what toys /activities are good for a 18 months old boy?

[foxy1]

Hello everyone

Just wanted to get some advice from other mums which toys and activities are good for a 18 months old boy? There are so many toys out there. How long do you play with your child for and do you do it at certains times of the day?

Thank you in advance!!

I have a little girl who is 19 months but I think at this age they like the same things as boys.

She really enjoys drawing with crayons and colouring books. Fingerpaints and playdoh are also a favourite. Favourite toys are her plastic dolls house, a toy farm and all her cars. She is getting into roleplay and pretending that her teddies and cars do different things.

I play with my daughter when she feels like playing with me, I do let her get on with it herself a fair bit too though. I usually have set activites a couple of times a week, most often with other mums and their children.

they're so different. its not gender, I don't think, its personality.

dd is a bit younger, 15 months, but likes me to play a lot with her. So I do. At this age her brother wasn't too bothered, and i had to initiate most of the playing, he liked to play alone.

second sassa's recomendations, adding in a trike or similar, and a sandbox/water play etc.

Hm...my youngest, who just turend 2 loves his carrug (carpet with roads on it) but then he is completely obcessed about cars...ms was into trains and diggers at that age and es was really mostly into drawing!
Es never really liked to play with me, it always felt like I was putting it onto him, lol...ms loves playing with me and anyone and is just always chatting and interacting!
Ys is clingy but he also likes to do his own thing...which sort of is a weird combo, lol!
At the moment ys is into copying everyhting others, especially ms do/does!
I try to either play with them myself or have them in Nursery/school, every day...i.e. if Kids aren't in nursery then we go softplay or country park, etc...!
I find it easier to do out door or away from home activities...am not much into playdoh and arts and crafts myself, lol!

DS is 17 months and this week his favorite toy is a bouncy ball. We just tend to hang out at car boot sales and charity shops and buy loads of stuff dead cheap. This works well because what he likes to play with most is stuff he hasn't played with before. So we'll buy loads of cheap toys, he'll play with them a bit, then when he's bored of them or outgrown them we can just give them back to charity shops. Everyone's a winner.

A lot of the toys we buy 2nd hand for a couple of quid cost over 20 quid new - I'd never spend that much because I don't think there's any toy that he'd play with that much to justify the cost.

It was about this age DS started becoming obsessed with his wooden (like brio) train set - (of course we made sure all the pieces were safe for his age). If you buy a set from argos I think it will cost around £30, then we stuck it down on a piece of painted hardboard as his co-ordination wasn't good enough to not knock everything over. Loved it - he's now 23 months and progressed onto putting his own track together. He also love cars and tractors - typical little boy! (though I agree, it's personalityl not gender - I loved those sorts of things too as a small child)

My DS at that age loved his ride on car a buggy/pushchair and a chicco car garage and some lttle cars

My DS is 19 mths. Faves at the mo' are:
Cars including a ride on one from mothercare (the cheapest one they do).
Lego blocks and brio get a fair amount of use.
Looking at picture books and talking about the pictures.
Soft toys - especially animal ones.
Aquadraw

Ds is 19mo too. Top favourite is standing at the bottom of the garden watching tractors in the field, but sadly the tractors aren't out much in winter - may have to organise a few trips to building sites to watch the diggers.

He plays with cars for hours. He is starting to like building towers with blocks or duplo.

Fingerpaints! Eeeeek! Nooooooooo. He opened a box of pens this morning and drew on the carpet, thats as much art as we're going to do.

He like to go for walks, we go swimming and to a toddler group. We go a singing group too but I'm getting the impression that that is mostly for my benefit.

He follows dd around and wrecks her games - he loves Polly Pocket, but that is probably just the "forbidden" factor. Although he does like little things. A pile of copper coins and a money box kept him amused for about an hour. (with me saying "no eating!" every 3 minutes).

He likes to "cook" with my saucepans and some dry pasta or potatoes too.