Wooden toys v plastic toys - who do we do it for?!?

[Hulababy]

DD has lots of plastic toys and quite a few wooden ones too. Have to admit that I love the look of wooden toys and they always catch my attention more. But, I also have to say that on the whole DD tends to play with her plastic toys more.

DD has a plastic scooter and a lovely little wooden one her great grandad made. Both are played with to death, but by far the most used is the plastic scooter. I think DD loves the colours more, than a wooden one.

Same with a doll's house - same great grandad has just made her a wooden doll's house which we pick up soon. However she already has the Happy Land house. And she plays with that all the time, and loves it and it's sound effects, etc. Her friend has a wooden one, but guess what they both choose over it? Yes, the plastic ones! Whilst I am sure DD will love her wooden house (especially as it has been decorated nicely and painted) I bet the plastic one still comes out more often.

And she rarely touched her wooden bead maxe thing she had when younger!

So, who do we get these lovely looking wooden toys for?

Is it really for our children and their needs?

Or is it for us, because we think they look nicer?

I am starting to think that it is more the latter at times (for us anyway)!!!

Both my kids love their wooden toys just as much as there other stuff - it just depends what it is I think not what it is made of.

I know I'm sick of battery operated toys, which make too much noise and eat batteries.

A good mix is what works with us.

We also wasted £££ on a bead maze hulababy , maybe dd will like it.
Ds plays with Brio Builder a lot, but all other preferred toys are plastic. However, Smellymelly has a point...noisy battery toys are swiftly tired of in favour of Lego and Playmobil, two excellent toys that could never be replicated in plastic. Just dreading the onslaught of My Little Pony and Bratz. Do you think I could keep dd in a box until she is 18?

I refuse to succumb to Bratz

LOL! We have the Barbie stuff on the horizon with DD I am sure. She already loves the Disney Princess stuff. She is so girly.... oh well, if it is what she wants and it makes her hapy. That's the main thing I guess

Have to confess I buy ds wooden toys because I like the aesthetics of them. But having said that he does play with his wooden toys (trains, farm buildings, garage, castle) far more than he does with any of the plastic ones (except the plastic accessories for the wooden toys of course - knights, farm animals, etc). Of course it could be that if we had those things in plastic, he'd play with them just as much.