Cheap and Best Store for Toddler Toys

I have bought a lot of toys at consignment stores and on craigslist. So much cheaper and a good variety. I have also gotten some good cheaper wooden puzzles at Michaels. You can also look online for recipes for making play dough, Also take a look at etsy.com. There are a lot of people out their that make Montessori toys at very reasonable prices.

Try eBay. For price comparison, there's Nextag. I like Amazon because of the free shipping. Don't forget to visit the manufacturer's own site for special offers.

Try Uncle Goose blocks.. They're awesome!

Amazon.com :) or Value Village... sometimes Craigslist or a garage sale!

craigslist, thrift stores and consignment stores and garage sales....

Hi S.,

I'm a preschool teacher down here in Portland, so I am unsure of options in your area. But here are some ideas:

As previous posters have suggested, the resale shops (local goodwill, consignment shops or events like JBF) are a great place to check. I have found some great things during garage-sale season, too.

You can make your own playdough, you know. Look around online for a good recipe, or PM me. Fred Meyer (if you have Fred's up there) does sell it by the bag instead of the smaller cups, and I think that's a better value than the little kits. Many kitchen items will work with this activity.

I'd also go online and invest in a good block set. IKEA has one with a cart, but I have found there aren't enough blocks to use later on as they get older. Constructive Playthings or Community Playthings has good sets, and they are more expensive, but in my opinion, an investment item. If you can afford even a smaller set of blocks, great, and the Unit Blocks are wonderful. My group of 3-4 yo's love them, as do my son.

Added here: The IKEA magnetic crane truck with the trailer that offers shapes to attach-- this is worth buying. This toy has gotten lots of attention from both my son and all of my preschooler, boys and girls. The shape pieces fit into the trailer frame, stack, and the kids just love playing with this one.

Okay, here's the deal for Montessori-type toys: they aren't going to be inexpensive. I have purchased puzzles for my school at the discount Montessori websites, and this would be where I would send anyone interested. PLAN toys has some great things, like the Cone puzzle (3 dimensional) which is a huge favorite with kids. Stacking cube blocks (they nest inside each other, and can be stacked into a tower similar to the montessori Pink Tower) can be found online and are often made of thick cardboard or wood. But yes, these quality items are going to cost more. And the Froebel Gifts site is more expensive, but some of these items may be perfect for your son.

Lastly, if your son takes to Montessori toys, great, but please don't worry about his 'being ready' for the toys at school-- sounds like he already is, and the teachers are very well-skilled at introducing new materials to youngsters!

H.

A healthy home life that encourages independence and learning is really all a kid needs to prepare for preschool. Preschool is simply about learning how to interact with others and the outside world so preparations would be what you are doing now - bringing him into those environments and being excited about it so he knows it is safe and good.
If you want inexpensive toys that encourage learning you can make batches of playdoh yourself that are colored and even scented with spices or kool-aid if you want. He could help, which is fun play in itself.
Another is to recycle the lids of frozen concentrated juices by collecting a set, putting matching stickers on them two by two and using them for a memory game.
Its not about quantity - paper and crayons, different coloring materials like finger paint (pudding is a great finger paint) grease pencils and washable markers. Seems to me Ikea had some neat fabric food sets for dirt cheap and I love their wooden trains and blocks. I bought a set of each when my first was a toddler and 12 years later my third daughter still uses them. I'll keep them forever probably! He's too young for tinker toys - at 3 they are great and inventive.
Another important note: I remember hearing a study on child learning where a researcher went to an asian country (don't remember where) and in one region they started children on reading and writing at desks when they were 2 or 3 and the kids were mastering the skills but 100% required glasses by the first grade. In another region they didn't even introduce writing and learning to read until age 6 and had kids nap regularly. They were all mastering reading and writing at the same levels as the other students but hardly any needed glasses.
Let your boy be a kid for as long as he can and don't stress about pre-k too much. Most everyone evens out by the third grade and if he's gifted it will come through with the encouragement you already show.
Have fun!

I like teacher supply stores. Teachers spend alot of their own money on classroom supplies and they are not rich. So these stores have a great selection of reasonably priced educational items including puzzles, books, art supplies, math and reading helps, etc. Homeschoolers buy stuff there, too. A real gold mine is the used curriculum sales that homeschool groups often have at the end of the school year. Homeschool families unload books, games and toys that they no longer use, in addition to curriculum.

The question is how cheep you want them? Check JBF (it stands for Just Between Friends), just google it, you can get some really good deals there and not just on toys. There are lots of second hand stores, too, plus "The Goodwil" and similar stores. Good luck!

I always check toys in stores and then buy them online, whoever has them cheaper. Most of the time I use Amazon.com. They have free shipping on most items if your grand total is over $25.