What toys does/did your 3-4 year old like playing with?

[Laurajay84]

Following on from a similar thread about older children's toys, I was just wondering what toys did/does your 3 year old (or 4 year old) like playing with?

My little boy with ASD will be shortly turning 3 years old and for the past 18 months his interest in toys has declined somewhat, however is like a different child when he's got something new to play with. I'm looking for all ideas - educational toys, outdoor toys, all toys really, but in particular those which may improve his skills. It is also his birthday soon so it might give me a few ideas for that!

Hi.

My son 3.4 (on the ASD waiting list) receives play therapy/SALT, and his most favourite toy, (that we don't have, but SALT brings,) is a 'stacked wooden car ramp' that I have recently seen in Sainsburys for about £6-8!

It is essentially a very basic ramp where coloured wooden cars go left to right, left to right, then out at the bottom...but my son loves it!

The only reason I didn't buy it for him when I saw it is I WANT him to be excited to see SALT!

My son also loves his 'balance bike' bought at xmas and just his basic scooter!

xx

Thanks Pandy. On a separate note - may I ask where you receive play therapy - is this a private service or on the nhs? What does it include and how does it help your little boy?

My DS was diagnosed at 3. Apart from Thomas trains, he really loved activity toys with lights and sounds. One of his favourites was one of these . He liked toys which produced musical notes when you pressed buttons. We also had a car ramp like the one pandy mentions, which he really liked. To encourage more imaginary play, we bought the Happyland preschool so he could pretend he was one of the figures and make it do some of the activities he did at preschool. Also, very simple educational toys which required colour-matching or sorting or which required simple turn taking.

He loved (and still does like) lining up his huge vehicle collection and sorting them into cars/buses/lorries. Only nowadays, he tells me it's a traffic jam or a car park (depending on which way he's lined them up!).

When he was 3/4, he was more interested at toys aimed at younger children, but now he is 7, he enjoys imaginative play with Star Wars / Superhero figures and Lego and also enjoys recreating scenes from TV / films.

Laurajay , google Portage services in your area. This is how we received play therapy for DS. It was free and you can self-refer.

At 3, DS absolutely loved this latches board:

www.argos.co.uk/v1/static/Product/partNumber/4254285.htm

Huge collection of transport here also.
Wooden train tracks.
Wooden blocks
Animals
Had I known about playmags at 3, I'm certain he would have played with them
Sand, water
Scooter
Play doh