Great Gift Ideas for My 18 Mon Old

Try etoys.com I saw that idea on another request and tried it myself. You search for toys based on age and other criteria. I tried it and it does have good ideas.

I would highly recommend Melissa and Doug puzzles. Amazon.com has a good selection as does reallygreattoys.com

Discovery toys has a wide variety of toys that are perfect for all ages. We offer a 100% lifetime guarantee as well. I have some inventory that I am looking to sell too. If you are interested let me know.

J.
www.discoverytoyslink.com/jhood

One of those play tool benches would be great. Blocks, the big Legos, any kind of board books, Play Dough, puzzles, etc. My dd is the same way. She LOVES books and anything that's hands on. I tend to stay away from the electronic toys. I subscribe to the philosophy that the less the toy does, the better. No to mention, those noisy toys get on my nerves ;) I also like to get toys that she can grow into. I tend to shop for the next age up, providing there are any small pieces of course. It amazes me how much she can do with toys that are suppose to be above her age level. Happy Shopping! :D

My son is 15 months old now and has the Leap Frog Fridge Farm. I plays music and teaches you about animals. You have the front and back of an animal and when you match them up it plays a song and tells you about the animal. This is a good brain building toy and helps with motor skills as well as recognition. Good luck, my son will be 17 months at christmas and I am not sure what to get him!

What about lego blocks (Mega block type) and a Fisher Price Farm set? Maybe some large piece wooden puzzles? I know this isn't on the reading kick but using his imagination will help him develop a well rounded personality.
We had a leap frog for my ten year old when he was little but 18 months old is really pushing it with one of those. Their attention span at that age just isn't that long. We even had a Tonka trunk rug set for him at that age and it was great.

I'm not sure what would be best at his age, but wanted to tell you that my son was the same way until just this past month when he started wanting to be read to again. Most times, he still likes to have his own book, but he'll bring me one to read aloud while he looks at pictures in another. When he's tired, he'll even sit in my lap and look at the book I'm reading, we just don't usually get all the way through it, he likes to turn the pages when he wants to. I have read that it's normal and you shouldn't correct them, just go on to the next page. You can even just make up stories about the pictures as he flips them.

The best toys for toddlers are open-ended toys. You know, the ones that don't have a 'required outcome' like push this button to make that happen. We've tried very hard to avoid electronic toys for our kids until they are 4 or older. Your son is WAY too young for a handheld game.

The classics are classics for a reason - they work. They are very developmentally appropriate and encourage creativity and problem-solving.... wooden blocks, balls, cars, kitchens/workbenches,playdoh, pull toys like the classic fisher-price dog, push toys like the classic fisher price one, magnectic letters for the fridge, duplos, cozy coupe car (the 'flintstone' car), etc.

Read the book "Einstein Never Used Flashcards" and you'll learn that the above toys are the best to promote an early love for learning and reading. Kids who have those type of toys do better in school than those who had mostly electronic closed-ended toys simply because they never learn to 'think outside the box' and how to problem-solve. (yes, it's all been proven by numerous scientific studies)

I sell Usborne Books and everything you listed we have and much more. Our books have great pictures, touchy -feely, noisy books, books with Cd, arts and crafts, flash cards for early learners etc.

Here is my website. Feel free to pass this onto friends and family. Email me back with questions.

ubah.com/T2267

J. R
Educational Consultant

I love the "Little Touch Leap Pad" better than any of the other leap pads. They use their finger to push things to hear sounds, the story, or an interactive game (like guessing which instrument makes which sound). They have a wonderful selection of books including some classics like "Guess How Much I Love You" and "Where the Wild Things Area" as well as some others. My children both loved this and my son actually played with it for an entire 10 hour car ride when he was 19 months old. He's now in first grade and reading at nearly a 4th grade level. It's something you can sit with him and do and something he can do on his own as well - he'll probably need help inserting the cartridge until he gets a little older, but other than that it's pretty easy - it has 3 settings that change the way the pages interact. I definitely recommend this for any child.

First, I applaud you for not wanting your son to spend time in front of the TV or computer! Good for you!

Now, as for what kinds of toys will be best to enhance his learning, the answer is almost too simple: choose things that give him MANY different ways to play with them. We call these open-ended toys that expand his thinking process and his creative abilities. The best example is blocks; there are blocks of all shapes and sizes! Other examples would be toys of different textures, balls, and things to bang together. Any toy that is cause & effect - where he does something and something happens - is a great choice for many educational reasons!

