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.

Cinnabar try:

Go, Maisy, Go! - a book with about a zillion flaps, entertains for ages
A plastic shopping basket full of toy fruit and veg
Wooden blocks

I say a big thumbs up to Happlyland, my DD got her house when she was 1yrs and now just turning 5yrs, still plays with it. My DS also had some boy happyland given to him to add to the collection and they love it. Currently both sitting playing with the fairy boot as I type. I dont think its quite in the way ELC intended but its getting good use and it has withstood a hammering from both of them.
Megablocks, I would avoid like the plaque, I got a load for DS last xmas and its currently in the garage awaiting a charity shop. Lego all the way, regardless of how young they are. My DS started at just over 1yr and although he had to supervised as everything goes in his mouth, He can build his cars, houses and his favourite gun!

Thanks!

Diddy cars - brilliant (especially if you have a house with hard floors but also fun outside). Suitable from about age 3-4 to adult (yep - dh and I have raced them too)
Micro scooters
Playmobil - wheeled stuff for smaller kids and the houses / schools etc or older ones. Think it has more play value for older children - 8 + rather than the 4+ on the box.
Bruder trucks are brilliant (if pricey) particularly recommended the bin lorry (for about age 3 up)
Sylvanian families - again better from about 7 up as the pieces are so small and fiddly (and there is no way you can pose them to match the pictures on the boxes - reckon they muts be glued into position)
Learning Resources Pretend and Play School - dd (aged 10) has been known to still play with this. Easily packed away afterwards.
Decent set of felt pens

Most played with:

Playdough
Vtech camera
Zingo
Othello
Memory Game
Tumblin Monkeys
Build a Bear and other cuddly toys
Jigsaw puzzles
Connect 4
Lego
Paints and craft materials
Toy musical instruments
Scooters, bikes etc

Never played with:

Playmobil
Moondough
Buckaroo
Hungry hippos
Dolls house
Dolls
Action figures
Farm set

Yr2 / Yr3 kids are spot on target for Skylanders. Has advantage in that once you get the base you can get family to buy the little figures, so makes the whole xmas thing much easier..

My DC's have loved it. Only downside is that it wasn't difficult to get to the end, and the average Yr3 will do that within a couple of months. We are hoping the 'giants' version will be more difficult.

Toys the kids and I enjoy most:
Books
Jigsaws
Orchard toy games
Board games- snakes n ladders, frustration, guess who, jenga, tiddly winks, house jack built, pairs, snap, dominos etc
Bikes
Scooters
Outdoor toys- bats n balls, football, skipping rope, hoola hoop, swings etc
Lego
Duplo
Farm sets
Train track
Doctor kit
Dressing up costumes
Dolls house
Play Kitchen
Toolbench
Musical Instruments
Animals
Garage/Cars/Playmat
Arts and Crafts- make up own box of paint, glue, glitter, sequins, googly eyes, feathers, tissue paper, foam etc
Paper/Colouring pens/pencils/Colouring books and activity books
Shape sorters
Playdough and cutters
Swimming Pool toys- like zoggs
Bath toys
Meccano
Pirate Ship
Puppets
Fuzzy Felts

Im sure theres more! Lol!

Ds has been getting imaginext since he turned 4- he will be turning 6 at Christmas and is getting more. Loves it.

2.5 year old DD loves happyland. Has train, farm, space house, cottage, funfair. Plays with it loads.

Play Doh with cutters and presses

books books books

colouring and painting things

mini cooker and cutting vegetables with teaset

jigsaw puzzles

fuzzy felt

I've just discovered Makedo...not sure if mentioned on here already as not been through entire thread, but it's brilliant if your kids like junk modelling. It's basically like a set of connectors that you can use to stick together cardboard etc rather than tape and glue and there are kits that guide kids to make specific things like a car or a robot, perfect for using up all that xmas packaging too!! ..ideally for 5+ - a bit of a nightmare for younger toddlers tbh

The one present that just keeps on giving has been DS's subscription to the Beano. Every issue has been read and re-read at least 10 times, and the jokes just keep coming out as good as new.

Baby Annabell is my 3 y.o daughter's favourite toy by quite a long way, survivingautumn. She is the only toy that my daughter plays with every day (unless books count as toys). She has a nice face, is a good size, cry not too annoying and the off switch works so I like her too.:) My daughter likes most dolls but BA is the top baby of all and gets the most rides in the argos dolls pushchair. Any child from 1st tottering steps stage up to 4ish without one of these £5 buggies should be bought one- I have never met a young kid who doesn't like to push a cheapo buggy about.

