Toys that are loved year after year

[Blessedbethefruitz]

What toys/gifts have your children enjoyed/played with frequently for several years? I've had some flops, and I hate spending so much time and money to end up with something that's pushed aside after a week or 2.

Things that have lasted several years here are loose duplo (but not lego 🤔), cars & hot wheels garage, octonauts figures/guys, peppa pig castle/people, the playmobil farm advent from 2 years ago, rc monster truck, light up balls. Oh and the oldest's scooter. Both kids (now almost 5 and almost 2) play with all several times a week - often together!

Fingers crossed for the huge wooden train sets we're building this year and their rc trains...

Wooden train set, magnetic tiles, ice cream shop, monster trucks and hot wheels, toy dinosaurs, toy food, marble run, knnex
All played with regularly. I've got rid of much of the rest

Wooden train-set lasted a fair few years.

Wooden blocks and Kapla planks are still going strong.

Lego - Best buy was a tub of 2x4’s - the classic Lego brick that’s quite scarce in modern sets. I bought them second hand. They increased the playability of the rest.

Lego might gain in popularity over next couple of years OP... 5 is still transition age.

For us its been Lego and Barbie. Both still played with by 10yo and Lego still played with by 12yo.

Bop It handheld game. DS still occasionally get it out now. It must be over 10 years old. It sounds really annoying and I am rubbish at it!

Wooden trains (Thomas ones) and tracks lasted a few years as did anything with cars. Uno cards and Top Trumps. Also sporty stuff such as football net, netball stand/net and cricket bat - but both DS are sporty.

Scooters, magnatiles and a wooden ice cream set over here!

My dcs are older (17 & 12) but over the years the toys that got well played with were: ELC garage, wooden kitchen, Lego (12 year old still plays and requests sets), wooden train set and the Thomas take and play sets.
Games they both loved Orchard rocket game and still play it now especially if we have younger dcs visiting.

All of the games. Uno. Shopping list. Ladybird game. Rummykub. Snakes and ladders. Probably other games too.
Baby Annabel. By far. Got her at age 3 and still plays with her sometimes at 10.

Definitely Barbies here, also that Guinea Pig that has babies, Sylvanian or Polly Pocket sets and mini lol dolls. Dd is 5 but is only now starting to move from Duplo to lego. Board games are also really popular, she even plays them with her teddies.
I can remember getting my own version of a Barbie house (a cardboard thing that slotted together), I played with it for years as a child and loved it.

DS is now 8. Most played with from 2-6 were brio trains, Lego, duplo, magnatiles, ikea toy kitchen, toy mop and broom, scooter, football, cricket set, dobble, pizza pizza, playmobil pyramid, pop up tent with tunnel and holes to throw balls through (will try find link), playdough,
fort building set https://www.wickeduncle.co.uk/childrens-presents/build-a-fort---glow-in-the-dark?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2avmxa7AggMVlMLtCh3wGwQBEAQYASABEgIUpfD_BwE
Now it’s sports equipment, Lego, and board games.

Floor is lava game
Magnetic tyles
Pegboard with numerous amounts of elastic bands
Alexa for kids room (they'll go right down in price on Black Friday)
Transformers
Garden/ outdoor toys (bowling, frisbee, hoops, swing ball)
Trampoline (it's an adults fitness one with a bar and folds away but small enough to leave up)

Most-used gift nephews got was from MakeDo
https://know.make.do/collections/at-home
A kid-friendly 'tool kit' for transforming old cardboard and boxes into all sorts.
3 years in, and they still return to it again and again.

Starter basics kit here:
https://uk.make.do/collections/all-products/products/explore-kit

Magnatiles 100%

Duplo
Magnatiles
Baby Annabel and cot and pram
Sylvanians
Dolls house and figures
Scooters/bikes
Trampoline

2 girls a dolls house. I bought a small basic plan toys one, it was upgraded a couple of years later to the Victorian one , then extensions/extra furniture/people followed. They and their friends loved it, so much so I've actually kept it all in the attic hoping that some grandchildren might enjoy it one day

Play food, plates etc - we have had so many years of cafes, teddy bears picnics, games of teddies going to nursery etc based around this!
Sylvanian Families also very well used
IKEA easel
School teacher pretend play pack (bought on Amazon)
Little tykes rocking horse (inside or out)
Ride on toys for the garden
And another vote for the Shopping List game

Open-Ended, Wooden toys are the best! Tor's Story have some fantastic options. www.torsstory.com
Maybe some wooden building blocks?

Britains/schliech farm and other animals
brio
playmobil
duplo/Lego hasn’t been as popular in our house

I wish I had known about this when my children were young. I think it would have been used for years and years. So much to build and create

Build a bear teddies and bundles of clothing for them, all second hand and played with all the time. Also Barbie’s.

The most value we’ve had so far is a plastic teaset that was £5 from wilko, bought it for her first birthday and has been used regularly ever since (she’s 4 in a few weeks). She uses it in the bath, in the water tray in the garden, or just for general role play/ tea parties with her teddies and dolls. At the time I’d actually wanted to buy a much more expensive aesthetically pleasing one but had run out of time and grabbed this - so glad now (and we still have all the pieces miraculously, though I’m quite anal about keeping sets together and will hunt down that
missing teaspoon like my life depends on it!)

Close second is a wooden ice cream shop we got for her second birthday - has had almost daily use. This one was more expensive but worth it.

Others that seem to be lasting - dolls pushchair, magnatiles, little wooden post box, shopping trolley, till and play food, mud kitchen thing in the garden. Scooter. A wooden toolbench though this has been kept at grandparents so may be novelty value when we go there!

Complete flops - ikea easel/ blackboard - was obsessed with the one at playgroup, couldn’t care less about the one at home, little people zoo and castle with various figures to go with them (luckily these were cheap and second hand so we just passed them on), wooden garage and various cars, expensive wooden rainbow (not Grimms but not cheap either). Oh and the Frozen castle she so desperately wanted last Christmas - I wouldn’t buy it as I knew how it would go, my sister said I was mean and bought it for her instead - as predicted it’s been played with maybe three times since though she was absolutely delighted on the day so there’s that!

I'm 48 and have a big collection of Lego Duplo (also normal Lego) but my DDs think the Duplo is for them and they are always playing with it and won't let me dismantle their creations. They also love Playmobil, Barbie House and their trampoline (the sort that is sunk into the ground) I'm a toy collector so will never run out of toys.

Lego
Games for consoles
Dolls
Barbies
Hot wheels and track

Its unique to different kids/family, like my kids have no interest in lego, dolls, trains etc...

For us we have had success with the magna doodles, had a few over the last 3 years but its great as they can doodle, erase and doodle again with no mess. Also good for practicing lines, letters, numbers etc...

Balls are always a timeless classic, everyone (even pets) can usually find something to do with a ball.

When kids get older I think the longest lasting thing is just a tablet or Xbox/Playstation though.

DC are 11 and 9.

Still played with:

Wooden train set
Wooden blocks
Kapla
LEGO
Holztiger Ark and animals
Lottie dolls
Magformers
Playsilks
Grimms Rainbow
Wooden marble run

Loved
Toot toot
Wooden train set
Hot wheels
Hex bugs
Lego
Finger skateboards and ramps
X box
Dart board
Plastic dinosaurs
Nerf guns and targets
Scooters
Air football for indoors
Marble run
Waste of money:
k-nex
Sabuteo
Castle and knights
Paw patrol
Posca pens
Most board games
Table football