When you look at all his toys, there should be very few that require batteries. SOME are okay, because they do have lights or sounds that happen when he pushes buttons. They're cute and appealing and just plain fun. But if most of his toys are like that, he isn't getting enough opportunities to explore, experiment, and discover things on his own, and those are the BEST ways children learn, from birth until age 8. Child development experts tell us that young children MUST have plenty of time, plenty of space, and plenty of materials that are open-ended in order for them to reach their full potential intellectually, physically, socially, and emotionally!

I've spent most of my professional life in the field of Early Childhood Education, so I'm excited to see that you are interested enough in your son's growth and learning to seek out fresh ideas and different ways of doing things!

Hi S.,

When my youngest son was 19 months last year at Christmas we got him a bucket of vehicles from Viking toys. The bucket comes with a handle, snap-on lid and many vehicles, trucks, cars, train cars, planes, etc. and some of them link together. The vehicles are really sturdy and chunky for little hands. My son still plays with these all the time and he loves the bucket too. I ordered these from a catalog, but if you do a google search for Viking toys bucket of vehicles you should find several companies to purchase from.

When my son was two, we got him the Little Touch Leap Pad. It is perfect for little laps. It even has a cushion on the back. It has little books that you attch as well as a plastic page that you can attach and plays teaching games. In the books it reads to you, then you can touch places on the book that make noises. It was such fun to do with my son. I HIGHLY recommend it.

S.,

I would advise against electronic toys for such a young child. IMO, things like vSmile are just companies trying to develop life-long consumers of video games from an early age. They have no educational value. Besides, we had a Little Touch Leap pad (a gift to us) and when I did let them play with it, my kids just pushed the buttons to get a reaction, they didn't listen to anything the machine had to say, even if I tried to sit with them so we could do it together. A waste of money.

Don't be worried that he doesn't have the attention span for a longer book yet. My kids didn't really like the word-naming books so much anyway. Just to be in the habit of reading every night before bed is good for now.

As for gift ideas, our best purchase was an easel with chalk on one side and a paper roll on the other. We leave it up in the kitchen all the time. The entire easel, wood and all, is decorated with paint, chalk, markers, and crayons. I'd also recommend play-food, the kind velcro'd together that comes with a pretend knife to cut. Wooden blocks are great for building towers, the bigger pieces, the better--it's very difficult to find the old Play-skool blocks, but they are the best because they are nice and chunky. My favorite toys are open-ended.

Hope this helps,
Laura

I would suggest looking at the Build-A-Train, Shape-O, and Pick-Em Up Truck from Tupperware. These toys are a great price for a toy that has a LIFETIME warranty. Check them out on my website http://my.tupperware.com/twrocks. You can email me or call me to place the order if you don't want to place it directly through the site. My info is on the site.

A.

I really like some of the leap frog books. They have a pen that the kids can click on the picture and the book will say the phrase or word. I think those are pretty neat.

There are other books I have bought on CD. The CD sings and the kids can follow along in the book. I bought a huge book... it was like 3 feet by 4 feet and it had the CD with it. I put the CD in the DVD player on the TV and the TV would read this huge book to them. They just love it that the book is about as big as they are.

We have a Little Touch that DS got when he was 15? months and now he's 3 and still isn't very interested in it though he does like to read and has recently started "reading" books to himself that he has memorized. I think that toy may be a hit or miss (maybe buy it secondhand or borrow from a friend to see if it's a winner for your son before paying full price?).

Short books, ones with lots of pictures/textures/flaps etc might interest him. How about letter blocks? Rather than a chain toy store, try a teacher store or a boutique toy store. They frequently carry toys that are more focused on learning and development. Melissa and Doug brand toys are also good ones that focus on learning.

It's important to have some fun in there too though. If your son doesn't yet have a small ride-on toy that he pushes with his feet, that might be a good energy burn inside over the winter. A sled might be fun too. I second Viking Toys for their cars (inexpensive, washable, roll well on anything and no small parts). My son LOVES cars so at 18months, the Little People garage was a big hit- lots of ramps and an elevator, a few sound buttons to drive over, he still plays with it some now.

Alphabet puzzles or the Leap Frog letter/ letter sound magnet game for the fridge might be good.

For other toy reviews, check Babiesrus online.

HTH-
J.

If you're looking for books, check out Usborne Books. My website is www.ubah.com/u2584. You can look at the books by age category. My kids love these books, I'm sure that your son will too. My youngest is especially fond of the Touchy-Feely board and Noisy Touchy-Feely Board Books Usborne has a lifetime 50% replacement policy too, which makes it nice, just in case the kids love their books too much;).