I’ve accomplished most of the shopping for my little ones this year (thanks to my computer, a cup of coffee, and my PJ’s). I thought I’d share the toys they’ll get that are “educational” (yet fun), just in case you needed a few more ideas. 🙂
There are several ways I decide on the “right” toys: I see them on other blogs (like Carisa’s) or in other peoples’ homes; but ultimately, I try to pick something that I know my particular child will enjoy and/or needs to work on. And I attempt to pick items that more than one child can enjoy…seeing that they’ll all be sharing them.
BUT in all of this, I don’t want you to get the impression that we make Christmas all about the toys. We strive to help them understand that Christmas isn’t their birthday…and not everyone shares in the blessings that we have.
MBUG: 18 months old
MBug is already showing signs that she may have an engineering mind like her oldest brother and daddy. She loves working with her hands; including coloring, puzzles, dumping and transferring objects, pushing buttons (especially when she gets ahold of my cell phone!) & building things. I am absolutely amazed that at 18 months she can put together our GeoTrax set!
Puzzles: I found these at a discount store in town a few weeks ago and was excited at the price! You can click on the images to view online.Insect Wooden Chunky Puzzle
I got the puzzle that’s on the top of this little rack. I couldn’t find the link to it on amazon and I can’t remember the name of it, but it looked PERFECT for a little girl!
I purchased these at Target & THEY ARE ON SALE THIS WEEK!
We have several B. toys (most of ours were made by Parent before B. bought them out), but I love their products!
NJOY: 3 years old
NJoy’s new thing is to constantly ask, “Mommy, what’s that spell?” or “How do you spell…?” Just the other day, we were sitting at a stoplight and he looked over at a sign and said, “C-A-R, does that spell car?” WHAT?!? He also has recently learned how to play Candy Land, so I thought a few more board games might be fun.
Melissa & Doug Jumbo Numbers Chunky Wooden Puzzle. Even though he can count to 20, he could work on # recognition.
Duplo set of ABC’s. We already have the number set, which he likes to play with as well.
Cat in that Hat Memory Match: The boy loves Cat in the Hat!
Chutes and Ladders: I figured this one would be a good one for ALuv to review his numbers 1-100 as well.
ALUV: 6 years old
This child has been the hardest to buy for this year! I know, I know…it’ll probably only get harder.
So, some simple items we’re giving him are: a package of construction paper (the boy LOVES to build paper airplanes), tape (to make those tales I showed on FB this week), highlighters, a big package of crayons, coloring books, & stencils. I have my heart set on these Tupperware stencils I grew up with, but ebay has not been my friend lately. If any of you have stencil suggestions, I’d love to hear them!!
We also toyed around with the idea of getting him an ipod Touch this year (because of all the awesome educational apps), but after doing some research, we decided to hold off. Not because this is a bad product, just more than we wanted to spend knowing that if NJoy or MBug got a hold of it and decided to throw it, it would be expensive to fix. 🙂
Instead we’re getting him an ipod Shuffle. Daddy has one and ALuv loves to use it, so we’re hoping he’ll be excited to get one of his own. We’ll pre-load it with some of his favorite songs.
Shared Gifts:
- Cooties (for A&N)
- Mr. & Mrs. Potato Heads (great fine motor for NJoy and MBug)- I found these in-store @ Wal-Mart for $6.97 a piece.
- Magneatos (straight & curved set): Carisa has a great link to a post that shows some creative ways to use these.
So, there are some ideas…if you have some, I’d love to hear them!
Merry Christmas!
~Becky
Amber Scavo says
Sequence Dice (great for math facts), Castle Logix, GeoPuzzles, Qwirkle, any of the Brain Boxes, ANYTHING from Mindware (love them! they sell on amazon, but request a catalog so you can browse with ease)
We do have an itouch (ours, not theirs) that is great for the educational apps and music, but I still wouldn’t trade our Leapsters- both kids still love them and are working on math facts, reading, and art. Still top with us at 5 and 8yrs.
thisreadingmama says
Thanks for your suggestions, Amber! We just ordered Perplexus for A yesterday, but I wish I’d read your list first!!!