What toys/activites is your 2.5 - 3.5 yr old obessed with?

[teacher1984]

I feel like my nearly 3 year old needs new toys!

Even though we do a lot of stuff outside the house (some pre-school, playgroups, singing class, soft play, nature walks, library etc) I'm struggling to keep him occupied at home. I don't mind some tv but would like that limited to an hour a day. He doesn't nap.

Please share what your kids are doing at home!

My almost 3 year old loves play food, a cuddly Miffy in a carrycot, a toy pushchair (also for putting the Miffy in), drawing, and a set of 'How to Train Your Dragon' toys which came in HappyMeals. Also that wooden railway stuff (like Brio only cheaper) - but that requires more parental intervention.

Actually, my top tip would be toy rotation. Box up all your stuff. Get out a new set every week and put the 'old' set away. I swear mine is waaaay more interested in stuff which hasn't been around for a month. I recognise that this requires a certain amount of storage, mind you...

Painting (finger paints - washable or home made liquid soap plus food colour, he likes to use a brtusdh not his fingers usually) or play dough are old favourites that never go out of fashion, and new plasydough with the colours all fresh gets the older kids playing too. Baking - really baking cakes or shortbread etc or also pretending to bake or "do experiments" with a bowl and random ingredients. The "doing experiments" casnbe nmon edible too with water, soasp, washing up liquid, vinegars, cooking oil, flour etc. to mix up if he doesn't put stuff in his mouth (my youngest is 3 and 9 months so easily understands what is asndf isn't edible).

All of that is messy - non messy would be making drum sets out of boxes and pans, and for actual toys Playmoobile, toy cars (dinky or hot wheels) and toy dinosaurs - often Play Mobil, toy cars and dinosaurs are all in the same game. He also likes Lego - both Duplo and Lego Juniors. He likes puzzles but mainly at Kindergarten, less at home.

If you don't mind a bit of tech he likes thecbeebies website and has just started a free trial on reading eggs.

Toy kitchen/food/shop/shopping trolley/till are hugely popular.

A friend kindly gave her a bag of her (older) daughter's disney princess dolls and Barbies and she adores those.

She really enjoys Play Dough and is starting to like painting and drawing much more.

Reading is still no.1 I think, she will look at books for hours.

Thanks for the ideas!

Think we might try some Lego.

I did the whole toy rotation thing today and it worked a treat

Keep the suggestions coming!

Sticker books
Aquadraw or magic colour type pens
Plastic animals/dinosaurs
Puzzles
Playmobil figures/Wooden castle
Dolls (barbie/disney type)
Magna tiles (building toy)
Duplo
Dressing up
Octonauts toys
Wow toys (similar to FP little people mostly cars/trucks/people)
Balloons/balls
Wedgits (building toy)

Please note she has an older sister so we have be accumulating toys for many years!

We rotate all the big toys, craft stuff is it in the cupboard, small selection of toys in storage bins which live downstairs for easy access, everything else is stored away in the basement.

You can have more toys than a daycare, but if they are all out on display all the time they just become uninteresting to DCs.

This makes me think we need more rotation. DD1 loves all the above but is most into games eg box/card games that she can play with others.

DS is 2.7. He lives in an imaginary world most of the time. He can be Stan from little red tractor, fireman Sam, Bob the builder, Thomas and his driver or Hufty from Raa Raa. He likes to involve me a bit but I love hearing the imaginative play and it does mean he can play on his own quite a bit.
He isn't that interested in most of his toys although he likes his play doh dentist and the ride on car. He's getting into duplo a little (when he's Bob the builder).

Cooking with his pots/pans/play food (quite annoying as he tries to force feed you while shouting "it's ready! Teatime!"

Duplo. We have one that has animals on the box and I spend all my time making birdies.

Anything with wheels. The end.

Honestly! Get a book out - he's running cars over it. Get play doh out, wants you to make roads and cars. Has ignored his play kitchen for over a year now.

Oh, likes jigsaws (he has to be in the mood and they have to be difficult), playing with water at the sink, sit-on wheely toys.

He has a stack of cuddlies he has ignored since birth, not interested in crafts, or stickers! Playtime can be a borefest for us! But he is happy as larry with his cars/trucks/neenaws. Yes, we also rotate.

Stickers. And more stickers.

Lego (actual lego, not duplo which appears to be for wimps . Luckily she unlike the 6yo isn't one for putting things in her mouth!)

Vtech toot toot drivers, particularly the train set

Stickers (but she refuses to draw or colour)

Books

Water table

Kitchen and food

Dolls

Peppa pig playsets

Beads and cord (Melissa and Doug)

Brio trains
Duplo
Planes
Fire engines
Drs bag

Agree with toy rotation. And since our 9 month old is more into toys the 3 year old has started playing with all the baby toys again!

Lego - actual Lego now also, but will still use duplo

Torches

Books

Hammer and nail kit!

Hama beads

Pens/ paper/ paint etc

A game called Shopping List. It's just cardboard pieces and trolleys that you match up but we play it three times a day and it's a beat bribe - "if you eat all your veg we can play TWO rounds of Shopping List" affects my sanity badly but she works for DC.

playdoh
jigsaws
a tub of dinosaurs
painting
colouring
a skipping rope (he drags all sorts of things round with it!!!)
shopping trolley
teddy's

DS1 was completely different. Can't remember what he played with, tho. Absolutely no craft / colouring /painting stuff tho.

Oh yes! Shopping List! Orchard Games are fab (apart from Greedy Gorilla which broke after 3 games, the replacement didn't even last one )
She also loves Pairs.

Games wise he likes atm:

Snakes and ladders
Draughts
Ludo