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Like most parents, I want to give my kids the best of everything. But trying to find the best product for the best price and the best value that is worth it and will last can be overwhelming. In the mere five years since I became a mother, my house has exploded with toys. Birthdays, Christmas, hand-me-downs, and all the other random times we bring toys home have really added up.
Sometimes I am surprised that something is a hit, and sometimes a toy I thought they would love sits unused in the corner. Seeing as my oldest has a birthday in a few weeks and I’m starting to get excited about Christmas, I have toys and gifts on the brain. So I thought I’d put together a list of some of the toys we’ve found worth the money in our house!
100 Words book: My two-year-old got this for Christmas last year, and it has been awesome. I love that it is a book but that it is also interactive. There are 12 pages of everything from colors to body parts to vehicles. When you touch a picture, the book says what it is with a sound or explanation. Such a great little book for teaching and entertaining!
Mega Blocks: Mega Blocks are sturdy, durable, easy to clean, and grow with kids. My two-year-old loves to build things, and so does my five-year-old. They provide endless hours of fun from making towers that touch the ceiling to prisons the kids break out of. We’ve made garages, chairs, airplanes, and more. Plus, you can always add more to your stash!
DoodlePro: My kiddos love to draw and color. But like most parents, I’ve experienced crayon on the walls and marker on the couch. We actually have a version of this drawing board that has stamps, but those continuously get lost and worry me around babies. This DoodlePro fits right in the child’s lap and promotes creativity. It’s perfect for car rides, church, quiet time, and more.
Giant Teddy Bear: This may seem silly. To be honest, I was not thrilled when my husband came home with a giant teddy bear last Christmas. It was on sale and he thought the kids would love it, and boy do they! They wrestle with it, jump on it, hug it, and sit on it. I can’t believe how much they actually play with it.
Rainbow Color Cones: These are so cute and educational. They may seem like just another toy, but they are so fun. My littles like to scoop up ice cream for me and tell me what flavor it is. They come up with everything from broccoli mint to grape cotton candy. They get to practice being creative and learn their colors. I just wouldn’t recommend these for a daycare or nursery because they inevitably end up getting licked no matter how much we practice pretending!
Toy Tool Set: Kids love to find ways to copy us. Sometimes that isn’t good… but sometimes they learn great skills like helping and fixing things when they break. We have toy tools all over the house and my kids like to pretend to use them on everything. A few years ago my then two-year-old was playing outside and flipped over his dump truck and lawn mower, grabbed a real screwdriver from the garage, and started working on it.
Ride-On Toys: I have searched and searched and can’t find the Thomas ride-on toy that we have and love, but these ones look awesome, too. My kids have used theirs for years. They have loved getting rides, pushing each other, scooting around, and have even learned to walk from pushing it around. The seat on ours opens up, and they are always stashing things in there.
Outdoor/Playhouse Toy: My mom ran a preschool for over 20 years, and when she retired from teaching a few years ago, she let us have a ship playhouse. She suggested that we put it in our playroom. I thought it was strange, but it has been awesome. We cleaned it really well, and my kids love opening and closing the door over and over again. They pretend to drive places, make forts out of it, pile it with toys, and show anyone who comes over. It’s a little expensive, but it would be awesome for Christmas or a playroom makeover.
