Play Sets & Toy Suggestions for Young Boys

A.,

Tractor Supply and Hobby Lobby both carry a brand of plastic figures that are just about indestructible. THey have all sorts of animals from farm animals to dinosaurs to wild animals. They also have tractors and equipment.

T.

I second the Little People sets. Also, Lego Duplos and Geotrax would work be safe for both and last them a long time.
... also Megablocks.

As for play sets, Little people has some great ones. My boys have always loved the pirate ship and the garage one with the ramps. They also have the Batman cave they like a lot. We have the Diego set, but they don't play with that one as much.

As for them playing nicely, that's a mystery to me! Now that the younger one is moving around, this is when the fighting begins. My boys are 7 and 4 and we still encounter this. It's going to take a lot of reminders and encouragement. One thing I found helped my older boy was to allow him to have some things that are just his. We have a playroom with toys that both boys can use, but they also have some things in their rooms that are solely theirs, usually the items that are their favorites. Something where they need to ask permission to play with. When I see them do this and one says yes, I can make a huge deal about how nice that is. That usually does the trick. However, we still have those stubborn days and it won't ever prevent every fight. Even though the 7 month old won't understand this yet, your older boy should. You need to set some things aside for the younger one that your older son needs "permission" from his younger brother to play with. I hope this makes sense. I think it teaches them to respect each other's boundaries and things.

I agree with the other posters on the Little People, Thomas, GeoTrax, etc. We have a 2 and 4 year old and they are just starting to actually play together as opposed to just playing near each other. They seem to do a little better if they both have the same main train or action figure, the 2 year old wants to be exactly like big brother. Some days they play well together and sometimes not, lots of praise for sharing and being such a good big brother helps too.

My boys really loved the Thomas The Tank Engine train set. Your 2 year old is definitely old enough. We had a train table int heir playroom set up and added on gradually. They enjoyed the books and DVD's as well. We loved Thomas. If your're not sure, take him to Toys R Us they have a train table set up. You can see if he likes it. My kids and their friends would play with them for hours!

Be prepared for a lots of refereeing over the next couple of years. I was in your shoes 2 years ago and my boys still don't play well together much of the time, but we just keep on trying. Whatever toy you choose, make sure it has at least 2 of everything. Like a race track with at least 2 cars or train track with several trains, so they can each have a piece. My older son would get so angry with the baby because he had never had to share before and frankly didn't want to. I basically had to be in the same room with them most of the time or an altercation would break out and the crying would start. I just played it day by day and handled each situation as is came up. I tried to let my older son know that his little brother wasn't going to understand sharing for several years and that if he wanted something all to himself, he had to take it to his room and close the door. Before children are about 3, they have no understanding of sharing and are incapable of it in most cases. Good luck!

I would suggest musical toys. I have 6 year old twins and when they were small they spent hours playing music. They had a Fisher Price key board (it sat on the floor and then could be adjusted for standing or setting on a little chair. It lit up as you played. Had songs on it or you could play your own. At six they are still playing with it. We also got that toy that connects to the TV and shows an image of the kids on the screen. It has music cartridges it plays. My kids loved seeing themselves dance and play instruments (morracas, tamborine, little drums, etc). They thought they were really on TV. Hope these suggestions help. At six they both participate in dancing and choir. One is learning Violin and the other drums. They also have some great interactive DVDs. My kids love dancing, singing, exercising to them.One of my girls is autistic and she does alphabet yoga every night before bed. Great exercise and helped her learn her ABCs. Has also improved her sleep. Oh, yeah, one more thought. Paints. I come from a family of artists and my kids started painting in their highchairs. Watercolors are great. Great for eye to hand coordination development also. When they were babies I used to spread a big sheet on the floor, put them in their diapers, lay down big sheets of paper and let them finger paint (or feet paint or sometimes whole body paint). Exposing kids to any form of the arts will give them a lifetime of enjoyment and possibly even a long time career. Have a wonderful holiday.