Good toy, bad toy

[Hurricaneinateacup]

I know all children are different but I thought we could share our good toys and not so successful toys!

Best thing ds has ever had is the Imaginext castle. He's 5 and a half now and had it when he was 4 and I think it's been used nearly every day since then.
Also used loads are the playmobil dinosaurs. They are lovely.

Bad toy: family member bought him one of those electric ride on toys. The first one didnt work properly. Changed it and the second one worked for about a fortnight. Changed it again and the one we have now works but has hardly been used. Ds just isn't particularly interested. Plus it's bloody quick and I worry about other people's actual real cars being scratched.
Other misses have been anything with basically only one use such as animatronic toys and remote controlled anything.

Best toy ever - vetch toot toot garage. Gets used everyday both ds (1 &2) love it. Going to buy the train station and safari park for Xmas (we already have the building site and car transporter ). Worst toy - jumperoo - terrified my ds who never goes near the thing.

Happyland has been a hit with all 4 of mine.
My 17mo loves her hide n squeak eggs (I don't love hunting for all the pieces though), duplo then lego has also been popular.

They weren't so keen on mega blocks though.
Moonsand was horrendous and got everywhere, only played with once or twice, was a nightmare to clean up and all the colours mingled.

Two years ago I ignored a thread a bit like this where almost everyone said hot wheels was complete rubbish. I ignored everyone as I thought I knew better. I did not. It is crap. Do not buy hot wheels!!

Good toys: duplo, lego, sticklebricks, some playmobil (pirate ships, castle and Wild West)

Forgot to add to the good list:

Anything Bruder!

2yo DS loved wooden building blocks and playmobil 123 house.

2yo DS hated an electronic dog as it scared him :(

Good:

wooden train set (big Brio affair)

wooden shop / puppet theatre - endless fun for years!

orchard games

matchbox cars and car rug

playmobil and lego

toy farm with tractors and animals

dolls house

craft stuff

books

minecraft and tablet to play on (not got there yet but aiming for it)

The best ever present was a massive roll of large bubble wrap to stamp on cost me a tenner off ebay :)

Thanks marne and crazykat.

The bigger playmobil sets have been a total waste of money but the recycling truck, dump truck and police car are popular here.

Good:
Happyland stuff
Megabloks
Lego duplo
Vtech toot toot stuff
Hexbugs
Imaginext castle
ELC big city garage & Hot Wheels cars
ELC play food
Marble run
LeapPad
Vtech camera
Elefun
Pop up Pirate

Bad:
Playmobil castle (just fell apart so frequently my ds got frustrated with it)
Peppa pig toys (dreadful quality)
Orchard Toys games (loved by adults more than children)
Wooden train set
Hungry Hippos (kept losing the balls)
Vtech dinocars

Best: dressing up outfits
Worst: playmobil I'm sorry to say, especially the castle and submarine.

Best -
wheely bug bee used loads by my own 3 and every guest from tiny to clearly too big!
Wooden train sets brio combined with ikea
Lego
Wrestling stuff

Struggled with worst buys as most stuff gets played with and enjoyed if only for small periods of time!

The good:

play food
tea set
Wooden blocks
Play doh
Basic Craft stuff (paint, glue, coloured card, glitter)
Build a bears
moshi monsters figures
Stacking cups
Cars
Basic hot wheels loop the loop (think ours is actually tesco own brand)
Lego
Playmobil (but not the buildings)
Ride on car
Micro scooter
Dolls (barbie or monster high type)
Nintendo ds
Cheap tablet
Cd player and audio books
Books
Dressing up clothes and accessories
Play tent
Fairy lights/disco ball
Pillow pet
Wooden bed for teddies or dolls (from ikea)
Orchard board games

The bad:
Aquadoodle
Happyland (for some reason my DD never played with it)
Any electronic baby toy - vtech etc
Any robotic pet like furby
Jigsaws
Innotab or any computer/tablet aimed specifically at children
Expensive bike (this maybe unique to my DD!)
Massively advertised but ultimately crap craft sets (waggle tags, aqua beads etc) or the ones involving food (chocolate lollies etc)
Flimsy sets involving tv characters (peppa pig, disney etc)

Depends on your child I think. For dd1 I would say happyland and playmobil are a total flop, for dd2 they are her favourite toys.
They both love balloons, taking turns in the dolls pram while the other pushes, bounce on rabbit (like a space hopper) and tucking each other up in blankets oh and a while back they and their cousin spent a happy afternoon playing with a plastic water bottle and a pair of boxer shorts!!

