Favorite natural young toddler toys?

[KLM99]

I think my 14mo is ready for some new things to play with.  We never got many baby toys because he's been mainly interested in stuff from the kitchen, water bottles, etc.  What are/were your young toddler's favorite things to play with? 

[tzs]

#1 is the riding toy. they make wooden ones or classic/radio flyer versions.

for some reason she loves that barrel of monkeys game. she plays with the container and taking the monkeys in and out.

and i guess the toy piano.

[Abraisme]

My 15mo loves her..

Toy shopping cart with fruits and veggies

Riding toy

Shape sorting toys

Play cellphone

Bead frame

Trampoline or any toy to bounce on.

Toy cars or anything with wheels

Balls

Wooden puzzles

Toy instruments, drums, recorders, etc.

I'm really close to buying/building her a play kitchen as well.

[JudiAU]

My 15m likes the Wonderworld posting house shape sorter, stacking cups (plastic, but made in Germany) http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/forbaby/toysforbabiesandtoddlers/bathandwater/nestingstackerfromspielstabil,

a ball track, and "walking" elephants (we have a different brand but there are various, plan toys makes one now), a ball pounding set from plan toys, finger puppets, baby doll, stacking rings, art supplies. She also really likes musical instruments. We have some from plan toys and nova natural.

I just posted about the Italtrikes on sale at overstock.com These are the only push bikes that are not made in China that I could find. (If you care about that.)

[AKislandgirl]

Play silks! They get used every day in my house

[texmati]

My 14 month old likes...

old purses, cardboard boxes, eyeglass cases-- anything that will open and close.

ice on a high chair tray.

stacking cups/rings

alpha bet blocks

dirt.

[Mal85]

Originally Posted by AKislandgirl 

Play silks! They get used every day in my house

DD has loved playsilks from a really young age. She has: run around the house with one over her head like a ghost, wraps them around her  baby dolls, pretends they are diapers for baby doll, had me wrap it around her to wear her baby doll, wraps up toys in them to carry around, etc. Silks get used more than anything else around here.

Also:

- Lego Duplos, we tried wooden blocks too, but these are her favorite to build with

- Baby dolls

- A bead maze, like this

- board books

- Any kind of ball

- push/pull toys

- riding toy

[ellemenope]

Here are some ideas that have worked for us:

Playsilks~  http://www.atoygarden.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1114&CFID=6688731&CFTOKEN=a977467a23f59140-7E78309E-D61C-E357-D86A61873C4153CC

Yes, these are played with EVERYDAY.  They are used to create scenes (water, land, lava), dress-up (including castes), and wrapping baby dolls up.

Holztiger wooden animals~  http://www.rosiehippo.com/c-82-Wooden_Gift_Sets.aspx

You can buy them as a set, or you can buy them individually.  These are pricey, but they make great little gifts for any occasion.  These will be played with for YEARS.   We started out with forest animals, have added a bunch of 'ponies', bunnies for easter, and we will be adding a bear family and some farm animals this Christmas.

Fagus Unimog Truck~  http://www.carlandme.com/fagus.html

This is a well made little wooden truck.  It is loaded up with everything these days.  That withstanding, DD received this NiC minivan:  http://www.carlandme.com/nic1812.html for Halloween and she LOVES it.  It is biger and heavier than the Fagus.  She also loves the little people that come with it, especially these little guys we also gave her:  http://www.carlandme.com/nic1804.html

Wooden kitchen~  http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53170-Silver-Retro-Kitchen/dp/B001KVCAFQ  (although, we bought this last year for $99)

We needed a compact wooden kitchen with lots of storage and this fit the bill perfectly for us.  This is played with EVERYDAY.  Most important are the accesories.  Check out http://www.palumba.com/category/kitchen_accessories/69/  for great play food and accessories.  Also, we have gotten many treasures from ETSY.com in this department.

Wooden Train set~ http://www.amazon.com/Babys-First-Jungle-Train-Set/dp/B001C63BQ6

We got this set for DD who had very little interest in trains at 18 months.  She loved the animals, but did not start building track and puting the train on the tracks until close to 24 months.  We got one extension set of track and that is all we really need to satisfy her train needs. 

Kathe Kruse Gugguli doll~  http://www.blueberryforest.com/kathe_kruse/kathe-kruse-gugguli-dolls.htm

DD has a special bond with this little Gnome.

Haba blocks~  http://www.moolka.com/jzv/prod/583/Haba/Toys/Baby+Toys/Baby+Blocks/Fantasy+Blocks?p=YzE9ODU=

These are awesome.  A great beginner block set.  The quality of these blocks are UNBELIEVABLE.  Then we added these:  http://www.moolka.com/jzv/prod/206/Haba/Toys/Building+Toys/Wooden+Blocks/Starter+Building+Blocks%2C+Large?p=YzE9ODU=  DD plays with her blocks almost everyday.  She only started building with them at 18 months.  DH and I love them.

http://www.barclaywoods.com/KitPics07/BegA_Firsts_07.htm  These are probably the gold standard, but we have been really happy with HABA and there are so many options to add.

ABC blocks from Uncle Goose~  http://www.downtoearthtoys.com/Toddler-Toys/ABC-Blocks-p233.html

These are simply the best ABC blocks out there.  They are bigger and better.  And, they come in many different languages.  DD learned her letters looking at these.

For Christmas this year DD (28 months) is getting from everyone:

A couple of these Creamobil Vario Houses:  http://www.carlandme.com/nic1891.html

A Tea Set:  http://www.novanatural.com/toys/tea-set_2

A mini doll Ergo:  http://www.babyviva.com/show_product/999513-7532?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=999513-7532

And a pentatonic glockenspiel:  http://www.novanatural.com/auris-pentatonic-glockenspiel

Her stocking will be filled with some rocks, geodes, crystals, a couple of bugs in lucite, some wooden animals, A winter outfit for her Corolle Baby, and Big Baby from Toystory. (http://www.amazon.com/Story-Deluxe-Baby-Collectible-Figure/dp/B0030E5R56)

And she will be getting a ton of books.