If you could start again, which toys would you buy??

[Ealingkate]

If you could throw away all your toys, what would you buy for your LOs with the benefit of hindsight??

these would go...
all soft toys (except 2 each)
all wooden toys involving hammers
knex
the nasty plastic mechano

I would definitely keep...
balance bike
duplo
lego
zoobs
magnetix
orchard toy games
toy kitchen

Things that would go.

Fucking ELC guitar with no volume control.
Tower of Doom.
MegaBlocks
Table Sandpit

Things I'd keep.

Wooden railway.
Build it.
Plastic animals/dinosaurs.

Im not to sure because most things he does play with and we've never really been one to just buy stuff without thinking about it ...

I would definitely keep
his wooden thomas train sets and table
his cars
orchard games
his little people
dinosaurs

I would probably just not have got as many teddies etc and I think thats it :)

I saw the zoobs things in crocodile toys in cirencester and then couldn't remember the name of them, thanks for reminding me muddleduck.

What sort of balance bike did you get??
My Christmas list is coming along nicely!

our balance bike is a puky, which is great. howeever there is much more choice now than there was when we bought it for ds1 a few years ago. I would get a metal one not a wooden one though, especially if you want more than one child to use it and to be able to put in out in the garage/shed with the other bikes.

and train track and scooter would also stay.

Throw out:
-Soft toys, apart from 2, but cull may not be sufficient as they breed in the night
-Yep, that god awful battery ELC guitar that starts twanging at the brush of air molecules
-Ladybird Rocker from Mamas&Papas - expensive and ignored by all the dcs
-Plastic tat - e.g. power-rangers helmet, blackndecker work bench(?), Baby Annabel rocking cradle (all destined for the charity shop)

Keep:
Lego and duplo
Baby annabel
Corolle doll
Toy pram
Ds' action figures and toy cars - both dd and ds have hours of fun
Trampoline
Bikes
Scooters
Uno

Any particular action figures dinahrod? - I have a 2 year old DS and 2 older DDs, so we are a bit low on boys' toys, as we seem to be full to the rafters with girlie stuff.

I'd definitely buy stacking cups and Tomy Hide and Squeak Eggs. Those are the best baby toys ever!

I'd also throw out some of the soft toys, although DS does play with them more now and goes through phases of favourites. Still, I'm sure he has several that have never been touched.

All garden toys would stay - trampoline, sandpit, balls in all shapes and sizes, ride ons, scooter, child sized garden tools have all been played with loads. However, with hindsight, the Smart Trike was probably not the best idea. When he was little, it was really just a glorified buggy (ie. he sat on it and I pushed him along, getting a bad back in the process!) and now he can pedal it, it's looking small for him and we're buying him a balance bike for his third birthday next month.

EalingKate, ds plays with Power-rangers mostly (the smaller figures, rather than the ones that are about a foot high, as they sit nicely in his hand). They are very robust, have jointed arms and legs and no sharp edges. Was a bit sad when he left behind all the toddler toys and morphed into a lad but have noticed his power rangers like to hang out in dd's doll's house quite a lot.

I'd probably get rid of a pricey mamas and papas rocker (still in mint condition two years down the track), the wooden walker with blocks, and the wheelybug.

I'd get a plastic ride-on (probably the Thomas one) and in hindsight I wish I'd bought the tp explorer climbing frame in the Spring instead of a plastic climbing frame/slide thing that will be too small by next summer.

What is it about cuddly toys? I don't think I've bought a single one for DS and yet we have hundreds of the things! Some of them are hideous, as well.

Best toys have been

Jumperoo (4 months - 1 year ish. Can't remember other baby things)
Wooden jigsaws, shape sorter (The £8 Mothercare one is good)
Toy buggy & doll
Wooden tool kit from ELC
Whizz down mountain/whizz down garage/things with magnetic chunky cars. Although would probably have got just the garage OR the mountain, not both.
Loads of books for 20p each from charity shop. Never pay full price for baby/toddler books, then you won't be heartbroken if they get drawn in/eaten/ripped.