So I was thinking if we have a layette why not a toyette? Yes, a toyette! A general guideline of baby's needs in terms of hard stuff. For example, from your experience you may say that every child needs 3 teething rings...or 1 set of stacking cups...or a motorized Barbie Dream Car (Don't even!!!).
So...if you would like to share your must-have toys for kids newborn - 3 years, we can create a toyette for others to use as a guide. Just tell us the toy (either general or specific) and the age range the toy suits best.
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My little smarty-pants is killing me with all his smarty-pantsness. You may remember the alphabet puzzle and how he can place the letters where they go. Well, I thought that maybe he was doing it simply by the shape or the letter-related picture on the board. So the other day we were playing with his cash register, and I asked to buy a letter (Wheel of Fortune, here I come!). I queried, "May I buy the letter Z", and M found the Z in the pile of wooden letters on the floor. We did this all the way through the alphabet...although he did give me some buy-one-get-one-free deals. He not only could pick up the correct letter, but he sometimes did it almost without even looking...as if he just remembered where the letters were on the floor...even if only half of the letter was showing because it was under another one. Before you call him Rain Man, please note that at times he did have to search through and look for the right letter...but still I was amazed.
Then today we were in the office briefly while I talked to Scott on the phone. M seemed pretty busy looking out the windows. Later we were leaving and I said, "I wonder where my bag is." M took off, went straight to the office, and got my bag off the desk chair. I had forgotten it was there and didn't even know he noticed it when we were in the office.
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Shouldn't sleep issues be classified as Special Needs?????? Kidding...well, OK, maybe not totally kidding.
RE: the photos - why do i take so many photos of M's feet? because his feet generally do not notice me taking pics and, therefore, don't get mad like his head does. and i'm sure a photo of scott's feet was pretty much the last thing you wanted to see on a blog, but i thought the reflection was cool.
11 comments:
Love the toyette idea!! You are so creative (now I know where M gets his genius!!) :)
I think my toyette list would be slightly different for boys than for girls... and I'm thinking toddler since I'm in that phase. But here's my list:
~A train set. Even girls like them! It doesn't have to be electric. Just a little train they can hook together with magnets or whatever, and some little tracks.
~A ride-on car to zip around the house.
~Books, books, and more books.
~Melissa & Doug toys are great. I love the pizza - Grant thinks it's fun to stick veggies & pepperoni on and serve it to us!
~Play dishes/food... awesome for pretend.
~Lincoln logs! Grant & his sisters play with those and legoes a lot.
~A tool box with pretend tools. Love the Craftsman sets and I am hoping to get Grant a workbench to go with them.
~Cars, busses, trucks, etc. that you can put things inside. Grant loves things he can drive around, but he will play for HOURS with a big camper van that has a trailer on it with a jeep, and little people, a dog and camping accessories inside that he can take in and out.
~Art supplies like play dough, washable markers, crayons, etc.
I am excited to hear other people's ideas too. :)
Love,
R
PS I love the photos!! So funny about M's feet not minding getting their photo taken. Ha! Our boys are at the exact same stage...
Our best toy purchase was the Melissa and Doug Jumbo Cardboard Blocks. The age range listed is 2 years +, but my son's been playing with them since he was around 1 and still loves them at 3 1/2. They are so durable. The kids can even stand on them! They're great!
another toy that's gotten A LOT of milage in our home is the fisher price learning home. that's good from 6 mo up.
oh, and nesting blocks. nesting blocks are great, too.
those are our home-run toys.
I agree with so much that Rebecca has on her list. I would also add:
- sidewalk chalk
-lots and lots of scrap paper. My kids love to draw pictures and hang on the fridge, walls, anywhere. I also have some old envelopes that were going to be thrown away by a company that changed logos. We use them to "mail" letters to grandma.
- doll & stroller...this is the hot item at the daycare. I really could use 4 doll strollers (I only have two and they fight over them all the time)
- toy phone & remote. we actually let the kids play with the old cordless phone. you can also go to cell phone stores and get the old "demo" models. Many times they have a box of phones in the back and they will just give one to your child.
- my kids also love bags of any kind. they spend more time packing things and unpacking...they are always going on a "trip"
Rebecca covered my list. Toyette is such a great idea! And, I love feet photos, too. :)
Who plays the banjo?
Love the pictures!
Best toys...Hmmmm...
The blue and red "shape ball" that you can ONLY get from Tupperware(buy 2 they are worth every penny).
Wiffle Balls(won't break anything in the house),Melissa and Doug stringing beads AND building blocks(last FOREVER),Homemade Sock Puppets(Buy the HUGE buttons for eyesand fake fur for hair),wooden spoons and some really shiny pans to beat on,one big cotton bag with big ole handles on it,PLAY DOH, PLAY DOH, PLAY DOH!
Those are my favorites.
I am a BIG fan.
Andrea
I forgot to mention that every child should have a really goofy looking sock monkey. Childhood would not be childhood without one. :)
Okay I am slack - I totally missed your new blog look! I love it!
Dress-up clothes and props. Both boys and girls should have a closet FULL. They should also have lots of unstructured time to USE them! My kids spend more time playing with these than anything else, and our crazy-large collection of dress-up clothes is always the BIGGEST hit when kids come to play (and I'm talking boys here).
A CD (or CDs) full of fun, kid-friendly, but totally HIP kid's music and a big box of kid-friendly musical instruments to go along with it: shakers, drums, bells, scrapers, etc.... Our "music box" is quite popular!
Good, old-fashioned wooden blocks.
A sandbox.
A water table.
A cloth doll. I, personally, think boys should also be given the opportunity to play with dolls. No need to force it on them, just have one at your house- especially if there is a new baby on the way!
I'll echo the wooden train set. That's a keeper.
Puzzles of all varieties.
A tent for indoors.
And, books of every size, shape, and variety! Books to overflowing....and endless hours for reading them with an adult they love!
So many great items listed!
As a mom to 2 boys I have to add uh, CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES!!!
Something that added hours of fun, and wasn't too hard to clean up was using our train table with a bag or 2 of dried beans as 'rocks and dirt' for all the bulldozers, backhoes and dumptrucks to push and carry around. The train table's raised sides were great as it kept most of the beans on the table. Great for doing an 'outside' activity indoors on a rainy day.
I like Tami's idea on using beans on a train table!!
Grant would go NUTS for that!!
I've been thinking.....how about a post about toys we wish had never crossed the threshold into our houses? I could chime in on a few of those. :)
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