HAPPY FRIDAY! It's a day to play the music louder, to take a moment to dance a little, and to choose joy - regardless of circumstances. Mmmmm I feel it rising!
Well, this post is going to be a little different for me. I've just wrapped a five part series on girlfriending (here's part one, part two, part three, part four, and part five) and this morning, I NEEDED to write something light and frankly, something that didn't require me to pray a lot before typing! Ha!
So - what is the obvious choice for my topic of writing this morning? Toys for boys, of course! It's not a type of post that I consider to be in my wheelhouse but here's the deal: Liam is about to turn THREE YEARS OLD!!!!!!!! How did that happen? Can't wait to write about that precious man-child soon. I am always looking for great leads on toys that tap his imagination and prompt him to deeply play. So - this is going to be a run down of some of our top toys over the past year.
What qualifies as a top toy? First, it must be a repeat offender. It must be a toy that he goes back to again and again even if he takes a break from it for a while. Second, it must be $50 or less. We do all of our toy receiving at birthday time and Christmas. The $50 limit keeps things reasonable and many of these top toys are far under that price point.
Don't expect this list to blow you away with genius idea after genius idea! These are no-brainer toys that have been big hits at our house - not revolutionary approaches to play time. And many will be just as applicable to girls! The list is not in order of most wonderful to least wonderful. It's just a comprehensive list of what we've loved over the past year.
Let's GO!
1. Jumbo Dinosaurs by Learning Resources
These have been GREAT. Liam adores them and went a straight three months playing with little else. He continues to play with them often. When I say jumbo, I do mean jumbo. These are not hand-sized - they are more like fore-arm sized (a two year old fore-arm that is) and the quality and details are solid. Highly recommend!
2. Mega Bloks (Duplos)
The large size of the blocks is helpful for little hands but still teaches the concept of sticking things together in order to build. It's been very cool to see how Liam's building skills have developed over one year. Now he builds things that really look like what he wants them to be! Planes, rockets, Lightning McQueen.... but of course!
3. Diggers!
This toy could not be a better value! This set on Amazon goes for about $6. And these diggers have been a fixture in our play lives since the moment they were opened. Great great great.
4. Melissa and Doug Fireman Outfit
Melissa and Doug ANYTHING is a winner in my opinion. So far, this is the only role play costume we have but we are getting ready to add more because Liam has used this outfit so much. From a young two to an almost three year old, this is relevant and so much fun to watch him play with.
5. Giant Cardboard Blocks
LOVE these. It's great because these are truly made of cardboard (require assembly) so if one gets hurled - it's going to hurt a lot less than a wood block. Yikes! In my experience with being a boy mom thus far - things are going to get hurled occasionally. I love the size of these because they can easily build a tower that is as big as they are and then fall into it without getting hurt. Lots of Daddy and Liam towers have been built with these.
6. Train Set
We have loved Thomas and all things trains for a long time. This particular train set is great because it has some intricacy and lots of generic trains, cars, houses, trees, etc included. 100% compatible with all Thomas trains so it's a win! Also, I'm a huge train table fan - if purchased used. These things are monsters and expensive new. We bought ours on Craigslist for $50 instead of $120-$150 new. Get one that has drawers - very useful.
7. Reusable Sticker Books
REUSABLE STICKERS!!!! Thank you Melissa and Doug. Liam loves stickers. But it irritates me that stickers are so expensive and done after one stick on the page. These are the opposite - they are able to be used again and again. Each pad comes with five different big scenes with coordinating stickers (train stickers go with a train station scene). It's a little work to put it all back together again....but this is way to go for stickers. And hello - at $7/pad it's a great deal.
8. Hero Bath Toys
This is my favorite for bath time. We use these every single time we take a bath and Liam loves them. They can be a little pricey if you think about them being bath toys but Buy Buy Baby is the place to purchase if you have a coupon. In this case, a better deal than Amazon. Elegant Baby makes many different theme sets and they are all great!
9. Curious George Books
We have all kinds of books and Liam loves to be read to. But these Curios George books are on the very top of my list. We have seven different CG books and I love them for a lot of reasons. First, the stories are a great balance of simple/complex. I think they have pulled him along in terms of listening to a story but the illustrations are so great that if he doesn't follow all of the words - he knows exactly what's going on by the pictures. Plus, the stories are precious! Second, hello price point. Amazon sells the paperback versions for $2-$3/book. Can't beat that. We plan to add more and more to the collection.
10. 100 Bible Stories
My Mom and I found this Bible at Easter this year. Actually Liam picked it out! He instantly gravitated towards it and he loves it still. It takes the Bible stories and puts them into an easily understood story for toddlers. Plus it has great illustrations and a take away point or message on the corresponding page. We have a few other toddler/kid Bibles but this is the one he really likes.
I hope this is valuable! The last year of play time with Liam has been fascinating. A lot happens between 2 and 3 years old! Hey - pass on what your favorites have been. I am always looking for more ideas.
Happy weekending y'all! And happy playing :).
Lots of love,
Abi
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