Hi ladies, my son is approaching his first birthday and I'm looking for suggestions on your favorite "big" toy, I've heard the Kitchen, Fisher Price House, or outside sand/water boxes are all good options, wanted to see if you've had experience with these or if you have other ideas? I want something that will keep his attention for more than 5 minutes and he can use over the next 6 months at least. Thanks!!!
Toddler basketball goal and extra balls.
Ride on toys.
Balls of all sizes.
A big cardboard box that he can play in and color on.
J.,
Ok so when we had our son we were bound and determined not to own every toy and defiantly not to spoil him. Well he turned 1 last August and then Christmas was 4 months later so needless to say we own it all so I’m going to give you my opinions on these toys:
Fisher price Laugh and Learn House- We LOVE it! He still to this day plays with it every day, best investment we ever made! He loves the mail box, the shape sorter, to crawl threw the door over and over, to ring the door bell and the list goes on and on this house does a lot!
Fisher Price Laugh and learn Kitchen: it is ok; he’ll play with it 1-2 per week if that does not do even ½ of what the house does. Sort of disappointing, everyday I think about boxing it up and taking it to storage.
Little Tikes basket Ball Hoop-LOVE it gets play time everyday, I think all kids love anything to do with Balls
V-Tech Alphabet Train- took less than 5 minutes to put it together, my son really likes this one as well, I have to say it is a pain in the but to constantly pick up all the little blocks that go with it but it is very educational, and again it was so easy to assembly... LOVE THAT!
FP Laugh and Learn Shopping cart- we like this one a lot as well he loves to zip around the house with it.
Little tikes Water Table- Yeah this is a great toy! My son will play with it for hours all day if we let him…I used to put down a couple of towels in the kitchen and let him play with it in there but now he dumps way to much water so now we only play with it outside. I bought some plastic cars and boats and he has a blast with them…really any bath toys are great because they get to play with them in a different setting. You can put as little as 1 gallon of water in it and it is still fun to them, my sons activity of the week is to take pool water out of the pool cup by cup and fill his water table with it….and you can imagine how long that takes!!!
Step 2 Roller coaster- I got this for Alex for his first b-day (I think its for ages 3 and up) it is large but he LOVED it then and still does today, back then we would sit him on the car and push but hold on to the car on its way down, now he can push the car to where it goes get on and push himself down. My sister in law called it a death trap...lol but Alex has never even fallen off of it, now I on the other hand have stubbed my toe a time or 2 on it, but this one will defiantly be around for a long time. Great investment!!!
Ball Pit- I took a “2 ring kiddie pool” and filled it with 200 balls and he has really enjoyed that as well I will pull it out once in a while and inflate the pool with the balls and leave it set up for a week or so at a time.
Plaskool Ball popper- Again it has to do with balls so my son plays with it everyday! And I have to say it does pretty good on batteries as well! Again you’ll have to do some chasing of balls here and there but eventually he’ll catch on.
Fisher Price little people racing ramps Garage- Great toy also good for hours of entertainment
The learning tables are still huge to him especially now that he is finally learning his shapes and color by name, it is like they have been renewed toys.
Gator Golf- he loves to hit the balls rarely do they get in the gators mouth but that’s not really the fun of it for him…lol
FP Little people Air Port-OMG honestly his favorite toy, he loves planes and it comes with 1 plane and 1 helicopter, hours of entertainment
Bounce and spin Pony- we have the one that hooks up to the TV and he pays no mind to it. He’ll hop on if he walks pat it and sees it but all in not a favorite, I was somewhat sad because that was his big gift from Santa…
Really any of the little people play sets get great playtime in our house and they are great to start talking about colors, shapes and animal sounds with.
Cars and trucks are huge as well…match box cars are made really well these days and my son has loved them since he was about 11 months old, Playskool makes soft plastic ones and has a couple of ramps and such out there.
Blocks are also HUGE these days he loves to load them up in one of his big Tonka dump trucks and push them around the house and unload them too.
I tried to list what he interacts with daily is or things I just don’t like, if you should have a question about a specific item just ask, chances are we own it…lol also look on line at different chain stores to read other parents reviews of toys, that helps me.
My son is 19months but the following are some of the items he got for his first birthday, or shortly there after, that have been great for him and his interest in them has continued to grow:
Little Tikes swing (that you attach to a tree)
Ball Pit by Play Hut
Water Table by Step2
Toy box by Step2
Mega Blocks
Step2 climbing cube with mini slide
We also got a baby pool which can be filled with water, ball pit balls or little toys and used like a play pen.
Check out Craigslist for "big plastic" toys as my husband likes to call them. Most are outgrown, not damaged and for those back yard toys, why pay full price for something that will end up faded from the sun in a month? I've gotten some amazing deals there just because items were a little faded (for example, a Little Tikes Swing Along Castle that is $140 new, I paid $20 for and it's perfect!) I got a Little Tikes climbing cube with slide for $10. You can really set up a fabulous playground in your own backyard for very little money this way.
