I want to get some new toys for when my granddaughter visits. I think she's grown out of most of the things I've got here (they'll do very nicely for her little brother soon though!) I don't want garden stuff, I'm looking for stuff to do inside.
She's almost 3, and very shy. Good fine motor skills. She likes jigsaws, matching cards, building towers, books - but she won't look at a book her own and my voice wears out after reading several on the trot! (She has a Yoto and I record onto a card for that but I'd like more active stuff for her too). She LOVES "helping" in the kitchen but of course that's really rather limited! Not so much into drawing/painting and she's gone off duplo.
She's got a toy which is like a large pretend padlock with storage inside, she loves locking and unlocking it and putting "treasures" in, then bringing them to me as a "present"; that seems far more interesting to her than just putting things in a bag. She's also got a giant measuring tape which pulls out from the nose of an elephant toy then winds back in with a ratchety click - that's popular too. She also loves making endless "cups of coffee" (complete with swooshing sound effects!) with a wooden model coffee machine.
She did really like being a bear, or a dragon, and hiding in/emerging from her Dark Bear Cave (ie a large cardboard box!) but she seems to be leaving that idea behind.
I don't want to get anything that realistically needs to be left out as she's not here every day and I like my house back inbetween visits! I've got a dolls house in the attic and lots of Playmobil furniture etc for it but I think she's just a little bit too young for that still - maybe for xmas. I would prefer to avoid buying lots of new plastic stuff.
Any ideas what else I could get her? I'm so out of touch with toys!