Okay, I asked for the outside and it occured to me to ask this for inside, so we have all of our bases covered. We are in serious need of a toy upgrade!!!
My boy/girl twins are going to be 4 in November and have many 4-5 year old friends in the neighborhood. The kids play at our house and others frequently, so I'd like to have fun, age appropriate toys. What would you suggest we buy to keep them occupied inside?
Thank you!
Hullabaloo!
Blocks
arts and craft stuff.
Pretend and dress up
A toy kitchen is great, but might be costly. You could get a couple of those child grocery carts and a cash register. My sister and I used to use my mom's canned goods to play grocery store. Also, play dough is a great indoor activity. Also, board games like Candy Land and other beginner games that don't require reading.
Dress up clothes. You would be surprised how many boys like to do this, too. Go to garage sales and thrift stores and start collecting old dresses, jewelry, hats, shoes, vests and such for the kids. Now is a good time to find old halloween costumes at thrift stores like firefighter, policeman and such. Fill a big trunk or bucket and pull it out when the kids come over.
Art supplies, several different mediums like chalk, paint, crayons, colored pencils, markers. Several different canvasses like, butcher paper, construction paper, copy paper.
Play-dough. Homemade is the best because it gets up easier than store bought and is completely non toxic. Add an envelope of kool-aide for the color and you get a scent as well. Get plastic knives, cookie cutters, they can use cans of veggies or fruit as rolling pins.
Blocks of some kind: duplos, legos, brislte blocks, unit blocks (the big wooden ones - they are expensive but worth it).
Bean bags (you can make them out of little socks and beans and just tie them off at the end). These are a good replacement for a ball and can be used to play games like hot potato or you can just use the for bean bag toss into a clothes basket.
Candyland, Hi-Ho Cheerio are good board games.
A play kitchen. My kids love to pretend to cook (I have a 7 year old boy & 4 year old girl).
since it will be on the cold side, you could have them decorate cupcakes, make their own personal pizza. If it is strictly toys, a play kitchen would be great. I have one of those hopscotch pads and that keeps them busy. Also a bean bag toss game. We have one of those too. Keep the video games handy as well.
LEGO, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, coloring books/pages, art supplies. We also have LOTS of little dinosaurs, people, animal figures and get a lot of creative play out of them.
