[lovemyfamily6]

I think our kids may be outgrowing a lot of their toys. They just don't play with them a lot anymore. Things they do play with a lot are Playmobil people (we have sets too, but they mostly dismantle them and just play with the people), cars, trains, magna tiles and balls.

My oldest will be 7 in two months and I think we'll get him some Legos. We have lots of other toys, but they're put away because they don't play with them very much when they are out either.

All the toys we have are:

magna tiles
cars
trains/tracks
balls
planet heroes
lincoln logs
musical instruments
mr. potato heads
dinosaurs
animals
playmobil vehicles
playmobil people
playmobil dollhouse
playmobil pirate island
kitchen toy w/dishes for four
miscellaneous toys like cameras, tops, superman, binoculars, geosafari talking telescope

Things that are always out are:

playmobil people
miscellaneous toys
magna tiles
balls

We rotate one or two or three of the others. Right now I think we have three- musical instruments, animals, pirate island.

Are there other things that 5-7 year old's like that we don't have? Do we have too much out at once still?

 

[tuck]

My son plays with his trains ( brio and geotrax) and wooden blocks a lot. We have these http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo...es/viewall.jsp and some extras, too...window blocks, little people, etc. He also uses large playcloths to build forts under the table. Together we use Quadrilla as its too tough for him to set up what he wants. He still loves his hot wheels cars and track, too. He'll be six next month.

 

[Ruthla]

That looks to me like a LOT of toys to have out at once, but then again maybe you have more space for toys than we do.

DS mostly plays with his matchbox sized cars.

 

[lovemyfamily6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lberk My son plays with his trains ( brio and geotrax) and wooden blocks a lot. We have these http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo...es/viewall.jsp and some extras, too...window blocks, little people, etc. He also uses large playcloths to build forts under the table. Together we use Quadrilla as its too tough for him to set up what he wants. He still loves his hot wheels cars and track, too. He'll be six next month.

I'll have to look up Quadrilla to see what that is. What are playcloths and where do you get those? Are the geotrax compatible with brio? We have Thomas, but I think Brio is compatible with Thomas wooden tracks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruthla That looks to me like a LOT of toys to have out at once, but then again maybe you have more space for toys than we do.

I just want to make sure to clarify that it's not that entire list out at once, those are all the toys we own.

 

[boysrus]

My boys who play with toys are 7 and 10. The only toys we have are Legos and Knex. Oh, and we have some outdoor toys and swords (plastic ones). pretty much, they are building, drawing, reading, or running around outside or making up games.

 

[CariOfOz]

I have a 4.5 & 6.5yo (plus the 2yo but his fave toy is bowls from the kitchen cabinet lol) and their favorite things are:

• LEGOS.. can't have too many
• the costume collection (capes, different hats & shirts)
• the art/craft cupboard (they get free reign as long as the glue stays under control .. all paints washable watercolours
• plastic dinos
• the great 'rocket' toy set their uncle got their baby brother for his 2nd bday!

Geez.. now I'm wondering just WHY I have all that other stuff in the playroom??? lol

 

[PumpkinSeeds]

bionicles
legos
playmobile

But mostly they beg to go outside and ride their bikes.

 

[SAHDS]

From your list, DS plays mostly with:

Dinosaurs/animals and other miscellaneous creatures

balls - tennis balls, soccer balls, basketballs, baseballs and footballs.

DS also loves to be outside with the dog, swimming or playing a sport.

 

[TwinMom]

We have a lot of toys that I'm constantly paring down. What the boys play with most often are Legos, dressup costumes, Brio/Thomas train sets, remote control cars, swords/shields/light sabers, Star Wars toys, Hot Wheels tracks & cars.

 

[jennlyn]

Playmobil was always a big favorite here- though they are expensive, they are great for play value. My boys played with them for a long time. One of my boys really liked legos,but not necessarily making the "set-up" that each box contains. He preferred to make his own creations. They didn't like the K-nex sets, Lincoln logs were just ok and the Brio/Thomas thing goes by the wayside as they get a bit older. I think the big attraction with Playmobil was all the little bits that go along with them- they are intricate and the possibilities are endless. One of the boys loves Tech Decks (little mini-skateboards ) which he collects and plays with.

 

[rachelagain]

My boys have always played with duplos the most- they still do (http://asidefromfood.blogspot.com/) When they were around your kids age, that's all we got them for bdays/xmas for a while. Now they have a big muck bucket full of duplos.
They also play with legos, bionicles, and "weapons" (light sabers, nerf guns, etc) other than that I allow 10 toys each and the only stuffed animals have to stay on their bed.
If they are given other toys, they still only play with the ones they can "transform" into their own creations.
Lincoln logs weren't exciting- but the boys like building robots/soldiers/castles, etc.
When paring down, I basically just went for stuff that they could imagine with- if the toy was too specific and they couldn't use their imagination, they never played with it.

 

[Thystle]

Bionicles are the one thing mine would burst into flames without.

He has already stated that if the house burned down he would save as many Bionicles as possible.

 

[Rebecca]

Toys my kids can't live without in decending order of importance:

The computer (seriously, they take right after us)
Video games

:
Marble track building toys
Magnet toys
Art supplies
Legos
King/knight/sword/castle toys (the 4.5 yr old)
Board games (to play with us)
Puzzles (if we do them with them)

 

[annakiss]

I can't believe Lego isn't everyone's first pick. I thought that's what all 5-7 yo boys play with because that's all the ones I know do.

Lego
art supplies
costumes
action figures

 

[Thystle]

Lego makes the Bionicles.

 

[TexasSuz]

Oh, my Ds would love some magna tiles. Are you interested in selling yours? He loves to build with anything!

 

[zinemama]

Legos.

I think my boys (5 and 8) wouldn't blink if every toy in the house vanished overnight, as long as their legos were left. They are endlessly creative with them.

 

[lucyem]

My 6 yr old lives for Legos & Bionicles
Not to mention Transformers are big
He has some Playmobil but was not playing with it so we packed it away and will pull it out after we move
He loved his Leapster but it broke
Matchbox cars
Star Wars Monopoly

 

[lovemyfamily6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thystle Bionicles are the one thing mine would burst into flames without.

How do those work? They looked complicated when I looked at them in the store. My friend's boy loved those though. Are they good for a 7 year old (thinking ahead for his birthday). Do they have tons of little pieces that won't work if they aren't kept with that particular guy (vehicle? whatever they are

)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasSuz Oh, my Ds would love some magna tiles. Are you interested in selling yours? He loves to build with anything!

No, we still LOVE magna tiles. The boys use them almost every day and build things for their other toys (Planet Hero houses, garages for the cars, etc). We were buying them for birthdays and Christmas, 32 in a set for $55 at our local educational toy store. My friend told me that you can get 100 of them on Amazon for a much better price. I actually enjoy building with them too. You should definitely get some!

Thanks everyone for your input. I appreciate it. I think we're going to try keeping out people, planet heroes, legos (which we'll get in October), dinosaurs/animals, cars and magna tiles. We can rotate a couple things like the train set, plan roadway, dollhouse, pirate island, but the other stuff we'll just put away until the little guy is older.

Regarding Legos, do you have to have a lego surface to build on? We had a lego table a long time ago for littler kids but don't have it anymore. I'd rather not buy more furniture (like the big lego table) but someone told me I really need to have a lego surface for them to build on. I don't remember my brother having that but he wasn't hugely into lego's, so who knows.

Also, if he does happen to get into Bionicles, do those need to be stored separately or do they go with Lego?

 

[annakiss]

Just in case you all didn't know, the plural of Lego is Lego. ahem.