Essential toys for 2 and 4yo girls?

[BubbleySoup]

My little sisters are coming to live with us and they don't have a lot of stuff so we're trying them work out what we need to get for them.

I think we've got the essentials sorted out so we're thinking about toys now.

Our ideas so far:

• Books
• Jigsaws
• Board games
• Scooters
• Tent
• Dolls House
• Baby doll and pram
• Train Set
• Lego (Or Duplo? Or Just wooden building blocks?)
• Teddies
• Loads of arts and crafts stuff

for the duplo, lego thing, i would stick with wooden blocks. they are always a winner

maybe a rocking horse? that will last for a while if you get a big one and they can both use it

Dressing up.

My 2 and 4 year old are obsessed with LOL dolls

Tablets, playmobile, Sylvanialn family stuff

I agree with dolls house, maybe a couple of toy cars/buses that they can put people in, and some other buildings (eg a shop a police station etc). At those ages they love acting out Little stories about what the people are up to.

In particular if they’ve had a disruptive time then acting out different family structures and houses can be useful.

Tea set.

I’d go for duplo over wooden blocks.

Happyland from elc does lots of nice stuff, and the playmobil 123 range will suit both those ages (regular playmobil has lots of small bits). If you look on eBay and your local Facebook groups you can pick it up easily secondhand and it lasts well.

Mine love brio builder and Lego. A keyboard with microphone. Scuttle bugs. Happy land toys. Tool set. Kitchen with toy food, mixer, cake stand etc. Chalk board. Crayons, pens, large rolls of paper, glitter, scissors, glue etc.

Sounds like you have it in hand OP! Those are more than enough to keep them going, you’ll soon pick up on other ideas once they’re there.

My girls are 4 and 3. They love crafts, Lego, Orchard Toys games, toy kitchen and Sylvanian families. Neither of them play with the Happyland anymore (it’s just gone away). 3 year old loves dressing up.

Bath toys.
Play kitchen and accessories.
Simple games for the older girl, maybe something like picture snap or picture dominoes.

I wouldn't buy it all at once, as they may be a bit overwhelmed if everything all comes at once! And Christmas isn't that far away!

I would probably also enrol them in your local library, maybe take them to the story time sessions, and let them choose their own books so you can get a better idea of what they like.

a little kitchen, hours of fun! Look on ebay/ facebook for second hand. I sold one that was still in really good condition despite all th playing!

My 2 year old loves diploma, happy land, arty stuff (an Ikea easel and small table and chairs have been our best purchases) her teaset, kitchen and little car. Those are by far the things she has consistently played with the most and the only things she would play with every day. Visiting children who are older seem to gravitate to those same things as well.

Mine loved bouncy horses (like space hoppers but sturdier) at that age.

Also, when a bit older the Galt marble run is a proper hit still.

Little figures (playmobil or similar), I’d go duplo (with a building mat), Lego is really fiddly for little ones. Dressing up stuff is still popular with mine (6 and 4). Train track (ikea do good wooden track). What lucky girls having you OP!

Oh and sand/water table for outside. Ours has been played with so much over the last 4 years.

Kitchen stuff is an absolute winner for my 1 and 4 yo, plus playdo p, craft and duplo for my 4 yo.

Dressing up clothes, and lots of big pieces of fabric for draping over chairs or whatever to make dens.

Tea set and play food was always out of the cupboard here, and real "cooking" was a favourite.

Plastic animals also got played with every day in all sorts of imaginative games. The doctor's set was also in constant use - the toys were always needing operations, injections, tablets etc, so little blankets to wrap them up in were essential.

If you have any sort of outdoor surface, a packet of chalks will keep them amused for hours. If it doesn't rain, washing it off with jugs of water ladled out of a bucket and a cheap handbrush is also fun.

Happy land seems to be a bit marmite. Some children seem to ignore it, some love it. Mine love it. At the ages of 9 and 5 it still gets played with.
Play doh.
Till and money for shopping.
Orchard toys do a brilliant range of games for children.
Yes to dressing up, and some kids music CDs. And mine also have always loved audiobooks. You can get sets of Julia Donaldson audiobooks for example - mine often listen to them at night if they can't settle but it's bedtime. Check out the Book People.
Musical instruments, if your nerves can stand it!

Oh yes, the plastic animals. We have a vast collection and they are played with a lot. My eldest is now on a mission to collect families of big cats from the Schleich range. Obsession may just about touch it!

Dinosaurs

All children need dinosaurs in their lives.

building toys like lego/duplo

My 3 and 4 year old girls like dolls, kitchen, Playdoh, books, drawing and obstacle courses.

Join a toy library and borrow some. Then you will find out their favourites which you can buy.

The orchard games are really good. There would definitely be some suitable for you all to play together.

Doctors kit!