The toy they actually played with

[AlleyCatty]

Hi, with Christmas on its merry way, I wondered if people might share what toys their children have that have proven worth the money?

We were given a Toot Toot pirate ship. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but my kids have had loads of use out of it. I’d definitely recommend it for young ones.

My now early 20s DCs absolutely loved Schleich animals. I would have found them boring.

My experiences are the same as many others:
Toy animals/dinosaurs
Play food
Lego
Playmobil
Wooden bricks
Farm toys (Britains etc)
Little pushchair
Trampoline and trapeze bar if space.
Sandpit and paddling pool.

Fisher price little people and the various sets/vehicles
Linkimals
Wooden blocks

For younger kids.

Magentic tiles are proving popular as the kids gets older.

This thing https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/pre-school-and-electronic-learning/thomas-and-friends/thomas-trackmaster-playsets/thomas-and-friends-fisher-price-trains-and-cranes-super-tower-track-set/p/197676

Very lucky really, because I only bought it because I was struggling for ideas and it was a fantastic price in a sale; he’d never heard of Thomas before. It did backfire a bit because he knows exactly who Thomas and all of his friends are now, and he’s desperate to meet every single one of them. Turns out Thomas has a lot of friends 🤦‍♀️

DD was given the Melissa and Doug wooden ice cream stand when she was 18 months old. She’s now 5 and without a doubt it is her most played with toy. In almost 4 years, barely a day has gone by where I’ve not been force fed wooden ice cream 😂

From observing young relatives- play food and for three year old dump truck

My son got that same pirate ship when he was about 2, he's 7 now and it still gets hauled out periodically, he now uses different figures with it but it's definitely been much loved.

DD's go to has always been Schleich horse club, she's built quite a collection over the years. It's not cheap but the quality and frequency of use makes it worthwhile.

Beloved by both is a fold out lego storage/building table from the 80's which was gifted to us from a colleague having been in her loft for years. I can see it going back in our loft for future potential grandkids when my own eventually grow out of it.

Surprisingly great was a massive bag of double ended marker pens which my sister got as a cheap stocking filler gift (I think they were from tiktok shop!), they've been used daily for 10 months and are going strong.

Toy food and kitchen stuff - loads of play for both boys and girls. Agree with PP, you pushchair. Also, play teachers set from Amazon - our teddies have done a lot of hours of school! Coupled with a lanyard to make a teacher ID badge and a IKEA easel the teacher set is one of the best things I ever bought.

The Leap Frog Ice cream cart and pizza cart - every child that visits gravitates towards them too!

Ikea Kitchen

MagnaTiles

Hot Wheels cars

Lego

https://www.gltc.co.uk/products/teatime-shape-sorter?sku=18065060878554622874913510&country=GB&gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAAqSY0GO6pnXlNH99s7FjbzkH96Vf0&gclid=CjwKCAjw0t63BhAUEiwA5xP54bLXEF0XJqHxbHliqDf-Ve65zbgI1tnYoHm2jMihSfIzCmoD7EuJBhoCrzgQAvDBwE

We had this when my girls were younger. It was played with an insane amount (including by adults!)

Playmobil /happyland house depending on age (playmbil has been popular until hit 8.5, but still play with it every now and then), dolls, kitchen food (not so much the kitchen), balance beam, gym mats, teddies, vet and doctors kits, easel and pens, scooters.

We were also given the toot toot pirate ship and both my girls (1 & 5) love it which I wasn't expecting.
When my eldest was 2 we got her magnetic tiles, they still get played with weekly now by both children. Yoto player is another good one that's had daily use since my eldest was 2.5. Anything with little characters in is also always a hit, they don't often get played with in the set that they came from but DD will build houses for them from blocks or play with them in the bath etc

We got a lot of use from:

• Matador Ki set 4 - the racing car and aeroplane that it makes were particular favourites
• wooden railway stuff
• duplo
• mini toy kitchen
• those fabric and card boxes from Ikea that fit in Kallax storage units
• a wooden rainbow thing that stacked
• ostheimer type wooden figures - people and animals
• a wooden bus toy with a roof that lifted off and a couple of decks of peg people
• a plastic pull-along lion with flashy lights, spinny discs and a very tinny tune

Duplo
Lego
Playmobil Noah's Ark
Brio train set
Jigsaw puzzles
Scooters
Ball
Dolls

@grgrowinguptobreakingdown please can you send a link for this. I've googled it but not sure I've found the right thing

@JG24 it looks rubbish but they loved it so much.Seems to be £15 more expensive then 12 years ago though.
www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Resources-Pretend-Original-version/dp/B000E8S8XO/ref=asc_df_B000E8S8XO/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14295123652594984955&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006886&hvtargid=pla-2281435177618&psc=1&mcid=4d0c95b36a8c3a94b551c0b1080b4f1f&th=1&psc=1&hvocijid=14295123652594984955-B000E8S8XO-&hvexpln=74&gad_source=1

My DC are older now (one girl and one boy) but when they were little the most played with toy by far was the wooden train set.

It's a great present to ask relatives to give as well, as pretty much all the wooden sets fit together - from expensive Brio to cheap sets from Aldi / Tesco etc - so you can add to it over several birthdays / Christmases and there's something for all budgets.

A wooden birthday cake with candles and wooden ice cream set

If they are at all arty/crafty an art or craft station of some kind can really pay off in terms of getting them to play independently for ages.

The vtech cameras have been really popular here. They need help to get the photos onto a computer or printed, but they go off for ages taking photos & both their cameras have lasted really well - useable from 3/4 yrs old.

Some great ideas here!

Our most played with has without a double been the Melissa and Doug ice cream parlour. Daily play for almost four years now. Visiting children also love it.

In our house it has been:
Play kitchen
Melissa and Doug Ice cream counter
Wooden blocks
Paw patrol tower, cars, etc.
Wooden tool box
Lego

Schleich animals
Brio train set
cuddly toys (probably most played with out of any toy)
Rugs and cushions - for building camps

Not played with as much as I thought….
Lego
sylvanians
Both fun to build, but not really played with.

And I forgot playmobil. Played with for hours - pirate set, horse set and the Egyptian pyramid

Hot wheels, lego, a kitchen, the food, the crockery etc. A wee sink with a working tap, blocks, a shopping trolley, a leap frog picnic basket, an ice cream cart, Mr potato head, a little tikes cozy coupe.

All loved by ds and over again by dd.

Oh, plus play mobil. Especially the builders.