Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Our Family's Favorite Toys

One of my favorite blogs ever Clover Lane is having a link up for your family's favorite toys and with 5 kids from tween down to infant (is Lilly still a infant? the girl STILL does not walk HA!) anyhow we have seen our fair share of toys over the years.
With Christmas right around the cornier (6 weeks!) it is that time to start scanning the big toy books that flood the mailbox and make some lists. i took the kids to toys r us last week to make a list for my in-laws because they asked for a list, it gave me some good ideas but also made me realize the kids actually love those traditional toys that you see every year. i am not a toy "collector" actually i am a toy "minimalist" ha! i don't want a bunch of junk that has a billion pieces that we throw away by January and i think the kids realize that now and choose wisely. here are some things that i love and that do not normally bother me throughout the whole year ;)
Dolls-
I am so excited Lilly will be at the doll age for a good long time. I got her this cute doll for her first birthday and she actually likes it and i plan to get her a few friends for her. this one was made by fisher price and was $12 at Costco and she smells soooo good. Dolls i generally like soft bodies with "real" faces, legs and arms. i also like cabbage patch dolls so cute and reminds me of my childhood. Liz at age 12 will still dress up dolls and bears even though surprisingly there was none on her list...

Tinker Toys-
all my kids love these! and i can throw them in a bucket and they don't have to be separated into specific categories.

Lincoln Logs-
basically the same reasoning as Tinkertoy's and they are so fun when they blend in the carpet and you step on them in the middle of the night NOT. but these are toys that require imagination and my boys love them. Johnathan invades the cowboys with his star wars action figures and will play for hours!

Tech Decks-
pretty "new" but my 8 year old loves these! i have a friend who's 13 year old still loves tech decks.
And for some favorites that i don't have pictures of at the moment but i do not part with EVER:
  1. Lego's- everyone loves Lego's and they provide hours and hours and hours and hours of entertainment for my boys
  2. books- i love books especially hardback books. i love looking through the illustrations and there is always great new books coming out.
  3. Hot wheels- we LOVE hot wheels in this house, love them so much you can find them in all rooms of the house if you look carefully. Jake will carry them throughout the house and leave them strategically then if we don't see it a few days later he will pick it up like he planned for it to be there all along
  4. games- i love games, the kids like to play games win win! the bigger kids are getting to the age where they play well and get the rules so i can beat them fairly HA!
  5. Art/Drawing/ Craft stuff i love things the kids can do (as long as it doesn't make too much of a mess lol) and most kids love to be creative.
  6. Thomas the train stuff- so cute and fun and most kids love them
  7. anything for the outdoors- basketballs, football, soccer ball, etc.

We have lots of "boy" stuff right now because Liz has outgrown lots of her toys and Lilly is 1 so she doesn't care as long as she can chew it but i look forward to girly stuff like dress up clothes, tea sets, play kitchens etc....

Things i do not love as far as toys are concerned are

  1. those box sets you buy at big box stores that are like $10 for 100 piece army/airplane/mechanic shop set know what i am talking about? the ones when you open the package half the stuff breaks
  2. hot wheels tracks, i think they never last longer than a few months so now i just stick to the cars them selves.
  3. puzzles my kids lose (or eat) the pieces and then it is pointless
  4. remote control cars we have purchased these a few times and they always seem like a waste of money
  5. for girls i don't like those sets that have like a stroller, car seat, highchair etc for a baby doll the ones that are made from light weight plastic where the wheels don't roll right and they break once your 30 pound 1 year old lays on the cradle HA! i cant wait to get Lilly a heavy duty shopping cart to put all her toys in and push it around the house, i loved when Liz would do that!

want to see some more great ideas go here

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2 comments:

  1. I admire the valuable information you offer in your post about the your Family's Favorite Toys. All the toys are very pretty and enjoyable,toys are good friend of kids.
    Best Regards
    learning games for kids

    ReplyDelete
  2. came over from Clover Lane...I may have to consider the tech decks. I have been on fence - will the boys really play with them...do your boys use them for hotwheels/matchbox too?

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