Top Ten Childhood Toys - Now

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?

Top Ten Childhood Toys - Then

I read this cute blog, Shabby Blogs, and each Tuesday they host a link party. Don't know what a link party is? It is basically a way to connect with other bloggers. The benefit? It may lead to increased exposure. Can't hurt right?

This weeks link party is "Top 10 Childhood Toys". I thought it would be interesting to put up the Top 10 Childhood Toys from when I was a kid and also the Top 10 Children's Toys for my children. Then & Now. So here are the Then (Check out my top picks from my children's toys on the Now post later this week). Obviously I grew up in the 80s!

The Top 10 Childhood Toys - Then
1. Barbie.
Tropical Barbie. Peaches and Cream Barbie. Skipper. Barbie and The Rockers! I loved my Barbies. Mum actually cut the thumbs off all our Barbies so they were easier to dress. Mums are so resourceful!

2. My Little Pony. 

I could sit and brush the ponies hair for hours. I was always a little frustrated that they were not the right size for Barbie to ride, but they played well together nonetheless.

3. Derwent Pencils. 

I remember my sister received a set of 72 Derwent Pencils for her birthday and I wasn't allowed to use them. I waited so long to receive my own and how I loved to see all the colours of my pencils lined up in their tin. I also received the Derwent water colours for a later birthday and I still have them today, though they are all only about 10cm long these days.

4. Electric Race Car Track. 

It wasn't mine, it was my cousins, but I really loved playing with those cars and seeing them hurtle off the track at the corners - because seeing whose car flew the furthest from the track was all the fun.

5. Nintendo 64. 

We shared this with all my cousins. Each family would have it for 4 months and then pass it on to the others. My uncle had owned it and we inherited it when he passed away. There were hours of Mario World and Street Fighter.

6. Cabbage Patch Kid. 

I am fairly certain my Cabbage Patch Kid is still in the cupboard at my parents house. I'm pretty sure my mum had to fight tooth and nail for my doll. Amelia Jane was her name and I really loved adopting her and looking after her. I didn't like that I couldn't brush her woolen hair, but loved how easy it was to give her a nice hair style.

7. Pound Puppy. 

Again I loved the idea of adopting my puppy and I'm fairly certain I managed to collect a few smaller ones to use as puppies for my big dog.

8. Roller Blades. 

I saved up all summer to buy these rollerblades from Target when  I was 10 years old. Mum and Dad took me down the day before we went on a family holiday. The first day of the holiday I grabbed my new rollerblades, and went to the tennis courts to skate with a friend. I fell and broke my arm before we even started. I spent the rest of the holiday in hospital, seeing doctors and lying on the beach with my arm in plaster to the shoulder and a plastic bag over it to keep out the sand. It wasn't the best holiday. And maybe these weren't the best childhood toy, but I did want them so very badly and they left a lasting impression even if I rarely skated after that.

9. Game Boy. 

My sister and I begged our parents for a Game Boy for months. They resisted and resisted and then gave in. Or maybe Santa stepped in...I can't remember which. We had to share it and we only had a couple of games. Tetris. Mario Brothers. Loved it.

10. Chemistry Set.

For all the nerds. I received a chemistry set for one birthday and I can remember following instructions  to mix chemicals and ingredients to make colours change, foam fizz and bubbles explode. It was great fun and I still remember the time spent with my Dad working away at the different experiments.

What were your favourite childhood toys?