I have no idea what to get my VERY active 21 month old boy for Christmas. He already has balls, cars/trucks, an indoor climber/slide and tent, and a kitchen (his sisters's old toys). He LOVES vehicles, dogs, and horses. Does anyone have any good ideas for toys and books for me to give to his grandparents? (By the way, he also loves wearing his sister's princess shoes and costumes and playing with her babies, etc!)
My nephew loves his fire fighter and doctor costumes...a dr's kit is fun, too.
For books:
Cars, Trucks and Things that Go (by Richard Scarry)
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Usborne Books on Trucks
Toys:
Mega Blocks or Duplos (fun for building)
A boy doll is an idea as well as masculine dress-up clothes. You don't need to spend a lot on a toddler. As a Christian, you might check Christian bookstores or the Armor of God dress-up set. My grandsons loved this - there's a sword, chest armor etc., all in small sizes.
Hi A.,
Since your little guy likes to dress up - how about boy dress ups?? I just saw several things at Meijer today: fire fighter, carpenter, doctor, to name a few..there is always old costumes or hats too. I have a 3 year old and he loves his small assortment of items. Another thing that your little guy might like is a little age appropraite tool set or work bench. Or perhaps tractors. Books you might consider are things like "Machines at Work" or factual books about cars, trucks, boats...they can be found at any book store (even in the bargain section) and they help broaden vocabulary as well as getting him familiar with these types of books - his 4th grade teacher will thank you. :-) Hope some of these suggestions work. Good luck!
You could suggest more costumes.....they make train engineers, firemen, etc. (my mom even made pirate and cowboy costumes when my son was 2 and decorated a copy paper box to put them in). He is almost ready for wooden train sets (I started my son on Thomas for his second birthday). For books there's the Chika Chika Boom Boom alphabet and numbers books.
For my sons 2nd Birthday one of my Aunts/Uncles bought him a "toy" he rarely puts down and he's 3-1/2!!! He calls it his ABC game. You can find it at Target. I wish I could give you a better description but...it's about $22, it's red, and it has about 10 games on the side ranging from counting to learning phonics to a clock, etc. The clock is in the upper left. The letters light up and it has a song for every letter which he's really enjoying right now. I want to say it's Fisher Price, I tried to find the link for you but I couldn't. It's great for trips, especially at night cuz you can see all the lights lighting up.
Good Luck!
My son plays with blocks and cars sll day long! He also got a toolbench and loves "fixing" everything. My in-laws got him those big cardboard blocks for Christmas last year, he loves them so much we ordered more for this year. They hold up surprisingly well and I have an in home daycare (we haven't lost a block yet). They're at lillianvernon.com and they were $9.99 each if you bought 2 sets. There's 24 blocks in a set. I'm sure he'll love anything he gets! Happy Holidays!
How about a cowboy outfit with a rocking horse to go with it. Check the second hand stores for the Rocking horse. Our family has managed to purchase four different types of these horses for our two year old and she absolutely loves it. Best of luck to you.
Hi A. --
At the risk of sounding too salesman-like (!), can I recommend Barefoot Books? Barefoot is an independent children's book publisher, and I started selling these beautiful titles about 2 years ago. You can check out my website at http://lorihachenski.barefootbooks.com.
There are quite a few really vibrantly-illustrated paperback books that come with a singalong CD -- so there are no worries about your son trying to sit through the whole book. He can get up and dance! My kids are 2 and 4, and we like The Animal Boogie, Farmyard Jamboree, and Portside Pirates. If he's really into vehicles, check out Magic Train Ride, We All Go Traveling By, and Journey Home from Grandpa's. All those books are $9.99 each with the CD, or there's a brand new one in hardcover called Driving My Tractor (with the singalong CD) for $16.99
Hope this helps! I'm always buying these books for gifts and for my own children.
Good luck!
L.
Have you considered a train table set? Costco has a great one. What about a sandbox table? There are also plastic tunnels that are cool. If he likes pushing the baby doll's stroller, also consider a Leap Frog shopping cart. My son pushes his around all day and it has 10 items to help count, and kids to recognize objects. Since you have 2 kids, I'd also consider a Step 2 Easel. One side is dry erase and the other is chalk. It also has clips to add paper for painting and marker/crayon drawing.
