Earlier this week I joined in a link party at Shabby Blogs for my Top 10 Childhood Toys. As a way of comparison I have also picked out my Top 10 Toys for Children Now.
(Note: My children two boys aged 2 years and 4 years and a girl aged 2 months. Hence my Top 10 Toys are predominately to boys toys for under fours.)
The Top 10 Childhood Toys - Now
1. Thomas The Tank Engine Trains and Railway.
A day does not go by without my boys at least playing with a train or two, if not asking for a train track to be built and hours of Thomas-Fun being had.
2. Bob The Builder Toys.
A day does not go by without my boys playing with one of their Bob toys - Lofty, Muck, Scoop, Scratch, Travis, Bob, Wendy. And they are the toughest construction toys we have. We were even lucky enough to be given the whole set from friends whose son had outgrown them.
3. Thomas The Tank Engine Bath Toys.
I try to buy new toys for the bath periodically (like when they begin to go moldy). I have not been allowed to retire the Thomas toys from the bath for over 2.5 years. They have seen many buckets of bleach to keep them in operation. They do not look like they will retiring anytime soon.
4. Sandpit.
My husband was at me for months to get the boys a sandpit. I resisted. All I could envisage was sand - EVERYWHERE. And there is sand EVERYWHERE. But there is sand and happy hours of play. There are tears and sadness on rainy days and laughter and squeals of delight on sunny ones. All because of the sandpit.
5. The Wheely Bug Bee.
It drives me crazy, but my 2 year old would ride that thing all day if he could. It's a bee, a digger, a car, a truck, an Octonaut GUP-A or -B or -C. It is FUN!
6. Play Kitchen and Cooking Utensils.
Hours of fun playing chefs and cafes. It is a great game for when I need to sit (& feed the baby), as they will run in and out of their kitchen taking my order, preparing my meals and adding up my bill. And they get to pretend to be their Dad who does all the cooking in this house!
7. Play tools.
These come out everytime my husband has something he needs to fix or do involving tools. My kids love working alongside their Dad (or in the case of the picture below, their Pop) with their own tools, tinkering and fixing. And of course, these constantly come out when they play anything to do with Bob The Builder.
8. Matchbox cars.
We were so fortunate to be the happy recipients of a hand-me-down collection of matchbox cars and car mat. It is a rare day when one or other of the boys leaves the house without a matchbox car or two (or three) in their hand. Great to take to restaurants and cafes to keep them amused whilst waiting for food and of course racing cars up and down the hallway at home is always fun.
9. Net One Helicopter Toy.
Indoor flying fun that isn't going to break a vase or knock a picture off the wall. What more could a mother of boys want on a rainy day?! When they get sick of flying the helicopter disks around the house, they double as Mike The Knight helmets apparently (see photo below for details)...
10. Bikes, trikes and Scooters.
What more needs to be said?
And because I couldn't stop at just 10, here are a few honourable mentions:
Books
Not technically toys, but books form an important part of every single day in our house.
Playdough
Making it, playing with it. Its not my favourite due to the mess factor, but my boys love it.
Jolly Jumper
Before my boys were walking, they loved to bounce around in the Jolly Jumper. And I loved it, because I knew where they were for 10-15 minutes so I could throw some washing in the machine or make the beds whilst they jumped for joy nearby.
Cardboard Box
Its cliched, but oh so true. It can be a car, a train, a castle, a fort, a GUP-A, or as in the case below a robot called "Box Boy".
iPad or iPhone
Embracing technology - these can provide hours of entertainment for long haul flights, and restaurants and just when we need a bit more sleep but Beau decides 5am is wake up time. Games, puzzles, books, colouring in, counting, letters, writing, music, shows - the list goes on. An amazing tool for kids and parents alike.
What are your favourite toys for your kids?
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