Great toys to buy for Christmas

[cloutiedumpling]

I read the other thread and realised that I'd bought most of the toys listed there, so I thought it'd be nice to have ideas from other mnetters about toys that'd be good to buy for the DCs. Ones that'd be played with every day and would last for years so I don't make any more expensive mistakes!

My first suggestion for other people is the duplo Thomas the Tank train set. We've had it for years and it has had a lot of play but is still in great condition. Also, the pieces are chunky enough that even kids aged 3 or so can put the tracks together without needing adult help.

The Imaginext (old style though) Bat Cave, DS1 3.1 loves it, got it last Christmas and he plays with it almost every day. DS2 is quite keen on it too, in fact so were most of their friends when they came over for a Halloween party!
Mega Blocks are a big hit in this house too, we have the set with all the monster bits :)

Thomas take along tracks and engines, unexpected but they're brilliant.

Beyblades (again did not expect it but all dcs from 2-adult play with them)

Doll and pushchair

Mini micros- best money I've ever spent.

Magna doodles

Ipod touch, we bypassed nintendo ds' as the games seemed to expensive and everyone we know had had to get them replaced atleast once, one person 4 times! Whereas my ipod had took all kinds of abuse and works fine 3yrs later. Ds got his ipod at 5 and loves having his music, own camera/video camera, practices phonics/maths and can watch tv programs and films on long drives.

Bucket of Dinosaurs, you can get them for less than a tenner from ToysRUs or Argos, great for imaginative play :)

Megablocks also popular.

The dcs now have mine and dps knex sets from when we were kids, so a good buy for our mums!

I find with mega blocks they get loose over time. Initially they are easier for a baby or toddler to manage than duplo though.

Moshi figures. We have HQ and Poppets house too, but the quality is pretty shoddy for what you pay. DDs love the figures though, and just use them in their other houses or make lego houses for them.

I'm getting a staple gun.

You can only get the happyland road on ebay now - search for happyland road, or happy street.

We have loads of happy land and it has been played with for hours, mainly with the ds's imaginative dad who comes up with all sorts of adventures for the "village", bless him. I preferred the old designs though, the new ones look too bubbly and cutesy for me.

Lego. Fab fab fab, wasn't too keen on duplo but it has had a resurgence here recently for some reason.

Ds1 loves his bakugan. They are generally sturdy and well made, as opposed to transformers.

Melissa and doug castle is good. Our wooden pirate ship has been played with a lot, but a few bits have dropped off.

Folding play tents. I like toys that pack away. We have a great castle tent and the Peppa pig camper van gets used a lot too.

Ds2 loves jigsaws, ds1 was never really into them but likes them now, which I am glad about.

Usborne sticker books are ace.

My iPad gets a lot of use by the children. apps are so cheap for what they are. Our wii was a bit of a waste of money in comparison really.

I've just bought a vintage 1980s fisher price house for ds2's 3rd birthday. Hard to get a toy house now that isn't pink and they don make some toys like they used to

Imaginext. DS loves it and it doesn't fall to pieces like other toys. He's getting the Batcave for Xmas.

We got dd the ELC snow queen palace when she was 5 and it is superb.

She is almost 8 now and still plays with it.

The snow queenies were booted out long ago and the castle is now inhabited by moshlings. There is sometimes the odd skirmish when the zoobles try to take over.

Other than that Playmobil is ace. We have a big bucket and it is played with all the time.

Orchard Toys stuff
Octopod and gups
Duplo

The imaginext bat cave is great! Ds has had it for a while and it is regularly played with. He just got the castle for his birthday. The catapult is interactive with the castle!

The Nintendo ds is fab. My son got one when he wa s four and he is six now and it is still played with a lot.

Thank you Meg and Pppop!

I've had it for months and is still in the amazon box as disguise. I am so proud I haven't handed it over on a rainy day :)

Though I was annoyed I could get pink castle furniture, wtf? Even if I was buying it for a girl I wouldn't want pink furniture!

ONLY get pink furniture obv...

I'm watching this thread with interest because I haven't got clue what buy for DC.

Presents DS1 has enjoyed in the past:

Orchard games- Bus stop, the gingerbread man, shopping list and dotty dinosaurs all very popular.

Books- You Choose (DS is obsessed with this book, we've read it almost everyday since he got it for his birthday in July). He also enjoys any book with an audio cd/dvd.

Happyland farm
Lego
Cars
Clicks blocks (big blocks that are great for little hands)
Doctor's kit
Musical instruments
Velcro dart board

DS has some playmobil- the children's bedroom set but it seems quite fiddly. Is it worth buying more?

Ah, we don't have room for furniture in our M&D castle, it's filled by various Playmobil knights, pirates, recycling men, horses, a stingray and several Batman characters :)

dontbugme I have some audio cassettes from my youth [I'm buying the CD's for neice/nephew] puffin stories for 5 year olds, it's a mix of short stories that are modern, myth and legend and fairy tale. here they do different age's, might be worth it if he likes audio books.

Thanks very much kellestar, will have a look now :)

You're right, PPOp. We bought vintage Fisher Price Woodsey house sets a few years ago and they're such good quality still.

Dontbugme have you seen this Just Imagine by Nick Sharrat? Got it for a You Choose obsessed DS and he loves it.

Meg - I can 't wait for that, he's just starting to enjoy imagination play and will love putting his spacemen and robots in there :)

Playmobil is played with more than anything else here (Dcs 6 and 4). Most popular the knights and castle, ambulance, farm with tractors, rubbish truck. Least successful are the various boats.

Lego is good, mixed boxes of bricks more than sets of specific items (which nay get made once).

Brio is good but mine only play with it now and again now (space issues).

Connect 4, Guess Who, dominoes, scrabble, bananagrams also popular.

Tractor Ted DVDs.

Bucket of toy soldiers (as in Toy Story).

Stratters stapler would go well with what my 10 yr old has asked for this year. She wants a laminator and paper cutting slicing machine - it has a real name i Can't recall

Can any one recommend the paper Jamz music toys this year?

Mine love singing and art & craft and monopoly is a hit here although some family members are permantly banned from playing in this house due to allegations of cheating

I caught DH playing snap with DD3 4 yrs and telling her she needs to sneak a look at the bottom card so she could win a big pile!

I've locked him in a cupboard for now.