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What toys do your kids REALLY use??

5K views 88 replies 76 participants last post by  Hu Xiaoqi 
#1 ·
As the holidays are approaching, it occurs to me how many gifts I've bought that my kids never really used. (And we're talking quality stuff here!) I realize there's a huge difference among kids, but thought it might be fun to make a quick list of what things my kids HAVE actually used. I'm including the age, too.

DS (now 6)
-- Bob the Builder die-cast vehicles (2-3)
-- Playdoh with various "tools" (2-4)
-- Matchbox-style cars (2-5)
-- Automoblox (3-5)
-- Magnatiles (3-5)
-- Puzzles (2-6)
--Legos (5-6)
--PLaykitchen with food (1-3)
-- Action figures/superheroes (3-6)
-- Wii and Nintendo DS (4-6)
-- Balance bike (3-5)
-- Plan City garage (3)
-- Playmobil 1-2-3 sets (3-6)
-- Board and card games (3-6)

DD (now 3)
-- Babies (mostly Corolle, including high chair and baby bed) (1-3)
-- playkitchen with food (1-3)
-- Calico Critters (2-3)
-- Dollhouse with family (3)
-- Playdoh with various "tools" (2-3)
-- Crafty stuff (2-3)
-- stuffed animals (2-3)
--Puzzles (2-3)
-- Balance bike (3)
-- Playmobil 1-2-3 sets (1-3)
-- Books (1-3)

Man, I could have saved myself a TON of money on things like wooden trains, Fagus trucks and dress-up that my kids don't really use. Ah well. Live and learn! Hopefully I'll be wise when shopping this Christmas.

-e
 
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#52 ·
DS almost 5- Play-doh, Matchbox/hotwheels cars, airplanes, rescue vehicles, coloring books/crayons, balls, outside toys (bike, basketball hoop) nerf gun *duck*

DD almost 2- Play doh, baby dolls, dress up shoes, purse, mega blocks, ride on toys, books, crayons/coloring books, stickers

DD is harder, she rarely plays with her toys, just packs them around but those are her favorite. She will actually put Mega Blocks together and scoot around on ride on toys. Stickers she just puts all over herself.
 
#53 ·
I'm not really surprised that (some) kids prefer plastic toys to wooden. Kids are little, remember - wood is heavy! When I worked at a kindergarten the kids preferred the plastic trucks because they could skim easily over the "roads" in he sandpit. Wooden trucks were cumbersome to lift, got stuck and "snowed in" in the sand, hurt when you threw 'em and were generally just a bit unwieldy.

I'm all for the picturesqueness of wooden toys, but the plastic versions are often just a lot more user-friendly (and kids don't tend to care if their toy shelf is in beautiful neutrals and looks artistic... sadly!). Heck, I do the same - I bought lovely heavy ceramic mixing bowls, but half the time I just grab the nasty plastic mixing bowl that came with our wedding-gift kitchen scales. Because it's easier and lighter and I'm phenomenally lazy.
 
#54 ·
I used to have a home daycare. I had a TON of toys. About 6 months ago, I got rid of everything. Seriously. I only kept the baby doll stuff, dress up stuff, wooden kitchen set and play food and various sets of blocks. We have wooden, cardboard, and a few sizes of Lego/Duplo blocks. That is it. And a MILLION books and craft supplies. My kids are happier and so am I. It takes us less than 5 minutes to clean up. They are using the blocks creatively and they play with them more often. All in all though, I could honestly get rid of all toys and my kids would be fine. They aren't big into toys.
 
#55 ·
DS 9 loves legos, nascar (matchbox sized cars), art supplies - he is learning to cross stitch, books, nintendo ds and games, thats about it... Maybe on a good day he will ride his bike or scooter or play with his r/c car.

We have tons of board games that go unused and puzzles that sit dusty.

This year for xmas DS asked for LEGOS... Crocs, art supplies and books
 
#56 ·
DD is 27.5 mo. I try to rotate the toys so as to keep them "fresh." DD seems to really enjoy everything listed...

*Animal figurines

*Cars!!! These are DD's current fave!

*Little People

*Caring for her stuffed animals

*Reading/being read to

*Drawing

*Phone, wallet & keys in her little handbag

*Stacking/nesting cups (DD has enjoyed these since she was a little babe)

*Radio Flyer Scoot About (she also has a RF balance bike for later). Some additional outside toys include a little pool, soccer ball and bucket w/ shovel.

