I would like to hear from other moms on what toys your young toddler enjoys playing with the most? any particular toys that your toddler absoluetly loves that has surprised you? Also how do you plan their activities daily that will also help them learn and develop new skills, expand their vocabulary. Do you spend a lot of time playing with them or do they play on their own mostly?
Here's what my 19 month old enjoys the most, He has this ABCD block toy - the kind where you match the alphabet on the wooden slate with the right lettered block that fits in the groove. He loves it! I got it for just 3 dollars at walmart , and he spends a lot of time matching those alphabets. I can't beleive how much he likes this one compared to other expensive toys lying all over the house. He has lost one alphabet block for letter 'H' and everytime points to that letter and asks me to search for the block. So cute. I had another similar one for shapes but that was a smaller with just 4 blocks and he didn't care for it much.
He loves crayons and coloring with them. He does play with legos , playdough(I make it at home , non-toxic) but they don't hold his attention for very long. It might be because I am not creative enough to teach him new things to do with those.I have him put legos one on top of the other to make a big block- boring! yesterday I was trying to make a long line of legos and all of a sudden he said choo-choo(train) and started playing with it. I really need to get more creative :) I feel he has reached a age where I need to buy him toys that make him think, use his imagination.
He loves his books , spends lot of time looking at them, lifting flaps, recognizing animals etc .Loves to play with his ball, ride along toy etc. I am thinking of buying a tricycle for him this weekend. While I am at the store I would like to pick up few other simple but entertaining toys for him. He asks for a lot of interaction these days. He does play by himself but sometimes he also wants me to sit and play with him and gets excited when I teach him something new. I am wondering what else can we do together other than coloring, legos etc ?? I am wondering what other toys I can buy for him?
He does a lot of crafts at daycare , so I tried making a snowman at home.Got the readymade pack with cut-out shapes but I ended up making it. He was more interested playing with the glue stick, opening the cap and putting it back on.
oh and these days if he gets bored playng with the same old toys, he pulls down his pants and tries to put it back on. I need to come up with some ideas before he starts pulling down his diapers .. :))
Moms, please share what toys your toddler loves playing with and activities they enjoy. thanks!
Lawn mower, shopping cart, stroller.
If he is pulling down his pants, it's time to introduce the potty!
My son always loved puzzles and flashcards. At 2 he got his first train set (we went with the Chuggington ones, Thomas just annoyed M.) he loved it then and still does now (3 1/2) and I love it because we can always buy new accessories and track to keep it fun. He also loved the Playschool garage and cars. Blocks have always been a big hit - he loves to build big towers and houses with windows.
My daughter is 26 months now. Loves colors, flashcards, all kinds of puzzles, blocks for building and sorting things. She will spend hours transferring blocks from one container to another, separating by shape or color.
As far as new things, the dollar store has fun felt cut outs that the kids both love to color and paint, and stick stickers on to decorate. They also both are into building forts and hideouts now.
Don't worry so much about imagination - anything you do with him he will have fun with. It's more about being on his level and interacting with him.
A play kitchen can hold a toddler's attention for a really long time and will last for years. My son got one at 18 months and still likes it 3 years later. A train table is also a great gift and something they can use for a long time. Both will let them use their imagination and be creative.
My son also loved playing with cars at that age and really liked the Fisher Price Little People Garage.
Check out my Discovery Toys page, too. The toys are great and they come with a bunch of suggestions for different activities, including many that will grow with him as he gets older. Measure Up Cups and Giant Pegboard are both fantastic. They will last for years, they come with great activity guides, and (like all our toys), they come with a lifetime warranty. Playful Bath Shapes and the Discovery Fun Playhouse will also both give him a lot of opportunities to be creative.
You can view all of my toys at http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao
Happy Holidays!
My 2.5 year old son loves his fake plastic pots/pans/plate/cups/food. Really really loves them. When I first bought it, I didn't know how much he would play with it b/c he's really into stereotypically boy toys (cars are his faves, trains, blocks, etc.). He was never into even the stuffed animals for example. But from day one, he has loved his food toys. I think it's because I interact with him as we play. I got the ones that you can "slice" (it's food cut into pieces and velcroed together). You'd be amazed at how real the slicing feels and sounds. So we cook dinner together and then he serves M. and dad or sometimes, his car toys. So cute and educational! He names all the foods we have - avocado, eggplant, etc. Great buy :)
My daughter loves little people stuff, and playmobile - expensive both, but they are the most played with toys at our house
I just thought today that my kids didn't even really play with toys until they were about 2. This was as I watched the 13 month old crawl through the bars on my dining room table like a jungle gym! The oldest liked the play kitchen at about that age. I let my kids play on their own w/o M. involved hardly at all.
The best toy is one that they haven't seen in awhile. Take any toys he isn't into now, and hide them. When he gets bored rotate those toys in and put away the ones he has gotten tired of.
My son is also 19 months old and sounds a lot like yours, from your post! His favorite toy is one his grandma pulled out of the attic that was his dad's toy when he was younger. It was a Little People Main Street toy. I looked it up on Ebay - vintage they call it (well, that makes M. feel old!). It has lots of things to do on it - such as driving the cars on the ramps, delivering mail into the doors of the different shops, putting people in and out of the firehouse, etc. We tried to look for similar toys (anything that was a bit more intricate and had multiple things to fiddle with on it) but nothing captures him like Main Street. Oh, he also loves putting the People on his fingers and playing with them. I can't tell you how many hours this kid has played with this toy! You could check for it on Ebay, but I think they make similar modern day ones - in my opinion, NEVER as good as the old school ones.
Other favorites: Weebles Treehouse, train table, and his ride on toy.
