Appropriate toys for an 18 month old?

[Bouj]

Can I pick your oh so wise brains for help!?!? DS is 18 months now, and due to rather odd circumstances (all our stuff being somewhere in the Pacific Ocean) he is without toys. I want to get him some stuff that is (obviously) going to last a while and not make me shudder when I think how much I spent on something that just gathers dust. So, does anyone have any good ideas about what would be suitable? He is into cars, and trains and that sort of thing, but I am thinking more of development toys and anything that will amuse him for more than 2 minutes!!

Shape sorters. Wheelbarrow (for garden). Bucket & spade. Books. Playdough if he won't eat it or you can supervise. Duplo or Megablocks.

fisher price little people stuff or ELC happy land stuff

my dd is just a little order so i'll let u know what she has played with most

paint, crayons and paper/colouring books.

Water water water. with pots to pour in and out of. I lay a towel on the kitchen floor and give her a v small amount of water to tip from pot to pot. it amuses her for ages!

Duplo bricks - we have the house and the farm. She loves the people and chairs and enjoys sitting them up at the table to eat!

Musical instruments - keyboard and toy harmonica in particular.

And of course books!

HTH an hope your ds's toys arrive soon, where have you moved too and from?

duh, that meant to say older not order!

A little ride on Car , a Pushchair , or a Rocking horse

duplo bricks! ds 4 y and dd 18 months bothlove to play with them

mine are 21 months old boy twins - they love tractors and trailors, jigsaws, books, ride on car, anthing that stacks, duplo. Just getting in to the brio type track track as well. Outside they like ride on toys and the wheel barrow.

Wooden bricks. Ds got his when he was one, and is still plays with them almost every day (he is five)

I was going to suggest Happy Land stuff from ELC too. Its great and you can add to it for birthdays etc. my kids still sometimes get there's out and my ds is 4

if you can get hold of a big box of cars and a garage it will last for years. Big (child_fist-sized)beads and a shoelace with a knot at the end. shopping till (to teach about money) and of course the ever lastin favourite, a huge box with a door cut into it. Ask at an electrical appliance shop, they can be surprisingly helpful. small boxes and things to put in them? A small broom. My 18 month old boy finds all these things fascinating and, of couse, he has a room full of expensive toys gathering dust. Anything that makes him feel "just like mummy and daddy" seems to please - if i sat on a bed of nails he would want one too!

Thanks all, sorry for the delay in replying, but the advice was great. Went out and raided Toys R Us (spent fortune) and seem to have struck some good ones. Got a Fisher Price Little People garage, which seems to be a hit. Paves the way for many add ons for Christmas presents! We have just moved to Australia, and most of ds's stuff is in the containers, arriving in a couple of weeks. Thanks again for all your help and Furball, I appreciated the links!

Ooh, great choice with the garage. It is what I got DS for Christmas, and I can't wait to play with it myself.