Toys.... Must Have's.... What Were You Thinking?!

[lflick]

Good morning!

I am wondering what your MUST HAVE toy/activity list includes.....

What are things that have made you wonder what you were thinking?

[Unregistered]

Must haves:
Blocks
Trucks,cars,airplanes.
Dolls and accessories.
Puzzles
Books
Anything little people.
Animals.
Train table
Doll house

Things I thought I needed but now only bring out occasionally.
Lego table- lego's everywhere.
Play kitchen- Unless you have older children that do not put toys in their mouth.
Otherwise you will be cleaning play food all day.
Dress up clothes- Not really geared for the under 5 crowd. No one could ever dress themselves and they too ended up everywhere. Rip easily,even the expensive ones.
Puppet theater- Just say no!
Inside ride on toys- Just say no!
Battery operated toys including leap frog,etc.

99% of my toys are wooden, no batteries.
It's funny whenver a new kid starts they always tell me that my toys are broken because the cars don't make noise or the books dont talk.I tell them they will haveto use their imagination and make whatever noise they want themselves.

[mountainside13]

Must have is Legos, cars/trucks and balls.

What was I thinking! Sand/water table during the winter inside!

[melilley]

Must haves: Vehicles, kitchen set and accessories, shape sorters, duplos, anything art related EXCEPT an art easel (that's a what was I thinking), Mr./Mrs. Potato Head, sensory table.

What was I thinking:
A stand up art easel. The kids kept going under it, tipping it over, taking the trays off. My group at the time I had it out was 2 and under so it didn't go over very well.

Car rug-it looks cute, but the kids never play on it

Some of the puzzles that I have

I can't really think of anything else that I don't really like.
Oh, noisy battery operated toys.

[llpa]

Must have: play kitchen and everything that goes along, Melissa and Doug puzzles, legos and indoor slide. What was I thinking when I brought in the riding toys??? Ugh major conflict and needless to say they are gone happyface

[Annalee]

Good morning!

I am wondering what your MUST HAVE toy/activity list includes.....

What are things that have made you wonder what you were thinking?

I like having a center filled with manipulatives..the things that build fine motor, critical thinking, problem-solving skills i.e. puzzles, matching, linking, pegs/boards, stacking, building.

What was I thinking? a play dough table....we love play dough but it is much better on a regular table, NOT the little table that you get at walmart.

[daycarediva]

What was I thinking? Grocery/shopping carts. I bought two Melissa and Doug brand. THE FIGHTING! Rammed ankles, run over feet, pushing them at high speed into people/shelves/walls. Did I mention the fighting?

[Christina72684]

LIKES
I'm not sure the technical term for it, but it's like a marble run I guess. There's lots of building pieces they can put together to form different towers and the marble goes through it in different ways. My AS kids LOVE it! My preschoolers don't quite get it.
Action figures and plastic animals/people
Baby dolls (but they love putting the bottles in their mouths!)
Bouncing balls (at certain times!)
Play tools (but gotta watch them using them as pretend weapons, I don't allow that)

DISLIKES
Anything that can be used as a pretend weapon
Items we don't have several of bc all of a sudden everyone wants that one toy
Puzzles that are too hard for them (bc then the pieces just end up everywhere)

[lflick]

Thanks for all the ideas!

I currently have so much out that ironically everyone seems bored . I recently dumped a ton of those little ball pit balls into a play yard and it's a hit! I think the cabin fever of the long cold WISCO winter is getting to all of us.

[cheerfuldom]

Definitely do NOT have any push toys, ride on toys, strollers or large wheeled items in the inside play space.....they fight over those and hurt each other.

No puzzles because the kids rarely play with these correctly and there are pieces everywhere.

No play rugs

The favorites here are a large foam climbing set, little people, play kitchen, blocks of all sorts and sizes, small cars, small bean bags

for the older kids, magnets, manipulatives, dress up, little sets like Littlest Pet Shop, books, dolls and doll clothes, doll house

[Laurel]

Must haves:
Blocks
Trucks,cars,airplanes.
Dolls and accessories.
Puzzles
Books
Anything little people.
Animals.
Train table
Doll house

Things I thought I needed but now only bring out occasionally.
Lego table- lego's everywhere.
Play kitchen- Unless you have older children that do not put toys in their mouth.
Otherwise you will be cleaning play food all day.
Dress up clothes- Not really geared for the under 5 crowd. No one could ever dress themselves and they too ended up everywhere. Rip easily,even the expensive ones.
Puppet theater- Just say no!
Inside ride on toys- Just say no!
Battery operated toys including leap frog,etc.

99% of my toys are wooden, no batteries.
It's funny whenver a new kid starts they always tell me that my toys are broken because the cars don't make noise or the books dont talk.I tell them they will haveto use their imagination and make whatever noise they want themselves.

My under 5's love dress up clothes BUT I do very simple things.

I have hats like firefighters, cowboy, etc. I have some tutu's from the dollar store that are a simple piece of elastic and are easy for them to pull up. They love the gloves/mittens and put them on hands and feet, they like receiving blankets/scarves to use for various things like capes or shawls. Oh and shoes. I have them in child sizes but bigger than they would wear. Mostly I have accessories and hats. Watches, wallets, purses, kiddie necklaces and things like that. I don't have full outfits. If they can't put them on themselves then I don't have them. That is too much trouble.

Laurel