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Help me find great toys to keep my toddler occupied


plain jane
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My toddler's all time favorite toy is the Tupperware shape sorter. LOVES this toy and will play with it for up to an hour at a time without getting up to do anything else. :thumbup: I am looking for similarly engaging toys that this one might enjoy so I can have some more quiet time for homeschooling the older kids. I have not been able to find anything else that holds this one's attention like the shape sorter does, but sadly, the fascination is slowly waning. :scared: Help!

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I have no experience with this, but if he likes puzzles he might like this:http://www.finewoodentoys.com/product/PKTYPSSQ .

 

One of mine really liked hammers at a young age - but that wouldn't get you quiet.

 

Dd3 likes to write on scrap paper.

 

Do you have a train table?

 

Yes, I have a train table but the trains and tracks don't seem to hold any attention. Blocks don't seem to either. The only thing so far has been the shape sorter. :huh:

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My younger really likes toy foods that can be cut. They're wooden or plastic and the pieces are stuck together with velcro. He "cuts" them, but he also likes to pull them apart, stick pieces together, sort the food, and so on. It keeps him occupied at our dining room table for pretty long stretches at a time.

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By age 2, my kids did well with little Montessori activities like stringing beads on a pipecleaner, using non sharp tweezers to transfer cotton balls, putting toothpicks into the holes in a shaker lid to an empty spice jart, that type of thing. Pinterest and the Montessori blogs have lots of great ideas for those. You could also look into sensory boxes filled with rice or different shapes of pasta (dyed or undyed). Scooping, spooning, pouring, etc.

 

edited to add: my 2 year old likes when I draw a picture with the colored pencils. I let him go over the picture with a paint brush and water, so it is kind of like a DIY paint with water.

 

I picked this up when DS2 was about 2 yo and he likes it. I think it was really cheap one year around the holidays. http://www.amazon.co...t/dp/B003AP4JPE

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Yes, I have a train table but the trains and tracks don't seem to hold any attention. Blocks don't seem to either. The only thing so far has been the shape sorter. :huh:

 

Have you tried puzzles?

My shape sorter boy also liked puzzles. Started with the kinds with knobs and then quickly progressed through the levels.

He also liked this gear toy that made too much noise :( But it was plastic with 10 gears that, when you turned the knob, all intermeshed.

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My DD is just getting into playing with toys quite a bit (she's 15 months), and right now she just loves flipping through board books.

 

We also have a gear thing (not sure if it's the one listed above, but yes, it is loud) and she really likes that. I just wish I could buy more gears for it. http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Playskool-Busy-Gears/dp/B000BCEJ86

 

I don't have this toy, but I want to get it soon: http://www.amazon.com/Buckle-Toy-Buster-the-Square/dp/B0043G4JOA/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1360101980&sr=1-3&keywords=buckles

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A favorite here was an under the bed type bin with dried beans. It's like an indoor sandbox. I would put it on top of a sheet for easy clean up. Then give him lots of measuring cups, spoons, bottles, cookie cutters....

It kept him occupied for hours every single time.

We also had a smaller one with taller sides that had dry rice in it. This was much more messy.

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My DD is just getting into playing with toys quite a bit (she's 15 months), and right now she just loves flipping through board books.

 

We also have a gear thing (not sure if it's the one listed above, but yes, it is loud) and she really likes that. I just wish I could buy more gears for it. http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/B000BCEJ86

 

I don't have this toy, but I want to get it soon: http://www.amazon.co...eywords=buckles

 

That's the gear toy I was talking about!

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Our youngest was a major shape sorter guy, the others had no interest. He is now a great puzzle guy (3yo who loves 100 pc puzzles). Listed here are his favorite toys, and a few the bigger kids liked. I agree with the gear toy. Also magformers with or without wheels, lauri toys shape and color sorter (peg type game), peg board, Imaginets, Quercetti Fantacolor junior pegboard, Design and Drill (our three year old loves it but younger may need help) we have the regular kit but the take along kit looks even better, Melissa and Doug shape sorter sequence, Laugh and Learn Piggy bank (huge favorite!), and Oreo matchin' middles game.

This will probably sound weird but we got the Leap Frog Learn to Read Phonics desk but took the batteries out, our youngest loved to put the letters in and out, like a puzzle.

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