Mom Seeking Advice Regarding 2 Year Olds Christmas

One of the best toys I have ever gotten (and you may already have)... and it has been a fav for a year now (my daughter is turning 3 in a couple of days) is the Parents endorsed Drum with other musical instruments stored inside. All of the instruments are great quality and very child friendly. You can get it at Target... along with other Parents (magazine) endorsed toys... they have their own section... you may know what I'm talking about. That would be my suggestion! I had a hard time with 2 as well. Now for a 3 year old... there are tooo many fun things to get (haha).
Happy shopping : )

My son started to love to play with the Thomas the trains, at 2 years old. When he was 2 we bought just the single metal trains. He would hook them together by the magnets and push them around everywhere. Then at 3 we started to get all the tracks and tunnels and stuff. He loved these toys, until he turned 4 and he was turned on to dinosaurs!!!! Good luck.

Does your youngest like to do art projects? 2 year olds really like paint with water books which your 4 year old will find boring usually. How about a music CD that has the child's name in each of the songs? They sell those in the middle of our mall. Another idea is his own sled or some starter sports equipment like a baseball mitt that wouldn't fit his older brother. You could also order him a sleeping bag or backpack with his name on it through Lillian Vernon Company or LTD. Good luck!

I also am having the same problem except with girls instead of boys. The youngest wants everything the oldest has and since I feel like we have everything I am at a loss of what to get her. They have both taken a liking to trains so I am thinking about train cars and tracks for both of them. That way they can still play together but they both have something to open. I cant even buy clothes for the youngest since their birthdays are in the same month she has tons of clothes from my oldest not to mention the things I pick up here and there. Good luck with twhatever you decide- I like the tractor idea for boys or you could do the train stuff too.

B.,

I know what you mean about finding different things for little brothers, I have 5 boys and some years it is so hard to find original toys. Some things my boys liked when they were around 2 were the toy farm tractors. We always got the high quality ones from the farm stores, TSC (tractor supply co), or Quality Home and Farm. We covered many years with those. Buying different types of tractors, combines, etc, and also buying implements to go with them such as planters, disc, hay mowers, rakes etc.

For your 2 year old I would recommend the smallest simplest one you can find. Maybe get a similiar one for your 4 year old too. My oldest will be 13 in less than a month and my little boys are STILL playing with some of them.

Another great toy that I found that my kids seem to love are called WEDGITS they are a type of diamond shaped building block. We have quite a collection of these now (a big 20 gallon tub full) When they are little they can just stack them or sort them into different colors. But they do come with building ideas (some are quite complicated) And my oldest boys 13 and 10 will still play with them, as it is still challenging to them, but my 18 month old likes to play with them too. Every so often for someones birthday or for christmas we will get another set and add them to the tub.

Thats another thing we do, with other building sets, like magnetix,(although your kids are still a bit young for this) we put everyones set together in a tub, and will buy a new set as a gift and add it to the main set. That way all the kids can play at the same time or if just one boy is playing they can build huge things. We also have done this with Lincoln Logs, Legos (duplo and regular), k-nex, and tinker toys. That way you can get nice toys, not spend a lot a once but keep building to some large play sets.

I hope this was helpful to you.

B.,
Hello :) Sorry, I know this response is a little late, but I thought I would put my two cents in anyway. I have two boys, Logan who is 3 1/2 and Tyler who is 2. I know your request was for what to get your little guy, but my suggestion is actually a bigger gift for both of your boys. Last Christmas, we bought the Step 2 Train Table(I believe we got it at Wal-Mart for around $80 and I have just recently seen it at Target as well). At the time my boys were 2 1/2 and 1. They both loved it and still play with it every day! It has been, by far, the best toy purchase we have ever made! It works very well with the Thomas Trains or the Hot Wheels cars and although there's nothing out there that will eliminate siblings wanting what each other has, this really works well as there is room for both of them to play at one time! I hope this helps. This is a link to the actual Step 2 website and that particular Train Table: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1354

K. :)

Hi B.,
I laughed a little when I read your question because in my house it is the 2 year old that wants whatever my 5 year old has. Anyway, both of my boys are pretty good about sharing. Although both of them have toys that are only theirs. I tell both of them that if they want to see what the other is playing with that they need to ask and if the other says no I always remind the one that said no that their brother can say no also to whatever they may want next. I don't know if that makes sense at all. I would just start emphazing taking turns that way they will have more things to play with. Also, with new toys I always let them play with new toys awile before they have to share them. Good luck.
Chris