My son is now almost 1.5 years old and has outgrown most of his older toys. I got him some newer toys but couldn't hold his interest for long. I see him just wandering around the house playing with everything other than his toys.And after a while he is bored and clinging on to me. He goes to daycare and is back early afternoon. He gets bored playing at home inspite of having so many toys. I take him out a lot but now with cooler temps , we might stay home most evenings. I am thinking maybe a tricycle or something. Not sure if he is too young for that? He has a toy car he sits in and pushes around the house.
What did your son like to play with at that age? Thanks!
At that age it was balls, any and all balls. His 1st word was ball. Then it went into trains. Now at 5 it's cars, trucks, trains, construction, tonka toys, airplanes, helicopters, boats, tow trucks, tractors, anything on wheels, water, or air. He loves to ride his scooter, bigwheel, bike and trike.
I have a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood. I am a stay home mom and I work part time in an Infant/toddler day care setting. I also TEACH early childhood classes at the local tech college. Here are my thoughts...Pay attention to what random things he plays with at home. Does he play in the dirt of your plants? (sandbox or some sort of sensory - bowl of rice?) Does he bang on pots and pans? Does he stack tupperware? You could try one of those push toys that converts to a ride on toy. He might be young to figure out the pedaling motion he would need for a trike...but it doesn't hurt to try! Another thing - he could look "bored" and cling to you not because he is bored with his toys, but maybe he wants you to play WITH him. If toys aren't "holding his attention" it could be because he wants/needs that adult interaction and direction to keep interested in the toys. Young toddlers are not developmentally able to "go play" on their own. They can to a point, but then they need adult interaction to provide them with new ideas and to challenge them. If you are "busy" trying to do household things (laundry, cooking dinner, cleaning), get creative and try to find ways for your son to help you. As I fold my sons laundry, I tell him to go put it away in his room. He knows where his baby wash clothes go, where his socks go, etc. And I make it last the whole basket/load by only giving him one or two at a time. Then when is all folded, he pushes the basket in his room and plays or helps M. put his stuff away. In the kitchen, if I am stirring, he has a bowl and a spoon and is stirring too! He takes dishes out of the dishwasher and hands them to M.! He loves doing tasks!! It takes a lot of parental patience, but he is learning and he thinks it is fun! Toys aren't the cure all, in my opinion! :-) Good luck!!
Bubbles
Sidewalk Chalk
Robots, robots, robots
A box - boxes are the most awesome thing in the world. You can literally make one into anything. A car, a boat, a puppet theater. Just a box and your imagination can make hours of fun.
Make bean bags out of his socks and a bag of beans. Just tie off the ends. Let him throw then into an empty laundry basket.
Finger paint
Crayons
A bowl of water (he can wash dishes, give a baby a bath, "clean")
A large bowl of bean or rice or macaroni and some cups, spoons scoops, kind of like sand toys.
Books with a recording of you reading the books to him. Sit him down, turn on the recording and give him the book.
A drum - an oatmeal box makes a fine drum, as well as paper cup maracas made with two cups and some beans. Just fill one half full of beans and glue the other one upside down on top.
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Hot Wheels
Thomas the Tank and friends, lots of friends
Anything Truck related: fire, ambulance, police, concrete
Airplanes
Balls, lots of balls
Indoor trampoline
Outdoor trampoline
Dollar Store
Big flat carpet to play on, roll on, spread his trucks out on.
At 18 months, my son loved board books and mega blocks. He loved looking through books by himself in addition to being read to. We had a wagon filled with the larger mega blocks. At first he liked filling it, dumping it out, filling it again..But eventually he actually really started stacking the blocks into towers.
The best thing you can do is make "real" things toys...pull out the pots and pans, a few spoons and pretend play with him. Cut a hole in a big box (big enough for him to crawl through) and let him have a blast. Save a 2 liter bottle and put anything you want inside. Glue shut. He will play with it! Give him a cloth bag and show him how to put toys in it - this will keep him busy! He would probably LOVE a small broom and dust pan. It's the small things in life that give them pleasure! :) Good Luck!!!
I don't think he's too young for a tricycle. They make some tricycles with handles for adults to help push, but are removable for when the child can pedal themselves. My son LOVED his tricycle (and he now loves his bike!!) He also loves bells and horns (both on the bike and in the house.) :-)
Tricycles are hard but ride on toys are great. Plus anything he can push (vacuum cleaner, lawn mover, etc.) or pull (wagon, toys with strings, etc.) were very popular with my boys. I found a climber was essential at this age (or lots of trips to climbing / bouncing places) because they are naturally part monkey. It kept them off the furniture - not! Good luck!
Our son LOVED his toy guitar and toy keyboard at that age. He also just loved his marble tubes toy. I forget what it is called but it was for toddlers and had big "marbles" that you put in the top and they would roll down all these different tube paths. He was fascinated. He loved his tricycle. He loved his sandbox. He loved his wood train tracks and trains. His sister is now 2 and she cannot pedal a tricycle yet so she is too young for it. She loves to sit on it but you have to push her. So if you get him a tricycle you maybe should get the kind with the adult handle behind it that you can push.
Balls of any type (his first word was "ball").
Mega Blocks
Musical instruments (tambourine, maracas, drum)
plasmacar was his absolute favorite toy from just under 2 until he was 6, and is still on the top 5 at age 9.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_so_1?rh=n%3A165793...
Blocks, balls, sand/water play, board books, small cars and plastic animals, and he LOVED his play kitchen (we were able to find him a cute wooden one at a preschool supply store that wasn't so girly.)
Another favorite toy was something called the cobbler's bench, by playskool. He spent hours banging in those little wooden pegs with the little wooden hammer!
It's also a great age for large empty cardboard boxes. He can climb in and out and make himself a fort, you can cut openings in the sides to make windows :)
I love all the answers you have gotten so far. How about a collapsible tunnel? I like to have a mix of pretend play/ fine motor skills/ gross motor skills stuff and I feel like the tunnel falls into that category.
Oh, also a flashlight. And hats for dress up, and either a ride on toy or a toy he can push or pull (shopping cart, vacuum cleaner, or wagon) and play doh (we got cookie cutters so he could press out shapes, although it was a long time before that happened) and lift the flap books and a sit and spin (at two, he is finally figuring out how to really spin).
I found that in the late afternoon, my son needed some music to listen to.
Your daycare teachers could give you some suggestions too based on what he likes to play with there.
Also, it is so helpful to rotate toys.
Sorry about the rambly post , HTH.
My son was OBSESSED with trains.. Any kind but mainly Thomas the Train.. would entertain him for a long time.. He liked the electronic and magnetic ones :0)
