Like many families of toddlers, we probably have more toys than we need. Although I try to rotate toys through the toy box, there are a handful of things that Lizzy plays with most often, and will even ask for by name if they happen to be out of the toy box that week. I thought I might make a little list in case you guys are looking for birthday and/or holiday ideas for a little guy or gal in your life. Obviously, every kid is different, but here's what Lizzy is most into right now:
1. Play Food
Lizzy has the set pictured above, which her Great-Grandma got for her at Target (ours is Circo brand and 90 pieces rather than 76 though). Right now, this is undoubtedly Lizzy's favorite thing to play with, even though we don't have a play kitchen or anything of the sort. I'm not sure whether she actually loves the food itself all that much, or just dumping the entire 90 pieces over her head repeatedly. Honestly, this "toy" is kind of a pain for me because of all the small pieces, but it's one of those things that Lizzy asks for by name even when I've tried to hide it away so that the living room will stay clean for more than 15 minutes.
2. Toobaloo
I know, what the heck is a Toobaloo? To be honest, I wouldn't have had any idea either, except that I inherited two from my Aunt, who is a teacher and was switching grades. Apparently, kids hold these up to their ears as they're reading books, which helps them to better hear what they sound like. The two that we have look distinctly more like an actual telephone, and this is another toy that ALL the kids, even Lizzy's 5 and 6 year old cousins, love. They love pretending to call each other, and they love getting to hear whatever they say echo back to them. So far, none of them have actually used it for its intended purpose, but at less than $5, who cares?
3. Ring Sorter/Stacker
This was a gift from Samantha (and her husband John) from Christmas this past year, and Lizzy still plays with it often. I love that right now, it helps Lizzy work on motor skills with trying to get the rings on the posts. She's also just starting to like to count to five with me, so it's a great toy for that as well. In the future, she'll still use it, but for learning and sorting by colors. It's a great, simple toy.
4. Animal Toys
We have both the Little People Farm and Noah's Ark along with the "bonus" set of animals that were gifts from Lizzy's Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Mike (and I think the bonus set of animals may have been from Samantha and John as well?) Lizzy has recently been really into singing "Old McDonald", and so this is a fun toy to do that will, as well as to teach her the corresponding animal sounds. It's also just now occurring to me that Lizzy knows the "Who Built The Ark?" song, and so I should do the same thing with Noah's Ark, but I haven't yet. Either way, I've really been pleased with the Little People toys!
5. Zany Zoo
Holy cow, it's little Lizzy--this picture was back from her first birthday. I just realized that in 4 more months, she's going to be TWO. That is crazy talk people, CRAZY. Anyway, this particular toy has been put away for a couple of weeks because I noticed that Lizzy hadn't been playing with it as much recently, and since we have such a small house, I try to only keep one or two "big" toys in the living room at a time. Still, it's another one of those toys that Lizzy has gotten a ton of use out of all throughout her "toddler-hood", and one that the older friends and cousins seem to love as well. I think now that it's been put away for awhile, she's really going to like trying to match the correct animals and such! And, it's from Target, just in case you're wondering.
Runner Up: Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Set
This little gadget was an awesome present from Lizzy's Aunt Renee and Uncle Ryan, also for her birthday. She hasn't used it as much recently (maybe because we were constantly telling her that the kitchen was off-limits while we were painting the cabinets), but LOVED it just up until the last month or so, and it's a really fun gender neutral toy, and I do think it's helped Lizzy learn the alphabet song. Now, any time she sees letters of any kind (i.e. on a t-shirt), she excitedly points and says "A-B-C's!" Bless her little heart!
Note: All of the items featured in the post were either purchased by us or were gifts to Lizzy by our friends and family. None were provided by the companies for review. Additionally, this post was not a paid review of any sort.
