Great Toys for Boys?

First remote control cars. (1 button...forward or reverse.)
Into sports? Get him soccer ball and teach him to kick at
the goal *an empty big box*.
Dad into cars??? First hotwheel car tracks. Put em together,
have a table be the ramp and let cars speed across room into
a box *or ramp it to jump into a basket*.

Hi M.,
My son likes all of toys from the previous responses as well. Our day care director also encouraged us to get him puzzles at this age. He loves them! It helps with logic, reasoning, shapes and self play. We like the ones by by Melissa & Doug. They have big pieces, stand up little kids. We got ours at Target and Learning Express. Be sure to get the ones for his age so he will have that sense of accomplishment.
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/index.shtml

D.

My son is 4 now. I agree with the other response... Superhero stuff is a good way to go. My son also absolutely loves anything to do with "CARS" like Lightning McQueen. His best gift that he received last year for Christmas is army stuff. My mother-in-law gave him an army boat with a guy in it. The boat makes noises and it's all camo. He has little (not too little because he has an 11 month old brother) tanks and army men, and he adores that stuff. His imagination really takes off, and he makes separate little camps in his room of good guys and bad guys. When he turned 3, he was also really into trains. He has a wooden set (much more expensive) that he honestly doesn't play with nearly as much as the cheap, plastic track and train that he got around the same time. So, to recap... Superhero stuff, army stuff, cars (of any variety) and trains seem to be the norm for most boys of that age. The books are awesome too; something that will last until he's grown that will never get old. What treasures!

Hope that helps!
-A.

We got our 3 year old a fish for his birthday and he loved it.

My son is 3 yrs old too and he's soooo into superheroes -- superman, batman, buzz lightyear, spiderman. Loves anything to do with superheroes so gifts are easy -- superhero coloring books, reading books, dress up play costumes and superhero capes (he LOVES to put on dress-up costumes); superhero cars/boats/motorcyles/helicopters - they make all these in just about every superhero; legos - there's a batman batmobile in legos that I might get him for christmas; DVDs - cartoons and movies; and the little superhero action figures (he'll carry these around everywhere) -- so on and so on.

He also LOVES storytime so I'm suggesting that people give books too. And he LOVES bathtime so new bathtoys, bubbles, bathpaints, etc are fun.

When my son was three he loved the Thomas the Tank Engine trains and tracks. He loved to build anything. If your son does not put things in his mouth, the marble building set from Discovery Toys is excellent. My son, and later on my daughter, played with it until they were 8 or 9. It is wonderful for building and problem solving and it is fun to race the marbles down the tubes.

You should try www.hearthsong.com. I have found wonderful things on that site. Good Luck!

Well my 3 year old loves the "Motor Works", "Monkey Mouth", or the "Castle Marble Works" from Discovery Toys. You can take a look at them and read up on them at www.getkidtoys.com
The "Motor Works" is really cool because he loves to take things apart and put them back together again. It has a plastic screw driver that runs on batteries and a regular screw driver, plus they can put a plane, race car, and a motorcycle together. The "Monkey Mouth" is play dough they can mold to form teeth, they have tools they can check the monkey's teeth and put the new molded teeth into place. This keeps him really busy. The "Marble Works" is a lot of fun and he plays and plays for a long time watching the balls go down the maze. Anyway, I hope these are helpful. My web page is www.getkidtoys.com and you can read up on them there or redirect your family there. I really don't think you'll be dissappointed with them. I notice you have a 7month old, so think twice about the Motor Works because of the plastic screws. The other two toys I suggested would be better if your 7 month old tries to get his toys. Good luck! :)
E.

I have two boys also, 4 and 2, and they love playing with their kitchen (in primary colors), train table, and wooden blocks. We have so many toys that I honestly don't know where to store them all, but those are definitely their favorites....along with any matchbox cars! Good luck!

Hi M.,
I have a four year old. He loves dinosaurs. His cousin who is 3 loves cows, Another cousin who is also 4 is into cars. My son
actually loves cars and motorcycles.You can start introducing these. I always made sure if there are small parts to take them out(threw away) till I knew he was ready. My son also loves the army men. $5.00/6.00 at wal-mart you can get 6 w/ a motorcycle. We take the small guns,walkie talkies out. (my son was for sure going to put one in his ear. (we had other episodes). I hope this helps.

Have fun discovering w/ your child. Oh, we have always stressed
educational toys. There are tons out there. Learn colors,shapes,english and spanish. Check on line at toys R us and wal-mart. Watch TV commercials too. They can help you discover what is available, then just research.

My son had a train and train table. I wish we would have never let family buy all the stuff. Waste of money. He played awhile, then took it all apart. He still uses the train table for army men, tanks, cars. Also, one BIG car, my son now has a big suv and jeep he uses all of the time w/ "mans" as he calls it. Everytime we go to wal-mart he wants "mans" or on the dollar aslie in toys at wal-mart he goes for the animals, Squishy ones. They end up getting a hole and leaking out the insides. We take it away and rinse all the stuff out and he gets it back. Some have feet pulled off or parts of a tail off,
he loves them. He used to pull off heads of army men and say
they got shot!

enjoy
C.

My 3 yr old likes firemen & fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and construction equipment. He also likes Bob the Builder, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins (rocket ship in particular), Thomas the Tank Engine and CARS.
I usually ask for clothing from family instead of toys. If they find clothes/shirts with any theme listed above my son loves it. He likes character underwear too.
He's very interested in books too. Especially ones about machines and he likes Richard Scarry Busytown too. They are usually read while sitting on the potty.

I asked for magazine subscriptions! My Big BAckyard is a lot of fun. Also, gift cards. It is nice to go shopping in June or rent movies or let him pat at McDonalds or pick out books at Half Price books....
This works long term too!
If you are blessed to have lots of relatives it may be better to spread things out than to get lots of gifts all at once.

D.

trains, trains, trains, trains. He can play for hours and hours by himself with the Thomas stuff. We didn't buy the table, the tracks are on the floor so he can make everytime a different layout. The tracks are from Ikea, much cheaper.
But every child is different, my oldest liked the trains a lot, but not as much as my middle one does now.
And an other mother wrote for her son it was a waste of money. Well, not for our sons... worth every penny.

good luck, I.

Well, in addition to trains (yes the Thomas variety) that my three year old, who also turned in Oct, also loves. I echo all the recomendations of other moms, but have you thought about guiding your family to purchasing a FW zoo family pass? A friend of mine's mom bought her and her family one and it was wonderful!! Family time and you can get one person in free or half price who isn't on the family pass. Always a good incentive for a mom friend to come along. I have it at the top of my list for Santa this year!