We are planning on getting her either a dollhouse (w/ furniture and figurines) or a play kitchen (w/ wooden and felt food, dishware and cookware) for Christmas.

DD also spends a good amount of time playing with non-toys!
 
#57 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Cascadian View Post
I know...crazy, huh. When DD1 was born, I researched the heck out of every toy (um, micromanage much?
) and went for lots of uber-expensive wooden toys, and stuff I thought they'd like because, you know, it increased gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination and pattern recognition...

Blah..

I'll give some credit to multinational toy corps...they do their homework. Focus groups, focus groups, focus groups. Maybe, in the end, the reason the toys are so successful is not all about the spin-off cartoons and related acessories...but maybe the stuff's actually FUN!?!?


Yeah, I can't tell you how many wooden helicopters and wooden trucks and wooden everything I ended up getting rid of because my kids never liked it, and always wanted the plastic version that did more. They never cared about the playsilks either. They wanted stuff that beeped and "did stuff."
 
#58 ·
Wii on occasion, but that goes in spurts
Legos almost nonstop. Seriously. The kids room is 98% legos, 1% bed, and 1% clothes.
Computer games
K'nex were huge here for awhile
Matchbox cars-we have about 300 of the bloody things, because DS inherited a ton from his uncles, and from his older cousin.
Bionicle Legos are also a big hit. He's got buckets of bionicle parts, he creates some of the coolest things with them.

When he was younger, the wooden train set was a big hit, we're actually considering selling it now because we've got a ton of pieces/parts. I don't know, I also kind of like having it around. We'll see.

Play Doh was also a big hit. Especially once DS learned how to vacuum up his own crumbs lol.

He also went through a big airplane phase, and a big tractor phase, so we had tons of really nice metal and plastic airplanes around. I've kept a couple, especially his big red one that he pretty much lived with, and the tractors we kept as well because a lot of them are the nice die cast Brio ones.
 
#59 ·
Ds is 3 (September). He mostly plays with match box cars. He has a train set, but mostly it's for cars. LOL. He has one train (Peter Sam) that he really loves, but the rest are hit or miss. And, he has lots of sizes of cars that he plays with (mostly model cars granddad picked up thrifting that have become toys). He likes all of them, but matchbox the best.

He plays with duplos sometimes.

Sometimes colors.

Sometimes, my cooking stuff (an empty pot, a spatula, and a wisk). He has a workbench that he calls his grill.

He plays with a set of plastic tools he has (saw, drill, screwdriver, etc).

In our house, we'd be fine if we only kept books and matchbox cars.
 
#60 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mommy2abigail View Post
I used to have a home daycare. I had a TON of toys. About 6 months ago, I got rid of everything. Seriously. I only kept the baby doll stuff, dress up stuff, wooden kitchen set and play food and various sets of blocks. We have wooden, cardboard, and a few sizes of Lego/Duplo blocks. That is it. And a MILLION books and craft supplies. My kids are happier and so am I. It takes us less than 5 minutes to clean up. They are using the blocks creatively and they play with them more often. All in all though, I could honestly get rid of all toys and my kids would be fine. They aren't big into toys.


I did the same. With my own kids first, firing all the plastic junk into storage. Then when I started the childcare it all came back. For a very brief time
It's all gone now except a few carefully selected plastic toys (gears , waffle blocks, and a few cars and trucks. I kept, and added to our wooden block, wooden animal, dress up, wooden doll furniture, books and art supply collections.
The kids love it. At two years old they're focusing on single 'tasks' like play feeding a doll , lining up and pushing small cars, spinning gears, stacking a tower, scribbling on paper, trying on masks etc....rather than dumping plastic junk all over the floor then leaving it as it's too overwhelming.
Clean up's a breeze too!
 
#61 ·
I have a 7yoDS and a 5yoDD. Here is what they both like:
-Wii/DS/GameCube
-Computer
-Cabbage Patch Kids
-Little People (yes, both STILL!!)
-lego
-paper and crayons/paint (well really, any art supplies)
-dress-up

Unfortunately this stuff overtakes the house as other than the first two items, they have way to much of everything. They aren't getting much for Christmas.
 
#62 ·
I don't think my kids have any toys that they don't use regularly. I don't think they have enough that they can really be that choosy
.

