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If you could only have 5 toys/types of toys for dc ages 1-6, what would they be?

Dianne-TX

By Dianne-TX,
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*Lulu*

*Lulu*

Posted
Posted

Blocks (maybe wooden train)

(ETA- we have autoblocks that our kids love, but are not good for the under 3 group)

 

Dress up/pretend items (play kitchen stuff, costumes, etc)

 

A basket of stuffed animals/dolls

 

Wooden puzzles

 

Good quality animals and figures (i.e. Papo)

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daniela_r

daniela_r

Posted
Posted

What a great topic!

 

1. Duplos.  All 3 of our kids (ages 5 down to 1 1/2) can play happily with Duplos for an extended time.

2. Wooden puzzles.

3. Play food.  We don't have a play kitchen, but our kids still get lots of mileage out of play food +teaset + plastic plates + toy skillet.

4. Baby doll, with some doll clothes, doll bottle, etc., if you have a girl.

5. Dress-up stuff.

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J-rap

J-rap

Posted
Posted

Duplos

Dress-up clothes

Little plastic figurines of some sort, with which to play pretend (I can't tell you how many hours upon hours my kids played with these. They would often make houses, etc., for them with Duplos.)

Crayons/paper

Stuffed animals (even if it's just one special one per child)

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justasque

justasque

Posted
Posted

"Disposable/convertible" toys - blankets taken off of beds to make forts, leaves from the garden to make play food, cardboard boxes to make play houses, pots and utensils from the kitchen to play with, and so on. These can be created, used, and tossed or put back to their usual purpose, thus expanding play possibilities without requiring more "stuff".

 

Beyond that I would have - 
--Blocks, specifically quality wooden unit blocks.  
--"Guys" - toy people of various kinds.  I prefer to avoid licensed characters.
--Art supplies (to color on the cardboard boxes, make props for various pretend scenarios, etc.)

--Costumes, for putting on shows of various kinds

--Wheeled toys, for vehicle-loving kids.
--Games/puzzles
--Lego

OK, that's more than six.  But I think the list would vary depending on the child.  For one of mine, it would be blocks, trains, cars, guys, and LEGO.  For another, it would be blocks, guys and their accessories, games, puzzles, and construction toys.  For another, it would be blocks, toy people, art supplies, costumes, and tools.

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countrygal

countrygal

Posted
Posted

Duplo legos (we have a TON) or another similar versatile building blocks like wooden blocks

 

Cars/tractors

 

Dolls with stroller (ditch the accessories - they lay all over the house!)

 

small box of baby toys (put the shape in the right hole, play phone)

 

play kitchen with food

 

 

 

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mom2bee

mom2bee

Posted
Posted

Blocks (all kinds--wooden, Duplo, click-clacks, etc)

Animal Figures (the quality kind like Schleich)

Ride Ons (Bikes, trikes, scooters, wagon...)

Cardboard (empty boxes, rolls, tubes, etc...)

Outdoor Stuff (Swings, sandbox, teeter-totter, climber, trampoline, etc...)

 

Depending on the kids, I might switch out Animal Figures for Crafty stuff like crayons and paints, but I love the Schleich toys...

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Susan in TX

Susan in TX

Posted
Posted

I have a 5yog and 2yob. I also babysit my 2yo granddaughter. These are the toys that they play with every day:

 

Hot Wheels cars (my son LOVES these. He would be perfectly happy if it was the only toy he had. The girls really like these too.)

Doll Stroller (Dolls optional). The girls like to play with the dolls. My son just loves to race around the house pushing the stroller.

Ride on car

paper and pencils/pens/crayons

ipad

 

Toys that are played with several times a week:

 

blocks

Duplos

farm animals

toy kitchen and dishes

stuffed animals

crawl through tunnel

 

 

Susan in TX

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JFSinIL

JFSinIL

Posted
Posted

either Duplos or wooden blocks  - lots of them!

 

play foods and dishes.  A play kitchen is nice but not mandatory.  Your own muffin tins, small metal pots, etc. can be used, too. 

 

decent cloth tunnel or playhouse (kind you can set up then take or fold back down when done with it.) Sheets over chairs, etc can work, too, instead,

 

toy animals, soft figures, dolls - that sort of thing.

