Right, what toys should DS have to stimulate him. 10 months

[BlingLoving]

I'm starting to worry I'm a bad mother as we are not buying DS lots of new advanced toys. I was thinking we'd wait as his birthday is looming and I know that first birthdays always get family and close friends over excited so I'm sure that he'll get a zillion gifts.

But... whenever we go to friends' houses, they always seem to have much more sophisticated toys than us and I worry that I'm disadvantaging DS (yes yes, PFB and all that). So recently, I found a friend with her DS and one of those little TRIKES. It hadn't even occured to me to get DS one of those.

He has various musical things to bash and shake and press buttons on (not that he ever presses the buttons). And he has a little table thing to stand at while making music. And soft toys and books. and a little tent to crawl through.

And a cat to torture.

What am I missing. Tell me to get back in my PFB box if you can. I would rather not go rushing out to buy new things!

Glad you are feeling a bit better about it. Agree with toot about giving him the saucepans and a wooden spoon, both of mine would play quite happily with those for a while. Have a look at putting together a treasure box too, one that he can put things in and out off easily himself, much cheaper than bought toys and probably more fun too.

Can't remember who said use your money for taking him out instead but think thats a good tip too. He'll get far more out of a picnic in the park than he will out of a big plastic toy.

In my opinion, toys exist for kids to learn about the real world through play. Develop their cognitive abilities, motor skills etc. Toys are made specifically for that purpose, but that doesn't mean you NEED them for your DC to acquire these skills.

Don't get me wrong, my DS (10mo) has a lot of toys, but at this point rather than buying more new toys I just give him 'real life' stuff to play with. Empty milk jug. Water bottle. Ruler. Wooden spoons/spatulas. Whisk. He also frequently helps himself to books & CDs from the bookcases... and the remote (he hasn't made the link yet between the remote and the fact that it switches the TV on though, luckily!).

rrreow: we gave him an old sky remote with the batteries removed. But he has figured out that it should make the tv work. So he hits a button then turns to look at the tv. Little bugger has now worked out that there's a fake and seems to be able to tell the difference. He will no longer be distracted with the non-battery one!