Other toys my daughter quite likes are her scooter, her wendy house containing play kitchen, teasets (especially when she manages to illicitly fill the teapot with sticky juice to pour into every cup and onto every clean surface), felt tips and paints and occasionally her happyland boot. Duplo, brio type train-track and schleich farm animals are so far quite a disappointment- bought because her now teenage brothers LOVED them so we thought we were onto a surefire winner but played with only with adult help/direction really. I think she might grow into them though. Our duplo collection is quite small and I think a few more bricks might encourage her.

My teenage boys love: google nexus 7 tablet (I would HIGHLY recommend this as an xmas present for a teenager if affordable for you as a family- it's excellent and not as pricey as some tablets), mobile phones, ipod and stereo, comics graphic novels and manga, digital camera, nerf guns and super soakers, skateboard, designer clothes(!).

What's the best K-Nex set to buy for a 3 year old?

My dd is 6yo and her best presents have been

fifi forgetmenot watering can house - she plays with that a lot

lego

puzzles

books

a car playmat thing, a garage and cars (she is a bit of a tomboy )

kiddicamera thingy.

This year she wants a leapster - can anyone recommend any good games for them?

Do any of your dc play with a wooden theatre and hand puppets?

DD1 wants one. Great in theory but in reality I can see me paying out a small fortune for puppets and the theatre to collect dust.

Or am I being too cynical. What are your experiences of them?

We bought a puppet theatre for Christmas about four years ago when DDs were 2 and 4. Can't remember the make but it's the one that can be a theatre or a shop depending on which way round it goes. We still have it now and they still play with it from time to time (8 and 6 now). We kept the original box so it doesn't have to be up all the time. The string puppets are a bit of a nightmare and get horrendously tangled. They preferred a set of finger puppets, nice ones with wooden heads and main fairy tale characters like king, witch, prince, princess, dragon. Also have a set of Red Riding Hood hand puppets. They have made other puppets of their own over the years too. It's also had lots of use as a shop too. Great toy IMHO.

great thread :)

I've been looking at Sylvanian Family stuff for DD 2.9, and wondering if she's too young for it? they really have thought of everything...

hopeforthebest - my ds2 is 6 and LOVES his batcave.. he actually has two. one is the older style one he got a few years ago and he got the newer tall one last Xmas. he plays with it probably every day. has been a brilliant toy. he has his eye on the Gotham city jail now.. my living room floor looks like an action film set when he is all set up to play :)

I got someone a great book ('Sleeping Beauty') that included a cut out bit at the top of the pages (boardbook construction, but large pages and story complex enough for age 5-8 to read) so readers could set the book up and act out the drama to an audience while reading out loud. 'Beauty' was not the usual insipid portrayal. Here. It was far cheaper when I bought it

Great entertainment -- they used it a lot and their friends loved playing with it when they came over.

They also loved the Izzi puzzle on many different levels.

Tangram set with a puzzle book like this was great value for money.

Rush Hour was also a hit.

So was Labyrinth but for older children. Great strategy game.
Also Hoppers. Best to let people of similar ages play that one together.

blondieminx I think 2.9 is still a bit young for Sylvanians. There are so many tiny fiddly and easily-lost pieces. At that age I'd stick to chunkier things.

Sylvanian families really start to be good from around age 5, when they can cope with setting out all the miniature pieces of food etc. DD and her best friend still play with it all now they are 10, so you would still get plenty of use out of it even if you wait a couple more years.

spookysal we have a wooden theatre and hand puppets, and it has had sporadic use, but not necessarily enough to justify the cost. But I think a lot of it may depend on your family set-up and how often your DCs have friends round to play - I think it is very much a social thing to be used by two or more children together, but my DCs are far apart in age (more than 4 years) so never really played together. If you have a cluster of similar-aged children, or have friends round to play a lot (and of course imaginative/theatrical children) it would probably be more worth it.

A low cost alternative is to use a cardboard box as the base for a theatre and sew yourself some basic curtains, and get the children to make themselves some sock-puppets or similar.

Essential toys for every kid in my opinion are:-

Toy kitchen
Playdough
Good quality large wooden bricks
Dolls
Teddies
Duplo/lego
Pens, pencils, paints (an easel is great)
Jigsaws

marks place.

imaginext- so robust, my boys have 3 years age gap and both play with it.(3 and 6)
Lego/duplo
micro scooter
make own playdough
happyland train set- both still play with this.