 

crayons, paper, glue sticks - artsy craftsy stuff.  A big roll of cheap newsprint is a blast for coloring, making maps of imaginary places, etc.  Playdough if you can take the mess.

 

If you have a yard - a sand box or corner where they can dig in the dirt - get them a couple Tonka or similar outside items, small shovels, etc and stay out of the way!

 

Large cardboard boxes can be stores, kitchens, forts, etc. etc.

 

ok - that was 7, oops.

 

 

PS I'd see if the local library checks out wooden puzzles, etc (ours does) as how many times can you really make a puzzle before it gets boring. I'd not spend the money on them (get more blocks instead).

 

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BlueTaelon

BlueTaelon

Posted
Posted

Favorites around here have always been:

 

Play silks (even 13 yr old still plays with them, she makes really amazing dresses out of them)

Dress up

Legos/Duplos

new flat boxes (they build huge forts out of them, kinda like building a house of cards)

Kitchen pretend play stuff

 

We've never really done the plastic/breakable toys. I tend to buy the stuff that requires use of imagination:)

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Mango

Mango

Posted
Posted

play scarfs, silks 

 

some sort of blocks

 

mini trampoline

 

Draw Write Now books with a ream of paper and markers. 

 

Montessori kitchenware for pouring, cutting, serving, drinking, napkinsI really like their wooden stuff, but really any of it would be fantastic.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

1. Wooden train set

2. wooden blocks

3. little animals/people/farm (or whatever)

4. dress-up clothes

5. play kitchen, pretend food, especially the food you can "cut" through the velcro

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Cinder

Cinder

Posted
Posted

Toys that both my ds's and dd (she's a real girly-girl) loved are:

 

wooden blocks

wooden train & track set

hot wheels

playdoh

baby pool

 

The boys also loved: legos, lincoln logs, tinker toys.

Dd also loved: art supplies, stuffed animals, playsilks.

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

Posted
Posted

there was a catholic family across the street from me growing up.  they didn't have a lot of toys, but it was the fun house to be at. 

they had:

lego (duplo)

wooden trains

wood blocks

FP little people (or sub playmobil)

sports equipment (mostly baseball.)  the chocolate lab was a great shortstop.

 

 

 I built up a supply of those types of things when the olders were young.  kids love to come here to play because there are plenty of legos trains etc.

 

I also have some board/card games.  (and if I never see another star wars monopoly set it will be too soon.  the kids bought those.) and puzzles.

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Monica_in_Switzerland

Monica_in_Switzerland

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Thanks, everyone! You are so much help and now I get to work on it. I love purging and organizing!

 

And thank you to you- I have been working up the energy to purge and didn't really know where to begin.  Seeing these responses is really helping me narrow down our toys and also make Christmas wish lists at the same time! 

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GSOchristie

GSOchristie

Posted
Posted

I my kids are age 2-6 and I just got rid of all my baby toys, including Little People.  So I will say for tiny ones, keep the Little People :).

 

Legos, my kids never played with Duplos even though we have quite a few, they both went straight to Legos at age 3

 

Playmobil!  If I could only keep one type of toy, it would be Playmobil, there is a such a diverse offering that I have found a set that each of my kids LOVE

 

Imaginext superheroes.  My just turned 4 year old plays with these for at least an hour or two each day, and has for years, he skipped the Little People and went straight to Imaginext

 

Play kitchen, my kids play supermarket/kitchen every day

 

Dolls for Piper, she loves her babies

 

We have pared our toys down to these sets, basically, through a massive toy purge.  I think it would be different for different kids, however, my nephew who is 12 days younger than my son, doesn't like superheroes at all.  He plays with matchbox cars for hours a day, driving them all over the windowsills and furniture, carries them in his pocket, drives them in the car seat and the sandbox.  Jackson wouldn't play with matchbox if I had the coolest track and cars available (which I did, and I got rid of them because they sat in a box).  My nephew also doesn't like blocks of any kind, wooden, Duplos, Legos, but he loves dinosaurs.  My kids never played with wooden blocks, and we had a set of 200 plus a Haba set of 25 really cool ones, I tried to engage them over and over, showed them different ways to play, let them free build, they never really liked them.

