I struggle to get excited about boy-stuff, lego starships and the like. And Thomas is a feckin' train, FGS. How exciting can that be?

[Bubble99]

As I've got 4 boys I need to get into this stuff.

Come on all you mothers of girls. Make me with your play experiences.

BTW. Lest anyone accuse me of gender stereotyping, I do have a ragdoll in a highchair that DS3 (2) likes playing with.

I have a DS 11 who has adored bionicles since he was 5, I spent long hours putting them together when he was little. Over the years I have also done the Pokemon thing. I used to know all the original ones, great for games like "think of a pokemon beginning with A etc" I never got Yugioh in quite the same way.

His great loves as a little one were Postman Pat and Buzzlightyear, both character I really like, so never really had to get into Thomas(thank goodness).

DH has got him scalextric and lego mindstorms, but think they were more for him than son, but luckily son likes both He also likes cooking.I bought them a kitchen to share when they were little.

DD 9 likes all the things big brother likes although preferes Harry Potter lego to bionicles, wants her own lego mindstorms.
She had a baby chou chou, bratz and baby annabel but they only get played with once in a while.

Both of them love their cuddle toys and went through a stage of collecting Beanie Babies, son things like bats and dinosaurs and DD liked the cats.

bubble, I recommend a trip to a German toy shop, and the purchase of some Playmobil!
It is not so aggressively "boyish" as most of the stuff you buy in england, more unisex, and very playable.
eg The passenger plane complete with loo cubicle - the ice cream parlour with mini ice creams - the guinea pig run with guinea pigs & food.

I really wanted a dd,as I was one of three girls, and didn't quite know how I'd relate to a boy and "boy toys", but ended up with a ds (now 6).

He isn't really into a lot of the macho stuff like Power Rangers, but loves trains, fire engines, diggers and most construction type toys e.g. Lego, K'nex, Brio, and most of all Playmobil.

Strangely I have now turned into a bit of a Playmobil addict myself, as well as being unexpectdly intersted in fire engines

Somuchtobits - is that fire engines or fire men ?!

oi
gonna get a trap for you mouse, girls not dull

Strange you should mention firemen - at ds's school this week there was a fire alrm, and a fire engine (complete with men) turned up. Several of the female teachers were seen to be very keen to go and talk to the firemen! .

No, I actually prefer cricketers, but I know more than I thought I would ever want to know about fire-fighting equipment, fire hydrants etc....

How sad is that?

my ds, nearly three is into thomas and postman pat and well just about anything, but I do like that he likes studio ghibli films, they are great to watch, his fave is howl's moving castle, I never get bored of watching it, ds really likes the castle and Sophie etc, maybe you should start getting your ds (2yr old) interested, tototoro is another one he likes, they are a bit different from the normal crap you have to watch with a child....

I have a friend, whse neighbour has two boys, the youngest was only interested in barbies and "girl" toys from as early as he could show a preference...

my dd likes "being a hero", power rangers etc. but also playing with dolls, dressing up as a princess , I think it is much easier for girls to play with "boys" toys, without it being considered unusual

I have to say, I am not really a huge fan of playing with my lo's. I do it, but it isn't always lots of fun....

Desperately longed for DD 4.8 (oh how I wanted a girl) plays with nothing but Lightning McQueen and Thomas. She is slumbering away upstairs in her boys Thomas jim jams as we speak. That totally backfired!

I'd love to join a continuum concept thread if one emerges.
I don't really get the boy thing either - why is 10 seconds not playing football 10 seconds wasted? However, anything is better than Bratz - at least Hotwheels cars don't tell their owners subliminally that in order to live a fulfilled and happy life they have to hae a 12 inch willy and a pent house apartment in Manhattan.

My LO is due in October. Don't know if it's a boy or girl, but I can't wait to buy Lego. It was my favourite toy when I was a kid, and I'm itching to play with it again.

I have 2 boys & I quite enjoy a lot of their toys actually!
I recently bought DS2 the flexi track dinosaur safari thing from ELC, and I have more fun putting it all together than he does, I think!

Can't stick the stuf fmyself, (I have 3 boys) so can't offer any advice, only sympathy! I have managed to convice DS1 the a few of my childhood favourites are also OK for boys (Jane Eyre, Secret agrden) but how long that will last i have no idea

Compo - peppa pig t shirt for a boy

My youngest son has a lot of fun playing with his Peppa Pig house, which I guess isn't the most boyish of toys!

I say a silent "thank you" every time I go past the fluorescent pink aisle in Toys R Us and look longingly at the Magnetix or whatever they're called that DS1's too little for atm, so I think I might be able to give you some pointers, Bubble

Ds, 5, likes books, books and books, which is fine by me. I have just read Tom's Midnight Garden to him, and we also really like Winnie the Pooh (eyeore is GOD!) and I like reading A Child's Garden of Verses. We don't really do toys at all, though PPH's recommendation of Stomp Rockets went down really well with everyone, including dh. He quite likes playing shops and dressing up as a tiger or dragon. I am hoping he will start to enjoy board games soon. DD, 2, is much more into toys. She loves her 'babies' (dolls, obviously), pushing prams, playing with her dolls house, watching films with ds (Cat in The Hat, Wallace & Gromit, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella et al) likes dancing a lot ('I am dancin' wid da Prince!')and and dressing up, and playing tea parties and playing in the Wendy House, playing shops with ds and just lots more role play all round. I find it very sweet and touching. She also likes to climb on the sofa and roll about and chase and be chased, just like any toddler. Her favourite thing is to play dollies with another child though.
My ds is very atypical though. No superheroes in our house.

Bubble I was deprived of a Girls World makeup head thing too

ds now has one he likes it quite a lot, but not as much as putting real make up on me and on himself. He also likes being a ballet dancer, cooking, stories about fairies, etc

however sticks, digging, trucks, motorbikes, fighting and doing that thing that boys do where you sort of just make violent sounding noises "Pvvvvvvv! Thwa! Rrrrk!" take up most of his valuable time

JoPG - need 3-4 but that one looks ace

i quite like..micro machines and lego... these are toys that have been played with non-stop since he got them..

Girls stuff errrm...i like polly pocket and sylvanian families, wooden dolls house ..and picnic stuff.

mmm...just noticed a theme here...it's all little stuff.

Brio and Thomas the tank and a room full of trainset still puts the fear of god into me...and it's been years! And the books ! I forgot the Rev's books...