drum set. Caden still plays with this almost every day and it is not as annoying as I thought it would be. Caden loves music, so any kind of musical instruments always hold his interest for quite a while.

A couple of months after Caden starting walking, I bought him one of those pull around dogs and he still plays with that sometimes.

I also rotate Caden's toys. I have a couple of big rubbermaid containers that I keep in his closet and 3 or 4 times a year, I rotate everything and that really helps with keeping interest.

Megan

[My3sonsplus1]

Last Christmas (right before he turned 3) we bought a train table and train set. Caden loves this but he is also a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan. I have two recommendations about the train table though: Buy a set that has the biggest set of tracks you can afford (we bought a smaller one and wish it was bigger) and glue/nail down the tracks. If you don't, you will most likely spend your entire day putting track together.

Megan


Ackkk I know I should probably do this but it kills me to do anything permanent! Plus we'd have 8 gazillion extra peices since we got a set that came with the table and cousin gave us some and we bought the addition and then another addition... I suppose one could store a flat track set up without a lot of fuss and keep a fancy set up too and rotate the two... seroisuly we have like 9 gazillion peices!!!

[meeg124]

Ackkk I know I should probably do this but it kills me to do anything permanent! Plus we'd have 8 gazillion extra peices since we got a set that came with the table and cousin gave us some and we bought the addition and then another addition... I suppose one could store a flat track set up without a lot of fuss and keep a fancy set up too and rotate the two... seroisuly we have like 9 gazillion peices!!!

Lisa -have you seen the train table at Kidspot in Sebastopol? If we ever decided to upgrade Caden's train table, I want to do something like that. Even if you have 9 gazzillion pieces, they would almost all fit on a table that big! lolol

Megan

[LMS]

no advice (since i only have a 1y/o, LOL) bvut we have that ballpopper! LOL

[daisydoc]

No real advice here b/c we don't let Sevannah have a whole lot of toys. She LOVES her mega blocks and we didn't get those for her until right around her 2nd bday. Mostly she has her stuffed animals and lots of books. Most of her toys are "educational"... whatever that means! ;)

[Lynette]

No real advice here b/c we don't let Sevannah have a whole lot of toys. She LOVES her mega blocks and we didn't get those for her until right around her 2nd bday. Mostly she has her stuffed animals and lots of books. Most of her toys are "educational"... whatever that means! ;)

I hear you, I have thought about going this route sometimes myself. I hate buying things and having her not playing with them or they have a bunch of little pieces. We have some baskets that we would put toys in and she would dump them all on the ground and that was it, that was about how much she played with them. She recently found her sister's old, cheap, full sized doll named Stacey which is missing an arm and looks like hell but she LOVES dragging her around.

What do you do for Christmas and birthdays if you don't buy a lot of toys?

[KaisaG]

My little guy has tons of toys and absolutely no interest in any of them... But he is only 4.5mos old........ His favorite thing to play with is my nose or his own spit. He's just starting to get the hang of blowing his raspberries and I am just starting to understand that bibs are not just for meal times!

[daisydoc]

What do you do for Christmas and birthdays if you don't buy a lot of toys?
We tell people to buy her clothes or get us Gift Certificates to Stride Rite for shoes! And we usually get her the toys we think she'll like b/c we're picky about them. No super loud obnoxious ones! We also put $$$ for her savings on her bday/xmas lists. This year we set up accounts for both kids to start saving for preschool (Sevannah will be at Summerfield Waldorf when she starts... needs to potty train first) and so will Jazper; and also accounts for college. That way people can choose how they want to help.

[LMS]

we are house FULL of super loud obnoxious toys. LOL.
My mom was one of those people who always bought other peoples kids drum sets and stuff as gifts.... so we figured we may as well get B the loud ones b/c if we don't, she will. :biglaugh
Brendan LOVES his megablocks too (got them b/c he liked them at Anna's house a few months ago)

[landofOZ]

We have a large house with lots of toys. Here's my list of time-tested favorites (by my kids and their friends)

~Ball popper (kids up to 4 and 5 even play with this!)
~Incridiblock by Fischer-Price...this is pricy at about $50, but we found a used one and it was the best $20 I ever spent. It's a favorite for kids 12-30 months.
~Pop-onz by Fisher-price (I think). Zach (24 months) loves to build things, and he plays with these daily (going on 4 months now).
~Connect Four game. yes, I said Connect Four! Not really a kid game, and a potential choking hazard for 'mouthy' types, but kids 15-24 months love to fill the thing with the checker pieces. I recently saw a 'jumbo' version of the game in one of those nice kids-toys catalogs (Sensational Beginnings or something like that).
~Do-a-dots...'stamping' style paints that are washable and great for 18-30 month yr olds.
~Sand and water table (I know it's not the right season, but a great investment for an outdoor toy).
~tea sets...yes, even little boys will play with it! You can find a cute metal set (blue) that comes in a picnic basket...I found one at Ross!
~wooden 'cutable' foods by Melissa and Doug...even if you don't have a play kitchen, your kids can still play with these...get the larger foods for younger kids, since they are easier to cut up...Target also has a version of these in a cute metal basket.....

happy shopping! Great topic idea!
~jennifer

[Lynette]

Thanks Jennifer!! Alaina's birthday is coming up next week and I still haven't gone out and bought anything yet :bag

[meeg124]

We just got a 2nd had Little Tikes kitchen for Caden and he loves it. Even though he is a rough and tumble little guy, he loves to pretend to cook. Except he keeps asking us if we want whatever he is cooking but he won't bring us anything. LOL

Megan

[landofOZ]

One more thing!

Cash register...we have a red and blue one by Learning Resources? (I think)..anyway, it's solar powered, sturdy, and lots of mileage! We play all kinds of store...book store, food store, etc....