Looking for Great Toy Ideas

One of the best toys we have is the Fridge Phonics+Numbers by Leap Frog. It has a little magnet for each letter of the alphebet that the kids can insert and then it sings a little song to teach them the sound of the letter. I do childcare in my home and ALL of the kids 1-6 love it.

Stacking buckets, Lincoln Logs and wooden train sets...the train sets can be cheap brands, they don't have to be expensive, and the nice thing is they all fit each other. My girls all loved stacking buckets as toddlers and would play and play with them, use them to carry things, hide things, build things... The Lincoln Logs and train sets are awesome...they never tire of them. They build towns and tunnels for the trains with the Lincoln Logs, etc. etc.

This might seem sort of basic, but my kids love stick horses. They each have one, and they "ride" them all over the house.

Another big hit is the Mozart Cube. It is probably more geared towards kids your son's age, but your daughter will enjoy it too.

My daughter loved the Mellisa and Doug wood paper dolls at that age. She still loves the Little People and actually plays with them more now. A baby with stroller, clothes and all the stuff to play mommy is always great. We also started colecting games like Candy Land and Pooh Bear Uno. For one, I am not sure I remember, my son liked anythng with noise. they both liked that music set from Parents that came with a drum, maracas, tamberine, etc. That lasts a long time. also cool texture balls. we found ones with these rubber mess stuf on the outside for easy grips. They use that one inside. A tricycle is always awesome.

Educational toys. They're still lots of fun, and could give good variety from the stuff from christmas. For the 3-year-old maybe a computer program like Jump Start Toddler (learning skill like shapes and colors plus how to use a mouse)

Playhut tents and tunnels. We got them for our girls last year (then 8,5 and 2 years old). They've been a big hit, still. What's great is that they are collapsible so you can get enough tents and tunnels to run from one end of the house to the other, and yet when you fold 'em up they take up very little space. They also seem to be very durable. My girls love playing with them and making mazes and "castles" and individual little "houses".

All of my kids have loved our Fisher Price Barn. They love to play with the animals, fences, and tractors. It has little hay bales and pumpkins. My oldest is 11 and it was a gift to her when whe was little and has been thru 3 kids. My 11 year old and 7 year old will still play with their 3 year old brother with it. I know it has changed over the years but my cousin's kids also love theirs.

My son also loves his Tonka truck. He can haul stuff in it and clean up with it. I think he was one when he got his and he would sit in it too. His sisters would push him around in it.

Wooden blocks are also my kids' favorites. We have a big tower of natural and colored blocks. They make towers and fences, etc. They play with these more than their tinker toys and lincoln logs. It is nice because there are enough so they can play together.

I also don't know if you have heard of Crayola color wonder markers. They are great for young kids because they want to use markers but these only color on the special color wonder paper.

My kids' also loved the Little Tykes kitchen and all the accessories. They can play together also. My son likes it too.

I have run an in home daycare for several years now and I made a list of the most popular toys... some of them might surprise you.

The most popular toy I have for all ages and both genders has been the toy stollers ($4-$8 at walmart). My kiddos fill them up with everything and parade around the house in them.

The toy kitchen, the dress up box (halloween sales and thrift stores can help you fill this or even just various pieces of cloth, so they can design their own clothes) and toy phones.

For the babies and toddlers, I have a Fisher Price Incredi-Block and even my 4 year olds still play with it. You can find them on ebay and craigslist, but I found them to to be cheaper new from the FP website once you added shipping costs.

And just a sidenote, I would suggest taking some of their older toys and storing them for a few months. Then rotate them out with some of the new toys they got more recently. It gives them variety and "new toys" without the added cost. We just rearranged my 3yr old son's room and put his toys in new places and rotated out some older toys. Now he is thrilled again with all his "new" stuff.

My 3 year old daughter loves her trike. She loves dress ups (Look for these a day or two after halloween- on sale). She also loves her baby stroller and babies. hope this helps!

I think a Train set for them they entertain everyone. Thomas Trackmaster and GeoTrax are the ones i am looking into right now. They have basic sets then add on pieces. My little boy plays with the thomas one everytime he goes to my sisters house for hours. He is only eighteen months.

Each of my children tended to have different interests even as early as 1. One loved books but not coloring, another liked coloring and musical instruments better than books. Last year when my son was 3 we discovered that he's got definite preferences towards the type of music he likes.

I LOVE the HearthSong catalog, you can shop by age at thier on-line site. It has a wide variety of wonderful well made toys. www.hearthsong.com

Have fun!

My kids loved toy phones. You can get a bigger sized one for your littlest. As long as they make noise. Also a toy laptop. My kids all have had these and absolutely adore them. It makes them feel special that they can make phone calls and work on the computer like Mom and Dad. Those I would have to say are the most adored toys in our house.

I can say I got my daughter the Little Tyke pretend kitchen when she turned 2, it lasted two kids, and 5 years later. It has or was a HUGE hit with any kids that came over, I added lot's of fun pretend food and dishes and both of my kids, my son and daughter could play with it for hours! IT was durable and when I sold it over the summer it was still in perfect condition! I had it all set up when my daughter woke up on Christmas morning and you should have seen her face!!!

Little Tykes stuff you just cannot help but love. It is so durable and creative.
Go on their website and get great ideas.
My son at your son's age loved the Little People stuff by Fisher Price. Go to their website too.

When she was three she got the Fisher Price loving families doll house, it was so precious!! I loved it as much as she did and her brother as he got older loved it too.
It was nice as on holidays and birthdays family and friends could send her additional rooms for it and stuff.

I am stomped this year, I have a 4 year old and 7 year old and it is harder as they get older! :)

jumbo legos--kitchen with food and grocery carts with the cash register. a indoor tent with sleeping bags. beanbhags for movie night . i also loved bean bags so when the kids are sick it is easy to bring them into my room and cover them and catch the vomit. good luck and god bless