Ok here goes. I know I'm not the only parent out there having this issue.
Situation: 4 1/2 year old Girl and 1 year old Boy
Problem: Most toys are made for babies or for 3+ years old children.
For Christmas we are probably going to get one family present and 1 nice toy for each child. My daughter would really like some sort of doll house but the ones that I have seen are for 3+. In order for her to play with it I would only feel safe for her to play with it while my son takes a nap. (Which isn't fair for her)
They have a combined play room with both of their toys in it. At 4 1/2 years old she isn't good about keeping the smaller toys away from her little brother. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. I really like the idea of having mostly larger pieces with just a few small pieces to worry about for my son. He is just so quick! I knew by asking that I would get great answers. Thank you all so much!
Fisher-Price makes (or used to) a dollhouse called "My First Family" or "My first dollhouse" which I bought for my daughter a couple of years ago. It's similiar to "The Loving Family" but the pieces are bigger and chunkier and I think it's recommended for 18-months or 2+. My daughter is 3.5-years and she still plays with it. Just thought I'd throw another suggestion out there for you.
I do home daycare and have a couple differnt style play houses that have been great for all ages. Sorry I do not know the names of them-Garage sales/Thrift shop finds
Are you thinking of the traditional doll house with all the "Barbie" sized decorations-lamps,cups & plates, furnature and things? - for some kids playing make-beleive with those are the best part; How about you have her keep thoses in a special bag/box that is placed out of reach when she is not playing with them (You would be the one responisable to make sure they are put away :) )
You would get to play with both of your kids, as well as your oldest could play alone when your youngest is napping/ or playing with something else (for my house that would be coloring/painting/playing with messy stuff in a highchair so I would know when he got down and needed to be watched around the small parts).
I have had this problem, with 7 kids ranging in age from 17-2 it can be very tricky, the only real solution I have is that toys that the baby could choke on be played at the table and all small pieces are kept in a small box seperate from everything else. Can you put a table in the playroom that the baby can't reach? One thing to remember is that you will have to find something similar for him to play with when she is playing with her's. My littlest no longer has to be watched over, but this works in my house.
We love the Little People stuff. Very durable, fine for little ones, and even my 6 and 8 year olds will still plat with it! The best part is that it is incredibly hard to break (mine even sit or stand on the garage one and nothing has ever broken) and you can even use the dishwasher to keep them clean! No little parts for a small one to choke on, and hours of fun. That's all we requested for years and now we can put together a whole town.
Hi,
I have twins that are just now 2 and for Christmas last year I got my daughter the loving family playhouse. The toys are big enough that we have not had any problems with it, and she absolutely loves playing with it. They make doll houses that also have bigger toys with them too. If she can't keep the small toys away from her little brother then put the small accessories away until she is responsible for them. Check out Amazon.com they have huge toy selections that could give you an idea of what to do. Good Luck and Enjoy Christmas :)
My kids love Little People. Very few small parts. They have doll houses. There is also other very age appropiate toys from Fisher Price and Little Tikes. Also you could just remove all the really small parts and save them for later. Or let her play with them when he is napping and clean them up when he is done.
She could play with it in her room. I doubt he'll be interested in it for very long anyway. Otherwise, just during nap time or while the little one is otherwise occupied. We have toys like that, and we do occasionally let the little one play with something and tell the older one it's only for the little one right now, but he may play with ______ which he wouldn't otherwise get to play with. That usually works well. Ours are also 3 years apart.
When my son was an infant my daughter got the Fisher Price loving family dollhouse, it was awesome! It had very few small parts, the ones they had I just put away for a year or so. She loved it, it was so much fun for her and when her brother got older he played with it! You can have family add to the rooms, accessories for it too.
I had the same issues with my kids three years apart, all polly pocket stuff, little pet shop stuff ,barbie shoes were put away until my son grew out of putting stuff in his mouth.
I also did let her have the little stuff to the dollhouse when my son was napping or gave her some space with a baby gate on the playroom so she had her own time to play in there.
Also Little Tikes has the greatest stuff, most of it very durable and I honestly don't go by age groups, most 1 year old toys won't be used in six months. I was careful about if it had small pieces but if you are close by and keep an eye on them I had no problems with any of the toys my daughter had. My son wanted a Ken doll at 18 mos so he could play Barbies with my daughter! :)
Fisher price and Little Tikes though they say ages 3 and up most of this stuff is okay. Use your judgement.
Baby toys were a waste of money with my son completely.
He just didn't play with that much of it and would rather play with his sister. The Little People stuff is really fun for them, age appropriate for them both.
Good luck.
The My Loving Family house (Fisher Price) doesn't seem to have too small of pieces. I let my 14 month old twins play with it, but they aren't really into putting things in their mouths. There is also one that is called my first doll house that has NO small parts. You could get her something like that. (As I am writing this, of course my son just put marbles in his mouth,LOL)
