What is your favorite brand of educational toys? I have a soft spot for leap frog and I noticed many parents talk about Legos quite a bit? And what are your thoughts on other toys like Barbies, transformers, etc? Do you let your kids play video games like Xbox360, Wii, or Playstation 3? I was just curious what everyone's kids are playing with and what u think of your kid's toys!!
Melissa and Doug! Yes, my boys play video games sometimes, but I'm picky about which ones. They also play with some "regular" toys, but, again... I'm picky.
LeapFrog, Legos, Melissa and Doug, Knex, Infantino (for little ones), Learning Resources, Carson-Dellosa are the favorites around here. If one of those companies makes it I'll almost certainly love it, and the boys will be guaranteed to enjoy them and learn something.
My kids play with just about everything. I do not allow Barbie or Bratz for my girl and I don't allow certain things for the boys.. but yes they do play with transformers.. but we just trashed 2 that Reagan got for his 5th Birthday at a cost of $35 each because they were very poor quality and we couldn't get them to transform properly. They all play video games, and yep I'm a bad mom and allow things like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty and Halo, they all have DSes as well. Educational toys, well anything can be educational. I like Melissa and Doug and Leapfrog. For the littler ones we own so much Fisher Price and Playskool it's unreal.
Video games? TV for kids? WHAT?? Just kidding!!!! We have a Wii, they love that - I'm a little picky about the games, but so far, so good. My oldest loves to sculpt. I get her sculpey clay. We're moving into air dry clay because her projects are getting bigger and bigger and sculpey gets too expensive when you go big. Playdough. Lots of games and puzzles. Hmmmmm.....I allow fluff b/c they are kids! If you're not allowed fluff when you're a kid, then when are you allowed fluff???
My little guys have a kitchen they play with everyday. It isn't huge but they love it. (Little Tikes) We have several "playfood" items that go with it. The best are the Melissa and Doug Cookies, Cupcakes and Coffee Maker by Kidcraft, the Green Toys tea set, and the tea bags by Haba. (The tea bags are a HUGE hit and my niece just about had a heart attack when my son opened the set. My son uses them all the time.) The slice and cut Velcro fruit are also VERY popular! My older boys like legos, dinosaurs and stuffed animals. (Yeah, stuffed animals. Beanie Baby size is the best. They "race" them, play "football" with them (the animals are the players), act out battles ect....) Also plastic animals (Little people and such) are popular with all my guys still. (Farms, zoos, ect.....) And Legos! Lots and lots of legos. The older guys LOVE the big detailed sets now. My littlest guy is a total gear head and LOVES cars. Some matchbox are alright but he prefers Lighting McQueen from the movie CARS. (We have TONS of these.) He "acts" out the scenes of the movie with his cars. It is beyond CUTE! Most of our stuff (except the huge stuffed animal pile) is kept in IKEA Expedit shelf ( http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10103088) but turned on the side) It holds a ton. (I'd like a smaller one just for kitchen stuff) We have a Wii and DS's. BUT m kids aren't allowed free reign on them. All school and chores have to be done BEFORE I'll even think about allowing for Playtime. We are super careful with games. Most are LEGO games, pokemon (did I mention how much I hate pokemon??) and Mario. (Though we have the Sports and Resort games and those are a TON of fun.) I don't have girls but I'm a doll/Barbie collector and my guys did have a huge doll house and GI Joes at one time. They had 1 "Barbie" named Rachel Ray who did the "cooking" and a set of Grandparent dolls. (And I think Rachel did the cooking b/c I watched 30 mins meals almost everyday. It had nothing to do with she was a girl doll.)
