best tried and true toys for my toddler?

Question

what the best tried and true toys for my son who will be 2 in february? Fisher price? Playskool? Give me a link to the toy ...no blocks please....thanks in advane

Answer 1

I think the best toys you can give him are toys that encourage creativity and thinking - toys that can be used in different ways instead of having only one purpose or something that lights up and plays music but does little else. Sadly a lot of the popular name brand toys do just that! Some of them are good though so you'd have to take a critical look at them and see which ones might be a little more worthwhile. Believe me, the expensive plastic toys don't get played with for as long as the more simple, imaginative ones.

The best toys for young children are puzzles, blocks (I assume you already have those as you don't want them), books, shape sorters, art materials (paper, crayons etc.), musical instruments, vehicles and people/animal figurines, balls, trikes or push/ride ons etc. Anything that encourages developmental skills across a range of different areas. The favourite toys of my children (two boys aged 1 and 2) are cars and trains, wooden blocks, wooden shape sorter, stacking rings and cups, puzzles, and anything to do with playing outside. They also love books and look forward to a night-time story with mum.

You only need some basic, simple toys for children this age. It is when they get older that they will demand the most expensive things. Young children are happiest with just being outside with nature (my one year old loves eating leaves outside and my 2 year old gazes at the sky looking for aeroplanes!) and doing very simple activities like drawing, playing with cars etc.

I hope that helps you decide. My favourite toy store is the Early Learning Centre (a UK based company that distributes to other countries, including here in Australia) - they have the most beautiful toys, have a look for them on the internet, perhaps they ship goods if there are no stockists where you live.

Good luck!

(Mum of 2 toddlers and former early childhood teacher)

Answer 2

I haven't weighed in on this topic yet for a couple of reasons (I've missed some of them, and my daughter is only two). But, I've yet to spank her and I don't plan on it. Both my husband and I were never spanked and we both turned out well behaved (at least we think so). What works for her (and she's two): First off, I'm never very far away from her. When she does something wrong, I redirect. Let's not do that, let's do this instead. Really bad behavior - modified time outs (she's too young for the real thing still). But if starts in with a tantrum I tell her I don't want to be around her acting like that and I walk away. I've walked out the front door. She pretty much stops immediately. I also am always prepared to leave situations that get bad - dinner out, shopping trips, etc. She knows that if she starts acting up at the park or the mall, we will leave until she calms down. If it's the grocery store, we'll have to go back. If it's the park, we won't. As she gets older, I do the same thing my parents did which was more of the above and taking away privileges. That worked very well for me. I'm not going to make claims that those ways will always work perfectly. But since there's many ways to punish other than spanking, I'm fairly confident in mine and my husband's ability to keep her safe and well behaved. She's quite well behaved now.

Answer 3

Hearthsong sells lots of really awesome toys.

Answer 4

My boys really love the Tonka trucks.
www.hasbro.com/tonka/

They also like the Handle Haulers from Little Tikes
www.littletikes.com

Answer 5

The Melissa & Doug puzzles and toys are really good for this age:

http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?categoryId=2727499&f=PAD%2FTRU+Age+Filter%2F2+Years&fbc=1&fbn=TRU+Age+Filter%7C2+Years