 

 

 

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JFSinIL

JFSinIL

Posted
Posted

I thought of something else - keep all cardboard tubes from paper towels, wrapping paper, etc.  With large marbles or Hot Wheels kids can construct all sorts of ramps, tunnels etc. all over a room and send things down the tubes.  I used to do this all over my bedroom as a kid.  Cheap and fun.

 

I agree with others who like Playmobile - we had tons of it - but it can get $$$$ and I think Duplo/Legos are a  better investment if money/space is an issue. If you stick to basic sets (do they still sell these?) the possibilities are endless.

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RocCityMom

RocCityMom

Posted
Posted

Some of the most creative and peaceful play I've seen my kids engage in was when we lived in a furnished apartment for a month while waiting to close on our house.   Most of our possessions were in storage.  The only toys I packed for us for that month were:

 

1.  A basket of play silks

2. A basket of wooden blocks

3. A basket of wooden vehicles

4. A basket of Schleich animals

5. A wooden tabletop stove (we used home made playdough and pots and utensils from the kitchen to play with this).

 

We also had a craft/art box filled with supplies.

 

I'm trying to get back to a pared down family room/toy room since my 2, 5, and 7 year old spend most of their time constructing things out of cardboard boxes and recyclables anyway.  This thread is reminding me to get on the project of creating a less cluttered and more open family room!

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Guest inoubliable

Guest inoubliable

Posted
Posted

We're minimalist. My kids have Legos (in a different, personal container for each kid) and one basket of toys. 

The basket has 

1) a jester costume - this is DS5's. He wore it to a Renn wedding and still dresses up in it often. 

2) a set of play pots and pans from IKEA with some play food, stored in a burlap rice bag.

3) http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Brain-Toys-FA042-1-Reptangles/dp/B00392NSQ4

4) Gogos Crazy Bones - tons of these. They collect them and play ancient games with them 

5) http://www.kangarooboo.com/product/details/1826-Green-Toys-Recycled-Plastic-Recycling-Truck

6) a small blue car made by the same company as that recycling truck that was given out at a toy convention thing for merchants

7) http://www.amazon.com/Perplexus-Maze-Game-PlaSmart-Inc/dp/B002NPBT50

8) http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Cubebot-Teaser-Puzzle-Orange/dp/B009MP1HGU

9) a dinosaur puppet that was mine as a kid - http://www.amazon.com/Folkmanis-2061-Dinosaur-Egg-Puppet/dp/B0007QO418

10) a Star Wars lightsaber

11) fairy in a jar

12) bananagrams, Zeus on the Loose, Slamwich, and Chomp

13) a small cosmetic bag filled with odds and ends - pretty rocks, stickers, pennies, bracelets and rings, plastic novelty junk given to them by whoever

We don't have a huge art supply, either. A friend works for a design and print company and gets us a ton of really good heavyweight paper for free. So we have several pounds of that and some nice Prismacolor colored pencils and technical drawing pens, markers, and pencils from the same friend.

 

All of these belong to all three boys, but DS12 mainly sticks with his Legos and drawing and the little boys have begun to ignore the basket for the most part in favor of drawing and Legos. 

 

 

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sewingmama

sewingmama

Posted
Posted

The most popular things in our house over the past 6 years have been

 

Duplo

Hot wheels cars

Little people anything

Thomas train stuff

Lalaloopsy dolls -all sizes

 

My DD also has ton of dolls and doll clothes

 

My DS2 loves stuffed puppies

 

Both genders also love the My Little Ponies

 

And any sort of dollhouse. Currently our dollhouses are being rented out to the ponies and the Skylander figurines. Lol.

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vonfirmath

vonfirmath

Posted
Posted

Blocks (to include Legos, Kids Adventure Jumbo Blocks, and baby plastic stack up blocks)

Dress up/pretend items (play kitchen stuff, costumes, etc)

A basket of stuffed animals/dolls

Wooden puzzles

Games (including balls for the more active games)

 

Assuming we still have our computer/the Internet that would be the 6th "toy"

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