Toys for Christmas List

absolutely ANYTHING LEAPFROG!!!!! have loved all of it, all the time. My son is now 8, in 2nd grade and reads at a 4th grade level. He has a HUGE imah=gination and completely loves music. All of these things were strengthened I believe by Leapfrog products. Ohand I almost forgot (at least until I stepped on one) LITTLE PEOPLE....they are great many different worlds/themes/places they can go...OH THE PLACES WE WILL GO.......and yes even at 8 he still LOVES playing with these too.....

Hi C P,
The Leapster by Leap Frog is great toy! I had gotten one on sale for $35 at Target. They usually are $50 and up.

All the Best!

I haven't seen anyone mention anything for summer or outdoors - what about a ride on car, swing, inflatable pool, or golf set?

Other ideas...sidewalk chalk, one of those ride on/walker cars or trucks that she can push around. My girls LOVE their baby dolls - I'd recommend hard plastic ones so they can go in the bath with her, be lotioned up and get dressed. Plus you have to have the stroller too then! My newphews love our dolls too and they are a great thing to train little ones about how to be "nice" to babies.

One last suggestion is mega blocks. My kids would play with those for hours. We bought the little wagon with blocks inside, my girls would tow it around the backyard, throw them in the pool and sort them by colors.

Good luck.

Anything she can push- dolls in a stroller, food in a shopping cart. Blocks, beginning puzzles, and yes, they love those Leap Frog magnetic letters for the fridge! It's a fun age!!

The one thing nobody mentioned is the Busy Ball Popper from PlaySkool. You can give it to your kid around 6 or 9 months old and they play with them for YEARS. My 1 year old and 3 year old love playing with it together. Fantastic for teaching cause and effect. Put the balls in the chute, push the button and watch them fly. Hilarious.

Puzzles are awesome and also have longevity. Musical instruments, same thing.

Three sites with terrific toys, in my opinion (I'll be sending my own relatives to these sites to shop):

http://www.palumba.com/

http://www.novanatural.com/

http://magiccabin.com/welcome.asp

I remember my son totally uninterested in the LeapPad, to be honest. But basic things, like wooden or foam blocks have endured and are STILL played with, even with my 6 & 3 year olds! Keep it simple, and children have more room to make up the details themselves.

Good luck!

Sturdy musical instruments, building blocks/duplos, books, trains and track, art/activity table and smocks and supplies, preschool-sized furniture, indoor tents and crawling tunnels. Also, small ride-on and push toys of all kinds (shopping cart and play groceries are very popular for that age!)

My daughter loves the Leap Frog table or anything else musical. I am sure we will keep it for more than another year. At this age they love to get up and move.

cp, anything hands on. i would stay away from anything electronic. fisher price or playschool stuff is great. they have a plastic pot which has pretend food to stir and a big handled spoon. any toy that has the ability to put something in and out. with my kids it was a fisher price fishbowl with little round balls that had "fish" inside them. or wheebles makes a cute treehouse toy that has wheebles you put them inside a chute and they fly out somewhere else. all the little people things like the farm, and circus etc... doll's with buggys. chuncky crayons although i would definitly at this age keep them in the highchair trapped so coloring gets done only at that spot. so as to discourage artwork that will appear on the walls, floor etc...

Sorry, but at age 1, your daughter does NOT need a Leap Frog IMO. The 'interaction' with a computer is not really any better than sitting her in front of the tv at that age.

Try going to Gepettos Toy Store in Oak Park! They have BEST fun educational, handmade, really great learning toys and were just voted the Best Toy Store in Chicago in a Nick Parent's Choice Award. It's a privately owned store, and the couple who owns it are super nice. My son is 10 now, and he still finds all kinds of cool things he likes there, but they have really great toys for babies and toddlers too.