Loud and colorful with moving parts my grandson loves his airplane daddy is usaf
J.,
My son LOVES his kitchen!! I got an inexpensive one for him at WalMart for his 1st b-day. My husband & others gave me a hard time for getting a boy a kitchen. I reminded them that boys cook too! It's not pink or girly. He loves putting the cups, dishes, food, etc in & out of the cabinets.
H.
I definitely suggest the Fischer Price House. My son got it for his 1st Birthday and still loves it (He'll be two in April). We actually have one and my parents have one at their house.
Hi J.,
With summer coming, an inflatable pool is great fun. You can order one with a shade on top guard your baby's skin. Get 50 or so of those plastic multi-colored balls, that way you can use the pool for indoor and outdoor fun. I got this gift for my nephew last year, and it was a splashing success!
Get the leap frog table, its about $35 and available at target, walmart, etc. All my friends kids and mine loved it! It is one toy that will last and keep him entertained for a long time.
that sand and water box was a lifesaver for me and my little ones! Especially in the hot summer months, it will get a lot of use! Just be sure to watch your child at all times even in a small amount of water. But that gets my vote!
I would suggest an "outside" toy. Neither of my boys were ones to play with toys at that age, but they did like to "do" things, like play in the sandbox, play with water (we did not have a water table, but the loved the hose and sprinkler), ride their push cars, climb on things, etc. A friend passed along a play kitchen with food and dishes, and my son had no interest in that until age three.
The best present my daughter got at her 1st birthday was a huge, big red wagon! She loved it and we used it for a few years. She loved riding in it plus pulling her "babies" around. She's almost 7 now and we still have it....although we haven't used it in probably 2 years.
J. I have 3 children (2 girls, 1 boy) and each child has their own "favorite" toy. And I can tell you from experience, very rarely will a 1 year old stay with ONE toy for 5 minutes. With that said, don't worry so much about getting that one gift that your son will love. He isn't old enough yet to have an interest in staying with just one toy. I found a bucket of 15 plastic toys which include, cars, trucks, trains, helicopters, and planes. I bought it for my son's 2nd birthday and I can tell you honestly that he LOVES this bucket of toys. He pulls them out every single day and plays with each one. It's called Viking Toys and I am so glad I didn't have to spend a bunch of cash on it. Good luck!
I do a lot of ordering on the Step 2 website and love their products (and so does my 2 1/2 year old son). Some of his favorites, that he still uses from his 1st birthday, are the Sand and Water table and the soft blocks. These are two toys that grew with him and you can see, over time, how they begin to use the toys differently. For example, my son is now into animals so he takes his animals to the Sand & Water table to bury them and then give them a bath, or he may use the soft blocks to build a fence or make a barn for the animals. It is GREAT to see their imaginations at work.
Step 2 also has a little roller coaster for your sons age - we didn't personally have one but My Gym does and he loved it...we ended up buying our son the Extreme Coaster from Step 2 for Christmas and that is a must have when your son gets a little older (as is the Creative Art Table).
Hope this helps!
My 1st son got a powerwheel 4-wheeler, a smaller, age appropriate one, of course, and he is 4 and my other son is 2 and they still use it.
My 2nd son got a bounce and spin zebra. It is so cute and they played with it for quite a while. They would still use it, but I put it up for their sister.
Both have proven to be a great toy! And there are no little pieces to pick up!
fisher price bubble mower, hands down. my son got it for his 1st birthday. He just turned 2 and it is still a favorite. He loves to mow like daddy does. A sand box is great too, or a water table, or a little tikes coupe/car. My son loves all of these toys!
Every child is different but mine loves his Fisher Price (or is it Playskool??) Barn and zillions of animals to play with it. He also loves his sand/water table. We filled both sides with sand so we don't have to deal with the water. He doesn't play much with his kitchen.
We have a lot of the Fisher Price Little People toys. We also have wooden toys like a cylinder stacking toy, beads with pegs and blocks.
We do have a play kitchen and that gets some play because of the cabinets and drawers to hide things in. *we find sippy cups in there all the time*
But every child is different, so go with something you think your baby will enjoy the most. Almost any toy is good as long as mom is playing with him ;o)
My son loves his basketball hoop by Little Tikes and Megablocks. He can sit for a long time putting the blocks together and taking them apart. He also loves his books. He'll bring them to us to be read or he'll just sit and look at the pictures and "read" to himself.
A big empty box and a ball to chase. No money, no worry. It's a favorite of little boys. don't let anyone tell you less. There's too much useless, expensive toys out there that teach nothing.
Take pictures!
Hi J.,
I have a four year old and five grandchildren five and under. They all loved the entire Fisher Price Laugh and Learn collection. We each had the house and several other pieces and our children played with them until they were 3-4 years old. My youngest grandson just turned one and lucky him he has all of it now because of the older children. He plays with the stuff daily. While it can seem a bit pricy, know that they will get used all the time, they will hold up to playgroups of children, and you will get a couple of years not just months.