Lizzy has the set pictured above, which her Great-Grandma got for her at Target (ours is Circo brand and 90 pieces rather than 76 though). Right now, this is undoubtedly Lizzy's favorite thing to play with, even though we don't have a play kitchen or anything of the sort. I'm not sure whether she actually loves the food itself all that much, or just dumping the entire 90 pieces over her head repeatedly. Honestly, this "toy" is kind of a pain for me because of all the small pieces, but it's one of those things that Lizzy asks for by name even when I've tried to hide it away so that the living room will stay clean for more than 15 minutes.
2. Toobaloo
I know, what the heck is a Toobaloo? To be honest, I wouldn't have had any idea either, except that I inherited two from my Aunt, who is a teacher and was switching grades. Apparently, kids hold these up to their ears as they're reading books, which helps them to better hear what they sound like. The two that we have look distinctly more like an actual telephone, and this is another toy that ALL the kids, even Lizzy's 5 and 6 year old cousins, love. They love pretending to call each other, and they love getting to hear whatever they say echo back to them. So far, none of them have actually used it for its intended purpose, but at less than $5, who cares?3. Ring Sorter/Stacker
This was a gift from Samantha (and her husband John) from Christmas this past year, and Lizzy still plays with it often. I love that right now, it helps Lizzy work on motor skills with trying to get the rings on the posts. She's also just starting to like to count to five with me, so it's a great toy for that as well. In the future, she'll still use it, but for learning and sorting by colors. It's a great, simple toy.
4. Animal Toys
We have both the Little People Farm and Noah's Ark along with the "bonus" set of animals that were gifts from Lizzy's Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Mike (and I think the bonus set of animals may have been from Samantha and John as well?) Lizzy has recently been really into singing "Old McDonald", and so this is a fun toy to do that will, as well as to teach her the corresponding animal sounds. It's also just now occurring to me that Lizzy knows the "Who Built The Ark?" song, and so I should do the same thing with Noah's Ark, but I haven't yet. Either way, I've really been pleased with the Little People toys!
5. Zany Zoo
Holy cow, it's little Lizzy--this picture was back from her first birthday. I just realized that in 4 more months, she's going to be TWO. That is crazy talk people, CRAZY. Anyway, this particular toy has been put away for a couple of weeks because I noticed that Lizzy hadn't been playing with it as much recently, and since we have such a small house, I try to only keep one or two "big" toys in the living room at a time. Still, it's another one of those toys that Lizzy has gotten a ton of use out of all throughout her "toddler-hood", and one that the older friends and cousins seem to love as well. I think now that it's been put away for awhile, she's really going to like trying to match the correct animals and such! And, it's from Target, just in case you're wondering.
Runner Up: Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Set
This little gadget was an awesome present from Lizzy's Aunt Renee and Uncle Ryan, also for her birthday. She hasn't used it as much recently (maybe because we were constantly telling her that the kitchen was off-limits while we were painting the cabinets), but LOVED it just up until the last month or so, and it's a really fun gender neutral toy, and I do think it's helped Lizzy learn the alphabet song. Now, any time she sees letters of any kind (i.e. on a t-shirt), she excitedly points and says "A-B-C's!" Bless her little heart! Note: All of the items featured in the post were either purchased by us or were gifts to Lizzy by our friends and family. None were provided by the companies for review. Additionally, this post was not a paid review of any sort.
We have the Zany Zoo, too! Eli has enjoyed playing with it since he was about 9 months old, and I really hope that he continues to use it for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely going to get him a Little People set for Christmas... probably the barn. Thanks for the great ideas!
Okay, I really *really* want the play food. For myself. Like, right now. If they had little glass versions, I would probably pee myself.
ReplyDeleteYou know we love little people over here! I always love hearing what toys other kids like.
ReplyDeleteToobaloo will be mine...I mean C's!
ReplyDeleteOh Meredith... I so so understand what you mean about that play food..that one is on the top of our list as well!! I hate picking up the pieces...there are too many!
ReplyDeleteThat Toobaloo thing-a-ma-jig looks really neat - might need to pick one up for my niece for Christmas :)
ReplyDelete