Best toys for 3.5-4 year olds?

[elk4baby]

Hi,

I need to buy gifts for triplets - 2 girls and a boy. They're 3.5 years old right now, but it'd be good to get something they can use for a little while.
Mine is under 1, so I'm not sure what children their age are into.
The only criteria are that the toys should not be language-specific (they're not in England) and they need to be rather compact (all three need to fit into a suitcase without taking up all the space).

Duplo, duplo, duplo. Can be shared, lasts ages, can be mixed and matched with other sets. Suits girls and boys.

DS (age 4)loves:

Mr Potato Head
Fuzzy Felt
Art/Drawing stuff
Lego
VSmile Pocket games (Diego & Wally)

How about a little crafty set for the girls - hair braid kit or bracelet making kit?
For the boy, a little vehicle would be appreciated I expect or a bug collecting kit, something like that.
I have 3 boys and you can't go wrong with buying them vehicles of any sort IME! My presents for my nieces are always well received and I tend towards the compact things because I have to post their gifts - I stick to things like crafty making kit things or else colouring/puzzle books which are light and easy to post.
The advantage of puzzle/colouring books is that they give the child plenty to do which also gives the parent some free time while the children are busy
Try HobbyCraft as they often have kits in their sale sections, also ToysRUs do things - and your local independent book shop or garden centre may well stock some compact kits or little science kits.

How about puppets? Either a few finger puppets that they can play together with, or a bigger hand puppet each. I love the Sockettes. They are really bright and colourful and big enough to last easily up to 6 or 7 years and beyond.