What toys do you recommend for 1-3 year olds?

[lila_and_mom]

Hello Everyone!

Im new to brillkids and I'm wondering if you mommies out there can give me any suggestions as to what toys you would recommend for kids 1 year onwards that could help not only their minds but as well as develop hand eye coordination and spatial recognition and etc ... stuff like that.. 

Family members buy toys such as singing stuffed animals and rattles but I think my baby is already beyond that stage.

I would really appreciate any suggestions or advice from all of you.

Thanks!   

larz

[nhockaday]

I would say blocks, shape sorters, puzzles, legos, those great crayola markers that only mark on paper 

[lila_and_mom]

yes i would agree on waterbased markers and crayola that only marks paper. i had to learn that the hard way when i saw my bed sheet filled with rainbow colored squiggly lines! hahaha! oh the joys of motherhood... i think im going to keep that bedsheet and show it to her when she is old enough to understand and laugh about it! 

[haydee]

hello lila,

i suggest baby dolls with at least 7 functions, she's in toddler stage and will appreciate it.  my daughter loves to see other children so she prefer dolls. hard cover books is also recommended for her age. 

liana started flipping pages at 13 mos, and she do it correctly.  just make it sure its colorful, and you'll hear he storytelling you. 

[Sapna1322]

I can suggest u

Hand and eye co ordination- Slate, Beeding,Pen and Paper,Skittles.

Outdoor games-Ball and bat for cricket or hockey set or football or skipping rope

Indoor games-Artificial knife and fruits or veggie for cutting as they are alwayz curious abt what mommy is cutting how she cutting,Jumper,

Bath time-A B C and 1 2 3 letters,Duck

Musical instruments for small kids so they get introduced to it.

Books - Touch and feel , books having only picture so that they can imagine there own stories out of it my child loves GOLDILOCKS,educational books and story books and rhymes,counting boks

Memory games
Miscellenous-Posters on wall



 

[KL]

One toy Felicity really loved at that age was a soft toy that responds to the DVD or CD that's being played. You need to sync it in the beginning, and then the toy will laugh along, speak, etc. at corresponding moments during the DVD or CD play back.  Can't remember the name right now, but will get back to you when I do.

Another product I would recommend is Leapfrog's reading pad. Expensive, but quite good.

[Krisha]

At the age of 1-3, we should see that our child doesnt concentrates his interest only in one particular activity we should start making him all-rounder at this very particular stage...
so along with educational toys which are now easily available in the store we shouldalso encourage them to play with colours, some musical instruments with difference in sound some clay work, also let them play with water at bath time giving rubber ducks, alphabets, fruits, shapes ...
let them make a mess at first we can always teach the imp of cleanliness later ...
let them enjoy their childhood and we should enjoy our motherhood

[Nikita]

Little Leaps (Fisher Price I think) games and console that uses the TV but doesnt plug in, it's a remote control console that is big for baby hands, then turns over for older toddlers.  I think the educational games can be palyed in other languages from the same cartridge, and you can find them cheap on ebay.

I really want to buy within a couple of years, a Fisher Price Smart Cycle, so bub can learn through the Tv interactively but has to ride a stationary bike...good for fitness and practising bike riding.

outdoor ride-on and ride-in cars, sandpits and bucket/spade etc, jumbo chalk for scribbling all over the concrete areas outside....(gets very bright when it rains!!)... paint a wall with magnetic paint (even if renting, if matches current colour, the landlord wont ever know).

Glow in the dark stick ons for the ceiling... prepare for the light to be turned on and off to recharge the glow.

Paper and crayons/ colour pencils... they love to draw. And Easel and paint... better to do this outside as paint can get everywhere.

Wading pool (only supervised).. empty it out between uses to prevent drowning.