It depends on what she's interested in. My son has the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home Playset (a farm style is also available), he's had it since before he turned 1, and at 2 he still plays with it. And when other kids come over, that's the first thing they play with. Even the older kids! It teaches about colors, shapes, and opposites. Plus it's just fun. There's a Laugh & Learn Home Learning Phone that is separate but kind of goes along with it. My son loves it too - it teaches letters & numbers. Bead mazes are great too. Any musical instrument, as someone else suggested. And yes, while not educational, the Busy Ball Popper is a big hit with any kid it seems. The Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Musical Table is fun & educational. The foam bath letters are great too - for anytime! Wooden puzzles by Melissa & Doug and Kid O (kidonyc.com) are great and encourage cognitive thinking.
When we had our son, we realized Fisher-Price made the best toys, or at least, the ones best for our son. VTech makes some good ones too, just beware that some are annoying ;)

Hope this helps!

My 18 month old LOVES the Diego Animal Train. The song is so goofy, it rolls on its own and comes with some fun animal toys.

He also really likes his little people barn with a silo - he drops the animals in and lifts up the door to get them out.

A favorite toy ( I an the THIRD hand me down) is a "castle" for a rolling ball. The baby stands to put the ball in the top, and watches it roll down 3 or 4 levels. The ball comes out at the bottom and they start all over again!
We've had these since 12 months or earlier and they are still going strong.

Check out Learning Express! Its my favorite store for gift giving. There is one in St Charles and one in Geneva Commons. There may be more, I am sure you can Google it.

Also, Hearthsong.com and Onestepahead.com are good sites.

Have fun!

C.

cooking pots,wooden spoons, Tupperware containers with lids,
wooden puzzzles,I always thought they are great.
Really there is so much stuff we have at home,they are more interested in, at least that was my experience.

I don't see what the problem with the Leap Frog magnets would be? Leap Frog is a BRAND not just one product. And, I agree, the Leap Frog magnets are great. I put them on the fridge for my son only when I am cooking dinner - keeps him occupied and it's great hand eye coordination.

My son is 1 also. I am giving out these ideas for others: big crayons, dot markers, big stickers, play doh or any other crafty/artsy type thing. I went into Learning Express the other day and found some great ideas there - request a catalog or stop in there.

I am also a big fan of toys that can be put away into storage bins and taken out for an hour or two and then be put away again. Lincoln logs, large legos, wooden blocks and quality learning puzzles are on our list this year.

We are also including on our list for a few people we are more comfortable asking this from is the gift of some some activities: my gym classes, swimming classes, DuPage Children's Museum passes, zoo passes, etc.

Go to ooompa.com for great toys! My daughter was one last year and I will let you know what she still plays with! She still loves the wooden version of the stacking rings. It is a little more challenging as the hole is much smaller. Also wooden puzzles will be something she will be able to do in the near future. Musical instruments, puppets, stacking blocks and in the last 6 months she LOVES to play with her dolls! She loves the stroller, baby bed, and we also recently made her a sling to carry the baby around in! Your child will be so different in the next six months it is great that you are looking ahead!

O and Lakeshore learning store has great unique toys that are educational too! there is a store in palatine or online...sign up with them and you will receive coupons in the mail! and sometimes toys are actually cheaper there than anywhere else!

I sell Discovery Toys and all we sell are educational toys. Also in 31 years we have never had a govermental recall so you don't have to worry about the safety either. Feel free to check out my website www.discoverytoyslink.com/gsnyder
Also if you are a "party girl" we do home parties and catalog shows if parties aren't your style.

G.

I love Melissa and Doug toys. They are sold at Target and Toys R Us (and other places). Their products (puzzles, puppets, wooden toys) are of good quality.

THey are made by leap frog, they are magnetic talking letters to go on the fridge. They talk and say the letter sound, my daughters LOVED theirs!

My daughter's favorite 1st birthday toy was a doll and doll bed. It was with her for years.

I'm not big on "educational" toys. I believe blocks, dolls, a ball, a cardboard box, Playdo, or crayons are what our kids need. Sure the Leapfrog units are cool (we have them) but simple everyday toys let them do their own thing.

Bath toys are also awesome and ensure kids get nice and pruney:)