Toys for 1,2 and 4 yrs old

cbg

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 9:04 am

I'm the practical grandma. I always get the grandkids pjs, clothes, socks,etc.
This year want to get them fun toys, they won't grow tired of too fast.

1 yr old grandson. Only child so far. Loves to be active, crawling everywhere,standing, walking while holding on. I was going to get him a walker, the one you sit in, but his parents got him one. It needs to be something that will keep him occupied by himself for a good 10 minutes. DIL works full time and needs a few minutes to herself and to make dinner, etc. Shabbat friendly would be wonderful, but not necessarily mandatory.

2 and 4 yr old, boys, siblings. 2 yr old likes everything, very easy to please, but can get into a lot of trouble, if not constantly watched. Rather knock down than build. He is always knocking over what his brother builds. Typical brothers, love jumping on the bed. 4 yr old always wants to "wrestle" ( in a gentle way) with him. 2 yr old is home with mom all day and gets lots of attention.
4 yr old obsessed with singing like Benny Freidman, and Thomas the train, likes to build, a little bit rough with his brother, but not in a concerning way.
The problem with these 2 is that they already have every imaginable toy.
Most of them are from 4 yr old, they basically share everything, the 2 yr old is so easy going he doesn't mind, doesn't care, doesn't understand, but I want something special just for him.
They already have:
Thomas train master tracks with 2 trains.
Huge ride on Thomas, handed down from a cousin.
Small wooden blocks.
Mega blocks the bigger kind
A ride on toy
A balance bicycle (upsherin present from me)
Lots of little baby toys that light up
Magna doodle
Small and big cars, trucks, trains, electric and manual.

Oh and their mom is expecting for March

I want to buy things they'll absolutely love.
My budget is no more than $50 for each.

cbg

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 10:11 am

Ahuva's Mommy wrote:

What about manga tiles for the two and four year old to share? For $100 dollars you can get a knockoff set or possibly the original if you look out for sales.

Too many pieces for mommy to organize.
The kids do clean up very nicely, but they just dump everything into the toy box. I'm afraid all these pieces would get lost and crack. It's too expensive for that to happen.

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 10:14 am

1 year olds don't need toys specific to them, imo.

Magna tiles will be very frustrating to a 4 year old whose 2 year old brother knocks his stuff down.

Maybe a trampoline, since they like to jump?
http://www.toysrus.com/product.....llers

My boys approximately that age loved a remote control tractor we bought them, something like this:
http://www.toysrus.com/product.....amily

Do they have play do? (clear that with their mother first if they have a 1 yr old sibling, though)

Maybe buy a small thing for each kid, and a bigger item for them to share. It's more fun to play together.

cbg

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 2:44 pm

The 1 yr old is there cousin
Don't know what to get him
Do babies enjoy those toys that you put the ball on top and it goes through twirly maze to the bottom. Will it keep him entertained enough for his mom to sit a few minutes and drink a tea.

The 2 and 4 are siblings
The 4 yr old told me he wants more trains for his Thomas track master.
The problem is he wants the motorized talking track master, NOT Percy or Thomas. I've been searching a little hard to find. I want to get him 3 if they are less than $20. He also wants the limited edition gold Thomas, that's ok just a few dollars

I don't know what I can get the 2 yr. He's so easy going. And is happy with everything. I'm afraid he is going to end up the typical middle child, always getting the hand me downs from the oldest. I want something special that he can call his.

NO PLAYDOUGH, too messy
Trampoline, maybe
They already have 2 remote control cars (from the oldest)

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 5:31 pm

For the 1 year old:

We have an awesome ball popper toy that all my kids have loved. For some reason, it's been discontinued (im considering buying another one used from ebay if I can find it)

This is similar
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/.....lSrch

I've seen this in use, and it's fun, but it's not good for shabbos
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/.....lSrch

This is the one we have. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT, just can't find it anywhere.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....RSER6

seeker

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 5:59 pm

If you worry so much about things getting lost or broken or messy the poor kids will never have any fun. We do our best to stay orderly but lost/broken/messy is the nature of toys and childhood fun, deal with it. You eventually get used to finding clics in your underwear drawer and cars in your milchig pots.

Kids do like the things where you put a ball in the top and it goes down a track. We had a great one by I think playskool that I'm not sure they make anymore, but there is a smaller similar thing that I have seen more. It doesn't provide endless entertainment but it does get a lot of use (I'm referring to what I've seen at my mother's house with many different grandchildren) and is definitely an age-appropriate $20-range gift for a 1-year-old.

WTH is this about playdough being too messy? What is childhood without playdough? If you live in NY I have seen some very nice looking play dough sets at Amazing Savings for about $8 each. The fun factory set is a great one but since I already have a basic fun factory (for which I probably paid about the same price without all the little extras) I have been eyeing the tool set, I like that it comes with a blunt scissors. And 2 is a great age for play dough. Also a great age to experiment with blunt scissors and play dough.

for the specific hard-to-find train request, try ebay. I have had a lot of luck finding things that were harder to find in retail.

seeker

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 6:08 pm

This is vaguely similar to the old one that my mother has that I don't think they sell anymore:
http://www.google.com/imgres?I.....xpA0w

This is the one she got more recently that is also fun for toddlers but not *quite* as entertaining for *quite* as long: (I.e. the previous one was fun for older kids as well, to an extent. This one is really just a toddler toy)
http://www.google.com/imgres?I.....cIKVQ

Something like this looks even better because you can build it into different things. Mom can build a track at first so kiddo can enjoy just rolling the balls down, and when he gets older he can have fun building tracks too:
http://www.google.com/imgres?I.....14DQg

amother

Coffee

Sun, Nov 15 2015, 7:36 pm

If your interested in the Mr Potato Super Spud that someone posted about - kohls is having it on sale for 17.99 on black friday. My 2 yr old loves it

My 1 yr old loves http://www.walmart.com/ip/2157.....h=sem I was amazed out how long this kept him busy. He also likes the fake kitchen set and dishes.

My 2 yr old likes (besides for the potato head) matchbox/hotweel cars, two piece puzzles and duplo legos.

lfab

Mon, Nov 16 2015, 9:15 am

For the 2 and 4 year old brothers- What about one of those large car garages like this http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-P.....arage or a floor mat that looks like a road http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Ki.....N9AYG together with some toy cars.
Or an adjustable height basketball hoop http://www.amazon.com/Little-T.....W39AJ
Or a toy workbench with tools http://www.amazon.com/Black-De.....X5QQ.

For the one year old something like this might be nice http://www.amazon.com/VTech-Sm.....+hoop

(Sorry I don't have more ideas. I only have girls so I'm not sure about what boys that age would really like. Just going based off of what I've seen with nephews, playdates, etc.).