[lawrencelb]

Lots of great suggestions already.  I definitely agree with books, books, books!  It is so great to get those "book handling lessons" in early.  This is also the age when "empty-fill" is so big in their little lives.  That means any toy that has parts that can be emptied out (e.g., a shape sorter as nhockaday noted) and then filled up again is going to captivate this age group. You can extend the empty-fill play to bath time by giving the child cups of various sizes and show him/her to fill one cup using water poured from another cup.  My kiddos have a great set of colored nesting cups in the shape of fishes that stay in the bathroom for just that purpose!  Have you also seen the crayons and alphabet cards that are designed to be played with in the tub?  The child can write all over the tub with the special crayons and then his/her creations and be washed away (with some cleaning and "elbow grease").  I think those were a Baby Einstein product.  A really inexpensive toy that you can use in the tub are foam alphabet and number puzzles (you can find these in dollar stores).  My daughter loved popping out all the letters - they float on the water, they stick to the side of the tub.  This means you can work on letter recognition, sequencing (what letter comes after "g" or before "z"?), and even early word formation (spelling out simple words using the puzzle pieces) all while getting your children squeaky clean!

Also agree with KL - love the LeapPad - my daughter (nearly five) has graduated to the Leapster, but we just pulled out the LeapPad for our son (now big boy one!!) to start playing with.  He already loves it - the great thing about it are the pages feel like paper pages, but they are coated and are therefore really durable.  They can really withstand his endless page turning!  It also has different levels of functioning - it truly was a toy that grew with our first born!

[nhockaday]

I found a great online store with amazing toys for babies and young kids. http://www.geniusbabies.com/

Oh, how I wish I had a lot of money!!!! 

[lila_and_mom]

WOW! Thanks for all the suggestions!!! Geee... I don't know where to begin or what to buy first... hahaha!    But I will definitely try to look for the suggestions that everyone gave. I took Lila to the toy store last weekend. And she wanted me to open a pack of those miniature pet dogs collectibles (like polly pockets). And she was also more interested on the toys that had buttons to push. I also like your suggestion KL on the Leapfrog reading pad. And if you could remember the name of the toy that you can sync -- that will be greatly appreciated.

Wow... Thanks everyone for all the wonderful suggestions. Being a parent is fun AND confusing. Its hard to choose what to get when you want the best for your child, right?

Anyways, I've been looking online as well for interesting toys and yes , genius babies is one of my fave sites. lots of good learning toys. wish i had a money tree though.. haha! so i could just pick some bucks whenever i feel like getting lila new stuff... heee 

[carpe_diem]

Ours love toys that are free!
They play for hours with packaging boxes, whether they come from groceries, toys or household deliveries doesn't matter - in fact when they open a new toy - they sometimes get lots of value with the box before turning to the contents.
(Once you have checked for staples and polythene stuff) large cartons can be  houses, boats, beds, all kinds of vehicles for putting things in and taking them out again.
We have a waiting list for boxes (cat food pouch12 pack) - they have a 'hinged' lid and make treasure boxes for all kinds of small toys.
Eventually they use this kind of thing to discover the properties of cardboard ie it is not waterproof when dunked in the paddling pool 

An added bonus is that with no teaching at all the youngest can 'read' the boxes and tell the difference between "cat food" and "dog food" and tell the cereal packets apart as well 

[lawrencelb]

too true carpe diem ( about the best toys being the ones that are free) - my kiddos always find a way to make "packaging" truly intertaining. 
I like your idea about the boxes that have dividers in them for the pouches - I can see my daughter totally filling those up with treasures! 
thanks again for the idea.

[cafemocha]

Tomorrow I am having my nieces and nephews over for the afternoon for our own verson of 'play date'.  Since the kids' ages range from 2 to 11, I decided to make them all do something that kids of all ages love . . . COLOR!!  We found that the cousins simply enjoy doing things together.  Last Christmas, my mom bought these plastic christmas trees (on paper) that you can decorate using decorations already provided.  It was a contest among cousins so they were excited to do it.  Am doing something similar tomorrow that will definitely keep them all busy and excited.  To make it simple, I just bought paper boards and crayons.  This way it's not so messy and they can take home their work after to show their moms and dads (my siblings).

[nhockaday]

The site I previously recommended for baby toys http://www.geniusbabies.com/ just sent me an email--free shipping on orders over $49 until 9/1--coupon code LaborDay

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