Toys for My Three and a Half Year Old

At 4 I bought our daughter a nice Casio keyboard (organ) and she still loves it. There is also a roll-up piano keyboard you can buy that I gave to my niece last year that she really enjoys. I have also bought our daughter a little CD player and some good CD's (the soundtrack from Annie is our favorite, and she now knows every song!) which she plays when her friends come over. Music is so much fun for them and they'll love it for the rest of their lives!

B., Baltimore, Maryland

How about something for outside play? a sandbox, swing set, etc.

What about an arts and crafts themed gift. Easel, paints, markers, chalk, playdoh, pipe cleaners and beads...

I have three suggestions, my parents got my son the smart cycle, which is ~$100 and I thought was dumb, since I would rather him not be into video games, but it's a stationary bike and once we had it I realized it's great for raining days he can't ride his bike outside and for while I'm making dinner, since he can't be outside without me and he has LOTS of extra energy, plus the games are actually great, my son is right now riding it and saying more letters than I knew he knew, funny when we work on our letters with the fridge magnets or the workbook he doesn't know this many. It also does numbers, colors, shapes. So they pedal to move the train/bus/Diego or whatever and you have to get the letters in order and my son is very tall and 3.5 and he has plenty of space left to keep using it, my neighbor who is 4.5 and average height isn't close to the height total, so it can last a few years. The second is one of the kids digital cameras, my son has the fisher-price one, he loves it and takes hundreds of pictures and loves to look at them and since it's digital you can download them onto your computer and they can see them, we have even printed some of his better ones. The last thing we do is to ask them to donate toward swim lessons, tumblebus or whatever extra activity and then have them go to a class or two with them, so they can do it together. Hope some of these help!

Since it seems that she already has a lot of toys and things to play with...I think that bath things are always a fun gift. They make bath crayons, paint, and there are so many fun bath toys. In addition they could get her a fun hooded towel and the disney store has these really fun wash cloths that "grow" when you put them in the bath. Hope this helps. Congratulations on your new baby!!!!! H.

You can ask your inlaws to purchase a class for your daughter - maybe at the YMCA or something like that instead of a toy since she already has a lot of toys and maybe something that she would need for the class i.e. gymnastics class and they could get her a little leotard.

if your daughter already has a lot of toys now,

why not consider asking the inlaws give something toward her future

have them set up a savings account or lookin into savings bonds or there is a college program i think it is 510 or something like that.

with the way things are today, you might want to think about that for tomorrow. i know not as fun as a bike now but hey the less she has to to work through college the better right?

you can get savings bonds for as little as $25 and it will mature into $50. my experience every penny counts.

hope that helps

J.,
Does your daughter enjoy crafts? MY girls from a very young age enjoyed making crafty things. Wal-Mart carries a great selection of foam self sticking craft stuff, frames, hats, book marks, and you can get all of the different things in the craft section to decorate all of these. Your daughter may need help with getting the paper off of the back of the foam but it makes for a great one to one time with her for you or whom ever. My boys who are 5 and 3.5 enjoy using the foam crafts as well. I am actually going to be doing craft bags for my girls, and my nieces for Christmas instead of toys becuase they all have so many already! Good luck and enjoy the holidays.

Although it may be hard to let some go due to senimental reasons, you have to or they will take you over! LOL Maybe the both of you could go through her toys and give some to some other friends, family or Good Will or something? Toys are nice and we love to give our children things; however, too much of a good thing is still too much. Maybe introduce some books, books on CD she can listen to, music, maybe an intro to dance class or a kids gym class, DVDs, puzzles, teaching toys etc.

Enjoy these years while she is young! LOL The older they are the bigger the toys they want. LOL

Merry CHRISTmas!

Take Care,
N. :)

For this age, I would suggest art supplies and an easel or more older imaginary play like Calico Critters or construction like Zoobs. You could also start moving her into older games...

Best of Luck!
J. Lambertson
Noodles & Noggins
7145 Main St
Clifton VA
###-###-####

Does she have musical instruments? There are so many options that way. Little pianos, guitars, drums, other percussion like shakers and tambourines, recorders and kazoos, CD players, glockenspiels. You can check out Kindermusik or Magic Cabin for well-made musical instruments. (Look up "Music" on magiccabin.com)

Morning Jen,
What about something cute to help organize all those toys? A few more ideas are; a step stool, a book, a clock for her room, cute sheets, a special pillow, a dress up lunch date with grandma or grandpa, jewelry (you're never too young!) or a star named after her? If none of these sound good, let them take her to the store and pick out what SHE wants. I'd wait til after Christmas, just in case she picks something out Santa already has for her. Merry Christmas!

