What toy does your 4 year old boy like playing with?

[bodiddly]

Ds turns 4 next month and a few people have been asking what to buy him. I am looking for ideas ... probably up to about £30. Anyone's ds mad about their christmas present .. and want to share?

I also got a Leapster off ebay (it was £15 with 3 games) and both boys love this

ooooh it is so tricky. We are giving him bits that I have put away over the last year ... like a spiderman pencil case set with pens and pads etc which was £1.50 in the woolies sale, a book, second hand action man etc. My friend really wants to get him something he will love .. but he does have quite a bit already which makes it tricky. Dressing up stuff is no good .. he will only dress up at nursery when the others do - he has never used anything he has been given by others at home!

He is not desperately advanced with letters etc - do they need to know things like that to use leapsters?

Not at all, there are games and the actual console is set to a colouring game, DS2 (who is almost 3) loves it.
I have got a cut price Wall E game from Amazon for DS1 as he is in Reception and that is supposed to teach more numeracy and literacy etc.
You can get some bargains on Ebay.

is a leapster a hand held game console like a nintendo?

Something with a bit of a wow factor is a remote control helicopter, for indoor use. You can get them on Amazon from £15 and they are amazing. This was our toy of Christmas and I am planning to buy them for everyone we know aged 4 / 5!

Yep, it's like a DS, has a pen etc, small games cartridges.

I love Boy's toys and am surfing at the moment for stuff to buy for birthday presents, sorry to inundate you

Flocci, I got one for DH!
The boys love it too but I'd like to see em try and get the controls!

not at all ... keep them coming lizzylou

just been looking at the leapster on amazon .. did you get a leapster or leapster 2 lizzylou? They seem to have great reviews.

i've heard recently that this is really cool...

that looks fantastic ja9 but the only place we would be able to use it would be on the pavement .. I would be worried he wouldnt be able to control it and would end up in the road. I, on the other hand would love a go!

ToysRus has some of the Playmomobil reduced when I was in last my DS plays for hours with his police car!

Playmobil Rescue helicoptor has my 4 year old's vote too. It is better than a lot of the other Playmobil stuff that falls apart when you use it.

He also likes his Matchbox transforming SPace Rocket (beware the noisy flying saucer if you are of a nervous disposition).

If he is going to school later this year, I would recommend a scooter. Much quicker than walking, easier to carry than a bike. He can become an expert on it over the summer!

he has a microlite scooter his aunt got him for his birthday last year ... he loves it. Im sure his dad will be walking him to school on it in september!

OOh, yes, the rescue helicopter is great! And the police stuff. And... well, most of it really.

Ours is a Leapster, but all the games work with it (Leapster/Leapster2 and Lmax)
It was v cheap and was an additional present, but one that was a massive hit!

Am tempted by the leapster to be honest - mainly to see whether he is interested. I guess it could go back on ebay if he didnt like it. That said, I am not sure about little ones and computer games but just saw it won the pre-school gold award for 2008 so can't all be bad!

Water pistols, Micro-machine, lego, pirate ship, PlayDo, dinosaurs, footballs, Hama beads.

there is no way ds is having a water pistol until it is mid summer!!! he would soak the house in no time!