Legos are a big favorite, matchbox cars, dinosaurs, playdo, and yes, we had those expensive transformers too, but I returned them after one play session, since I realized they needed me to help transforming them...soo not worth it. We allow the kids video games on the weekends, and then only if they have earned the right to, meaning completed chore chart, etc... Also, I buy deeply discounted costumes after halloween, and they have a blast with that all year long. Recently also bought them those toy guns that have the mini roll of gunpowder inside, totally awesome, they love it! But most days they are outside playing in the backyard, and I only see them at mealtimes...love those summer days, my house stays so clean
My boys enjoy the computer most of all. They like playing games online. We have a Wii as well that they can play. There are no plans on adding any other gaming unit. We are picky about what games they can play. My older son loves surfing the internet to learn new things too. Legos, Snap Circuits, and Hot Wheels are great too. My little girl loves playing with her toy kitchen, her toy dishes/food, her sandbox, her mudpie maker, dress-up clothes, things for drawing and creating, and little animals. No Barbie allowed here.
I love leap frog! But I haven't bought legos because my kids never wanted them. My 5 yr old loves Barbies and dolls, and she likes her leapster. My son is almost 11 and plays Xbox360 (I don't buy him mature games), and likes model cars and transformers (he likes the real expensive ones :roll. When I was a kid I had Little People, My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake, Barbies, and lots of Legos. I try not to spoil my kids so I only buy them toys three times a year (birthday, Easter, and Christmas). But I couldn't help but notice that aside from my 1 yr old's Leap Frog activity table and my 5 year old's leapster, they don't have anything that would really be classified as "educational". I was looking at Fat Brain Toy's website, and I was thrilled at what I found. I never heard of Melissa and Doug before today, :lol: and realize I really haven't been paying that much attention to what I buy my kids in terms of toys. Now that I'm hs it's become more important.
As I mentioned in the other post, Legos are all the rage here. We do have video games, but most are lego video games. I love board games, so I pick them up when I see a good sale on them. Like another poster said, I also bought up costumes after Christmas and DS loves to pretend play in those. I guess I tend to think of most of his toys as educational (except maybe his "arsenal" of nerf stuff). Even his GI joes require imagination, and he sorts, categorizes (who goes with which items), and does calculations based on how many weapons he has for how many people. Actually, I guess even his nerf stuff is used educationally. He will draw a target, with points, and calculates how many points he can score. I tend to think of ways to make all things count educationally.
we have lots of Legos, and video gams, we play monopoly and Yatzze for math, word bingo, the kids used to play lots of Leap frog and Leapster stuff, some card games could be fun for math, dice (roll two and have the kids multiply, subtract or add the numbers), jump rope and count by 2's or what ever for counting practice, my kids make a LOT of cards for realitives and pen pals for handwriting practive! String beads to make bracelets or necklaces for small motor skills.
My son loves Lego, Knex, Magnetics, PS2 just the kiddy games once in awhile. Um he also loves his bike, go cart, and scooter. DD loves pretty much everything lol. She still is into the imaginative play so loves playing with her pet shops, dollhouses etc.. For those in Canada looking for great educational things try Mastermind Toys in TO they have a website and their prices are really great. What I love the most is the way they have their site organized. Another great place to find educational items/toys is Scholars Choice.
We love LeapStart stuff around here! As for other things they do/play, it ranges from video games (E-M ratings) to legos to big trucks to swing set, tents, the trampoline, dirt bike, scooter, bikes, toy guns, swords, etc. etc. etc.
My twins love boardgames- they have lots. Some of the games they play - Risk, Cluedo, Arkham Horror (by Fantasy Flight Games). I have also invested in a lot of puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. I try to buy only educational toys but sometimes I let my children choose their own toys at the toy store - so my daughter has a couple of Barbie dolls and my son has some totally useless toys. My twins love to play computer games too but I only let them play once or twice a week. I don't know whether it is a good idea but I am contemplating purchasing a PS3 on their birthday. Video games can be quite addictive so that is why I haven't made up my mind yet. But believe it or not, action video games that involve shooting is actually quite good for kids in one way: scientists have discovered that it helps kids to multitask; in other words children will be able to pay attention to more than one thing at a time. But of course, spending too much time on video games is certainly bad for kids in many other ways.