My daughter LOVES My Little Pony.

But if she doesn't need anymore toys, how about savings bonds for college? Or something like a zoo membership or tickets to a play or children's musical or bowling or a baseball game? These things would be even more special if the grandparent could do them with your child.

I always ask my parents and inlaws to give a class to my children. My mom this holiday is getting my 4 year old daughter ballet class and ballet clothes and shoes to open for the holidays. My boys have gotten art and music classes. Good luck!

Try www.fatbraintoys.com. They have LOADS of cool toys that are intellecually inspirational, but most of all fun.

How about a toy box? Coloring books and crayons (kids never have enough of those). At her age she could start doing little arts and crafts projects - cutting, gluing, etc - so some supplies for that.

How about something for the garden my two children got a kick out of planting some bulbs. We have a while to wait of course before seeing them appear but I think we can wait. Or craft, that never gets wasted in our house and then what ever they make I can ship back to the grandparents and not have it clutter my house!If you really don't want too much then ask for one book, and then a donation to your favorite charity.

You didn't mention any craft stuff or Aquadoodle/Magnadoodle stuff. I love Aquadoodle for my 3 1/2 yr old son b/c he gets to draw and there's no mess in the house. He's getting a Magnadoodle this year for the car and when we take trips. Also, I'm a SAHM and I babysit a 3 1/2 yr old girl. They love arts and crafts. We have glue sticks, which don't work as well as the liquid glue, but it's not messy and they can use it themselves. We have a huge tub with paints, construction paper, sponge letters, popscicle sticks,pom poms, pipecleaners, etc, and I can clear the table and let them go to town. They're always proud of what they make, and very creative. It's something we have to keep re-stocking, but it's not that expensive, and it's great for their imaginations. We also have kid-friendly scissors, but of course those require closer supervision, and sometimes interaction. It's great for rainy days, or can be taken outside if it's not windy. Hope this helps (at least some)!

I glanced over some of the responses and an "experience" seems to be missing. Our kids get so much "stuff" that turns into junk in just a couple years (or even less).

Talk to your in-laws about taking her out. It could be for tumbling, music or art classes that they pick her up for once a week. (Even a free story time at the library.) Or a Sesame Street on Ice type of children's show, trips to the zoo, you get the idea. If they live too far away maybe she could visit on her own for a bit.

Think back on your childhood and I'm sure you are much more likely to remember an experience with a loved one, than some toy you played with for a week and forgot about.

With a three month old sibling, she could use the special attention time and you could certainly use the quiet time with your youngest too!

We have our grandparents give books- Our boys love them and then everytime we read the book we can remind them that it was from grandma or grandpa... It makes the book a little more special...and they have their own little library... then these books will go with them when they have kids and be the first books in their childrens library. Each book that granparents give is signed and dated and a special message is written for them... It creates a great memory

I also like the idea of a grandparent date- something fun to do with the grandparents- library time, a craft day, shopping trip, dinner and a movie... Just some special grandparent time...

It's another toy idea but something you may not have thought of is getting her some "boy" toys.We are getting my daughter who 3 3/4 a tool bench and tool set made by Step 2. Another I idea might be a train set or just some dump trucks.Just think outside the gender realm.

I have a 3 1/2 yo dd daughter too. My mother and her godfather always buy her savings bonds. Not as "fun" as toys, but she doesn't need another toy or item of clothing. Not that she "needs" the bond either, but its an investment in her future.

Hi J.,

What about a membership to your local children's museum? My little one just LOVES ours. Other ideas would be art supplies, or playing blocks.

Good luck!
S.

What about a magazine subscription? There are quite a few magazines out there that cater to preschoolers: Higlights High 5, Animal Baby, LadyBug, just to name a few.

art supplies, sculpey, a membership to a kids' museum or children's zoo, riding lessons, music stuff, a series of 'tickets' for dates with her grandparents, savings bonds (delivered by a small stuffed animal), a nice box in which to put a bunch of the too-much stuff she already has and donate it.
:) khairete
S.

you say she has dress up...what about a doctor kit. or she has dolls does her doll have a bed or high chair. maybe a shopping cart for the kitchen set. could her dress up set use some organization maybe a neat box for her necklaces and rings or a bucket for the dress up clothes.

hope this helps.