Some of my almost 4 year old's faves:
  • Stuffed animals
  • Playsilks
  • Arts and crafts stuff, especially paint
  • Musical instruments
  • Balls
  • Her fairies and treehouse
  • Playfood and kitchen accessories (even more so than the play kitchen itself)
  • Blocks (apparently she is an oddball
    )
  • Dress ups
  • Legos
  • Cars
  • Playmobil 1-2-3 stuff
  • Her collection of what most people would consider junk that came from goodie bags, the dentist's "prize box," and Chick-fil-A kid's meals
Some of my recently turned one year old's faves:
  • His Uglydoll
  • Balls
  • Blocks
  • Yogurt containers
  • Musical instruments
  • My keys
  • Anything his sister, his dad, or I have
  • Anything he is not supposed to have
ETA - and they both LOVE their sand and water table
 
#64 ·
My boys are 3.75 and 6.75.
They love:
-Legos
-Wii
-stuffed animals
-Schleich (plastic) animals
-dress-up clothes
-outdoor stuff-- basketball hoop, balls of all types, bikes, scooters, sleds, rollerblades
-dollhouse (out of favor now, but was my oldest's favorite toy at 3)
 
#67 ·
DS will be 3 in December

Toy blocks
Toy trains
Fridge magnets
Guitar
Toy trains
Golf clubs and balls
Bouncing balls
Stacking cups
Hand drums
Balloons
Paper towel rolls and empty soda bottles
Flashlight and glowsticks

At the toy store he loves:

Big wheels (or other ride-on toys)
Elmo Live
The toy you push that has popping balls
 
#68 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Smokering View Post
Heck, I do the same - I bought lovely heavy ceramic mixing bowls, but half the time I just grab the nasty plastic mixing bowl that came with our wedding-gift kitchen scales. Because it's easier and lighter and I'm phenomenally lazy.

OMG, this SO hits the nail on the head for me! My heavy mixing bowls are beautiful too, but just thinking about having to lug them out, wrestle them in the dishwasher, and put them away again... I always reach for the plastic ones too! I also blame it on my own laziness.

I think you're on to something about the weight of wooden toys for little ones... if they are hard to lift, they aren't going to be played with very much.
 
#69 ·
My DD plays with all of her stuff, even mixing different types of toys, like painting her myponies or attacking her schleick model animals with her fathers old jurassic park dinosaurs. And she has way too much stuff. My MIL and my DHs grandmother do garage sales and my DH kept all his dinosaurs and star-trek toys. Oh, the schleick model animals love riding in the back of the shuttle craft when they're not hanging around the geotrax train and tracks.

Outside we have balls, a sandbox, basketball hoop, bike and lots of leaves.
 
#70 ·
DD is almost 4. She rarely plays with her toys and she has a ton of them. She does play with these things:

playsilks
books
balls
wooden puzzles
dress-up
jewelry
art supplies
little people
board games
floor puzzles
magna doodle
poingo

From 2-3 she played with:

play kitchen
wooden blocks
balls
playsilks
wooden instruments
dolls
wooden trainset
aqua doodle
cars
leap pad
 
#71 ·
subbing to a fabulous thread so I can come back and post as well.

I will say in the meantime that this thread has helped me to choose a better toy from my return/exhange with Magic Cabin. all of a sudden all those "cool" wow gotta have em's have a different appeal (or not)
 
#72 ·
Great thread!


My DD is 2.5
--- arts & crafts (scissors, glue, painting etc.)
--- imaginarium train set
--- various puzzles
--- ballet music, tutu, slippers etc...
--- wooden barn with animals
--- Cranium bingo game
--- wooden kitchen & accessories DH built
--- Polly Pocket
--- Books
--- Flashlights
--- Wooden Blocks
 
#73 ·
DS is 2.5
Books
wooden puzzles
maracas/tambourine/keyboard/bells/drums - if it makes music, he's there
shape sorter (both the easy baby one and the harder 4 sided wooden one)
fridge letters
play food
little people figures (we have the barn, the dollhouse, an airplane, and a Christmastime-only nativity set)

Not so much into (but still pulls out occasionally)
dolls and stuffed animals
crayons
play-dough
train set
cars
blocks (duplos or wooden)
 
#75 ·
Ever since he was about 5, Dylan has consistantly asked for one thing for Christmas and birthday--Legos/Bionicles. He doesn't care what sets or characters he gets. He is just as happy with duplicates instead of all different sets. He wants the parts the sets contain. He will build the set as pictured only once. Then he will start "improving" it and go one to building originals. One year, that's all he got for Christmas. I think it was something like 13 Bionicle sets. He was thrilled.
 
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