all those toys!

[riab]

Part whinge part question here, i was trying (vainly) to tidy up the livign room prior to getting carpet cleaned and realised that if I took all of Littleun's toys etc up to his room there was hardly room to move. (carseat, trike, pushalong truck and toy boxes galore)

So in an effort to make sense of it all:
what are your best ever toys for 1-3 yr olds?
what did you buy that was a waste of space?
how do you store them all?
The scary question - how much has it all cost you?

Hmmm. To be honest, books have been the best bet as dd gets bored of toys quite fast. She likes the toy phone but prefers the real one.

Biggest waste of space - any cuddly toy, she's been given loads and they just sit in a forlorn pile in the bedroom.

Cost - not a lot as I'm so mean I hardly buy her anything ! Get stuff at NCT sales mainly. I'm from the "let them play with saucepans" school and am lucky not to have plastic-tat obsessed in-laws.

It's scary how much stuff kids have these days. Also, because they have a lot, they value it less.

Hmmm, I used to be in the "fewer=better" camp but then I hit the reality of an insatiably curious little boy. I don't think he gets as much out of half his toys as he does household items but then there are times I'd prefer not to have dents in my saucepans!
DS prefers the real phone to the toy phone as well but after he managed to call a premium rate number I decided giving him a toy one was a better option.

I don't buy new unless I can avoid it and tbh one of my most expensive buys (new) has also been something I've hardly used. I got a playpen but I tend to just have him tumbling around with me. It only gets used for ballplay or if we've got builders in!

My real issue is that he does love outdoor/big toys. Ie workbenches, toy kitchens etc. Do i just treat the ones at playgroup as once a week toys or do I invest in some? I'm very tempted to get a tunnel/tent set as he seems to adore playing in those any chance he gets.

He also has huge amount of books because my parents hung onto all of mine and my brothers books, then everyone bought him more so he has a library that will last him into preteen reading of 500 books!!!

You could try a toy library.

It's tricky. I've bought the odd thing that dd has loved somewhere else, like ball-pit balls only to find she's not interested in them if they're in her own home. SIL gave me a load of pop-up tent/tunnel things - I thought she'd love them but again she wasn't interested after the first day...sigh!

So far she's called 999 and wiped all the numbers programmed into the phone memory, is obsessed with climbing onto the kitchen counter to play with inappropriate household items at the same time as teetering on the edge and giving me heart failure. That's when she's not climbing into the washing machine, posting things down the loo or systematically emptying the kitchen cupboards.......

Just because they like something at somebody else's house or playgroup that does not necessarily mean they will play with it at home. We have probably all been taken in by that one.

I think one of the best ever toys for that age group is the £5 ELC buggy, which is small, cheap, lgihtweight and has loads of play potential.

Also think that putting things like trike in his bedroom is hardly a true picture. Yes if I bunged DD's sandpit, paddling pool, collection of balls, ride-on car etc in her bedroom I wouldn't be able to move. Guess you realise this really and I am being a bit patronising.

s'allright bozza. I was just whining cos I used to have a lovely clear living room and now because his trike, push along truck, playpen and balls plus one box of toys all live in it its suddenly alot smaller!

I am going to have a sort out though as he doens't play with half of his toys. I also thin I might sell the playpen - I can use the stairgate to keep him safe in a room if we're haivng building work and he hates the playpen so much we so rarely use it.

Yeah I would be tempted to ditch the play pen too. Is there nowhere outside to keep trike etc?