I would like to update the kids toys... what is worth buying

[winteroversummer]

I have two DS, the eldest will be four in September, and the youngest is eighteen months.

They could do with some new toys- we have a lot of sets with bits missing and I think DS1 has outgrown a lot of his stuff.

What is worth spending money on / what do you children always play with?

Thanks

Do they have a train track, magnetic tiles or duplo / Lego bricks?

These are by far the most used toys, and are versitile enough to provide lots of different play opportunities.

We have two DUPLO sets and he does like them but never plays independently with them, wants them to be built exactly like the box. Maybe just a big box of DUPLO would be a good idea, though.

Yes we have some wooden tracks but again not many, maybe some new tracks and new train too. Little one can't resist grabbing and breaking up the track though

Lego / Duplo but it depends on the child. My nephew loves cars.

Outdoor stuff, the usual scooters and bikes.

Lego and playmobil are great investments. My 9yo still plays with his. With playmobil there can be a lot of little accessories in some sets, so when mine were younger I just kept those bits to one side and added them back in when they were a bit older.

Board games.

My advice would be to have an area where eldest can play with stuff without youngest 'joining in' occasionally. When youngest is three or so they won't accidentally ruin train layouts or lego buildings or jigsaws.

Dressing up stuff is great too.

4 is a great age to buy lego. I recommended starting with the large plastic box of creative bricks. The bricks don't take up much space in the box, but lots of space for new sets.
Then add some sets with minifigures etc for birthdays and christmas, they will have fun playing with them, they will eventually (be it 5 minutes or 3 months) end up back in pieces again the box. Lots of fun to play with.
I also find that by the time they're 6 or 7, with a box stuffed with lego with various interesting pieces they start making the most incredible stuff. Although of course fun to build with before then!

It so much depends on the child! My DC never seemed to like all the toys that other parents rave about.

Of all the toys we had I'd say the ones that got most play were

• wooden train track and trains
• play kitchen/food/pots/pans etc (actually just the food and improvise is enough)
• Duplo
• craft materials - we pulled together a collection of craft bits - just paper, glue, feathers, stickers, random felt shapes etc. Then they can just make random things when they feel the urge

We found that getting a baseboard made them play with the duplo independently.

Those happyland playsets were well played with (I wonder if short lived for your 4 year old). We inherited some polydron (the plastic 3d shape building stuff) and it has been played with for years. Youngest is 10 and still likes a play!

Have you seen the quercetti tubations? Get played with every single day here.

Mine loved train tracks and duplo. 6yo dd still plays with her playdough sometimes.Id also recommend Orchard games.

Oh and if you're worried about the toddler eating the lego, we keep lego as an upstairs toy. So your 3/4 year old can play up their without the toddler destructing. Although once a big sibling has lego - so far have found that younger ones start clicking together pieces just before 2. Especially if you have duplo too like us.

Car mat and lots of cars, maybe a car park/garage thing on the side?

Very similar ages to mine. Mine enjoy:
Train track - well the older one does
Animals - we have holztiger - very robust and really loved here.
Pirate ship
Car mat and cars/buildings/trees/people. Melissa and Doug does a great town set with buildings, road signs etc.
We love castle building blocks (Lanka kade is amazing)
IKEA play tunnel
Stacking -both of mine love blocks/rainbows etc.

Some good ideas, thank you.

Cars has been an obsession over the last year, particularly Disney mini racers and tracks too. It's one thing my DS1 will play with every day, but I think he would like a little change

When DS was about this age, he loved playing with a set of magmatic dock crane and container ships he’d spend hours loading and lifting the containers . Wooden garage was another favourite . fire station , playmobil

Mine never really got on with playmobil. It's not quite the same as Lego, it's not really designed to be taken apart and rebuilt as easily. I also found it hard as an adult to build a lot of it, so not sure how a child is meant to.

Both of mine love Lego and still do. We've progressed from Duplo to 'little lego' now. But if your DC wants things to look like the box, playmobil might be better.

Cars have always been popular. Trains where when they were younger but Thomas the tank engine isn't cool anymore . Mine liked the 'Big figures' of things like spiderman etc when they were younger and have progressed to smaller figures now.

Dinosaurs has always been popular. They're always cheap and you can get them anywhere. I'd say the dinosaurs are probably what still gets played with the most from when my DC were 18montns old.

At the younger one's age mine liked role play (shop, kitchen, dress up), Happy Land, Duplo, all the younger V-tech type toys, playdoh, and character toys from their favourite shows. The kitchen got the biggest amount of use.

By 4, it was Lego, Playmobil, Sylvanian Families, crafting, easier family games (Buckaroo, Kerplunk, Guess Who, Hungry Hippos, Uno), marble run, the IKEA train set, Barbies, and dolls. The role playing was also still used an awful lot.
I agree with a PP about younger siblings managing proper Lego very young. DD1 couldn't manage to click it together until she was 4. DD2 (2 yrs younger) managed it about a week after DD1 😬 DD2 also had a few Sylvanian bits as a toddler, but I removed all the smaller pieces until she was older.

I forgot Hotwheels! These were also popular at 4 🙂

The things my boys always played with were their train table (I think it was from great little trading co) a large low wooden table with drawers underneath to store their trains. They had most of the brio Thomas trains and also a station which held about 6 of them.
Also hot wheels cars and a toy garage.
They also all loved the “tap tap” boards with shapes you hammer onto cork boards with little nails.

Have you got any Mobilo? It's often on Reception/Y1 classes in schools. It's been very popular for years with my kids - chunky enough for little hands but you can do a surprising amount with it. We got ours on Amazon I think.

Magformers are also consistently popular here, or the slightly cheaper own brand versions (they all seem to be very similar).

Other than that then I'd echo dressing up stuff, some play food and maybe a play kettle/toaster, perhaps a couple of soft toy puppets? Mine also love torches, bean bags (very versatile!!) and their Galt marble run.