Best:
Table and chairs - it can be a cafe,a vets table, supermarket til or just somewhere to draw!
Wooden train track
Duplo
Toy kitchen
Toy check out
Toot toot train set
Playmobil park
Elefun
Orchard toys games
Top trumps
Ludo
Toy buggy and baby
Trolley to push blocks and your sister around in
Elc wooden trike

Worst
Puppet theatre - ignored. Completely
A wooden train that you pull along with different bits to put on poles on the carriages (don't know if I've explained that very well!)
Rocking horse - not played on Enough to warrant the space
Large Playmobil buildings e,g, farm/zoo etc. they like the small bits and pieces and the buildings are good but not played with enough to take up so much room!
Stickle bricks ( is that what they're called?)
Travel aqua doodle

Actually I don't think we've made too many poor toy purchases - most of them are played with. Careful research on MN ;)

Hot Wheels sets are terrible but the cars are indestructible! We have 250 (DS has obsessive tendencies and collects all the makes models) and they're the only brand that survives!

SqutterNut - I agree about the hot wheels cars - they are great and well built - but the tracks are plastic tat!

My two loved the aqua draw mat, as did I. It dries pretty quickly round here. I found the time it took to draw something and fill it up, was long enough for their attention span

Mine loved their aqua draw when they were toddlers.

Good toys now (they are 5 and 7):
Lego
Hama beads
Loom bands (DS2 only)
K'Nex
Plastic dinosaurs
Cars of any size
Dressing up (DS2 again)
Wooden doll's house
Wooden castle
Moshis/Trash Packs/other annoying collectibles

Bad toys:
Bikes (they refuse to get on them)
Finger puppets
Jigsaws (used to love them, not interested now)
Anything crafty apart from drawing stuff

My experience is probably somewhat atypical as my eldest is autistic and we are currently arrange a paediatrician's appointment to see about the youngest (I am pretty sure he is as well). Anyway

Hits -
Playmobil: the eldest likes the animals and select playsets, the little one likes the cars. Neither of them want the people figures
Schleich (and other non branded) animals: We have so many, a medium Trofast tub of large animals and a Trofast tray of mini ones. My eldest one was lining up a collection of toy squid the other day. I think we are the only family that has a selection of squid toys.
Busy books: just the figures not the book or playmat
vTech cars: not the sets, not the track, just the cars. Although my little one does love the traffic lights that came with the track.
Disney Cars torch cars
Wow toys
Leapfrog drum
Hide and Squeak eggs
vTech bus
Little Tikes car transporter: the only toy in the house that is fought over. they share everything else with minimal fuss. With the car transporter my eldest wants to keep his wooden snake in it and the youngest wants the cars in it. If either finds the other's choice of toy on the car transporter it is removed with great drama.

Misses -
Fisher Price Little People
Ikea toy kitchen and accessories
Duplo
Playdoh
Wooden railway
Tea set
Doll
Pushchair
Sticklebricks
Playmobil 123

All the misses are good toys, well recommended and popular with a lot of children. I have learnt to ignore reviews that say how much other children love a toy as it doesn't seem to apply to mine. This year I am sticking close to their interests and hope to get it right. The older one likes animals, letters, numbers, electronic stuff and that is about it, the little one likes cars and climbing on to stuff he shouldn't. Both like drawing and books.

It is hard when the don't do imaginative play, it rules so many things out.

My ds1 was given stacking cups for his first Christmas and still plays with them in the bath aged 9.

Best: building blocks. Toy cars. Duplo and lego. Marble runs. Playmobil. Books. Cuddly toys. Scooters and bikes. Frisbees. Etch a sketch.

Worst: electronic "learning" toys. Hot wheels. Stuff that's themed on a tv show. Sonic screwdriver toy.

My son also loves hot wheels. Build tracks outside, down the stairs, cat loves seeing the cars zoom by too!

For 3yo DS
Best:
Asda toy kitchen and food - especially the cut up cake and pizza. Not a day goes by when we aren't coerced into enjoying a piece of plastic cake :(
Thomas take n play
Balance bike
Pirate hat and sword
Busy book
Table football
Dinosaurs

Worst;
Anything animatronic/remote control. He's terrified, and we keep telling certain relative this but still they get him this stuff
Toy laptop and games console thingy. Zero interest.
Electronic ride ons. He loves ride ons that he pushes along by himself.

Forgot to add for DS2 (11mo)
Best:
Anything DS1 is playing with!
Toot toot driver garage.
Toy kitchen
TV remote

Worst:
Anything too fiddly like those beads you get at the drs. He has a set and just lobs them when he gets frustrated! They are very painful when they bounce off your shin!