Does anyone have any good ideas for me? I need small, quiet, high interest toys for my 17 month old boy. I need these for church and an upcoming airplane ride. I also need good small toy ideas to pack for a several day trip visiting my father-in-law at an assisted living facility since we won't have the normal fun grandparent's house stuff to do.
I already have small pop-up books, plastic animals, and a small magnadoodle, but after many months of those, he is losing interest.
Thanks,
A.
I highly recommend getting some stickers. My girls love to stick and unstick them. You might have to watch carefully so they aren't sticking them onto important things. But I always just give them a whole bunch of stickers and a piece of paper. Or they even like to stick them on me. It usually entertains them for long periods.
Otherwise I crayons, color wonder, and small toys like cars and such.
Thats a hard one. All those toys sound good. My church has an amazing nursery, until kids are 4, then they go out and sit with their parents.
First Church in Sterling Heights, its so amazing, the whole church, worship, and the Pastor.
How about a portable DVD player and a couple of his favorite TV shows (Barney, Wiggles etc.) my grandson is 21 months old and he loves Alvin he watches the whold thing and doesn't move.Grandpa might enjoy watching something with both kids too. What about Crayons and a coloring book. My kids always love colorforms (if they still have them)a healthy snack and juice are always handy to have too. Good Luck.
K.
Sometimes in Christian bookstores, you can find soft, little toys and possibly a book to go with them. Be careful about small parts though as the manufacturer may not be as diligent as Fisher Price or whatever. A glove with characters on the fingers, rubber/plastic cars or animals. You can check a teacher's supply store too. Beanie baby-type animals are good, maybe in a box so they can play hide and seek. My daughter had a little playhouse that was fabric with little, soft characters and animals. Lacing cards are good, even though you'll have to help with them at this point. Large, non-roll crayons and a small coloring book or pad of paper or a wipe-off board.
A.,
What about fabric books with objects that come out of pockets?
Felt books with characters he can move from page to page?
I hope these ideas help.
-C..
Pipe cleaners or play doh (or maybe silly putty would be cleaner?)
Just a few that popped in my head!
When my kids were that little for the airplane ride: a portable dvd player with headphones saved the day. Little toys: cars, new little animals, crayons, and something that lights up but doesn't have sound. I found these things that you press a button and a light up globe spins around. It was totally mesmerizing. I have no idea what they are called though, I found them at a toys r us. Don't overfeed your kiddo on the plane, mine threw up from too many snacks!
For church: pretty much anything that doesn't make noise and that isnt' too loud when dropped on the floor! Now that ours are older we only bring books.
The important thing is rotation... :-) Pick up random things from the dollar store and change them every few weeks.
Books, Color books and crayons, little cars, even dolls, animals, a couple strips of cloth (may want to dress a doll or animal), small notebook (for doodling).
Do not expect anything to hold his attention for more than about 15 min... So variety and randomness is good. My 2 yr old has always loved coloring and he will sit for a while doodling away. As they get older stencils are awesome...
Rotation is key so that it is something "new." Lacing cards are great. My son was entertained at about that age with one of his old tennis shoes that I washed up and he put the laces in and out of it for hours on a 12 hour car trip. Sticker books are also great. Color wonder won't color on anything other than the special paper. We rarely used those because they were expensive. McDonald's toys (ask for the under 3 ones) are a cheap way to get something new while you are traveling. Some are better than others, but they usually have some entertainment value on trips.
On one trip to Florida a piece of tin foil kept my little one busy for hours:). Good luck
Dear A.,
I think I would get books that you can rotate, maybe a few small stuffed animals. A car might not be a bad idea...as long as he's not accustomed to always going "vmmm" (did I spell that correctly) every time he plays w/ the car. And another idea are fisher price little people, they are small enough to travel but can also be great to play with...esp. w/ your three year old.
I think you had good ideas, but if you just switch your toys around, that would be a good idea.
