As Christmas fast approaches I’ll take some time to stop and evaluate the toy situation in our home. This involves a quick scan of the toys my kids currently own, sorting through the ones that are no longer played with or no longer functioning. Then I’ll do some donating or discarding. If there is an item that I am on the fence about, it gets tucked away. I’ll wait to see if one of the kids asks for it. If they don’t, it will move along to its next home. This simple process helps to make space for the new toys that will soon be arriving.
Every time I do this I’m fascinated to see what toys make the cut year after year. There are toys that have been in our home since Anika was a newly walking toddler. Those same toys continue to be played with by both her and Jake.
This year I made a list of the top ten most consistently played with toys in our home. Some of these toys have made it through multiple years of toy purges. Some are played with daily, or close to it without prompting from me. The majority are toys that both my two year old son and five year old daughter both enjoy.
Magna-Tiles
We were a little late to the Magna-Tiles game and the kids got their first set for Christmas last year. Hands down this is by far one of their top five favorite toys. They have come up with the most creative uses for them. I love how versatile they are. We can build with them, but they also have helped my two year old learn colors, shapes, pattern recognition, counting, etc. Only wished we had found these beautiful little gems a bit sooner!
Play kitchen
This is also one of the most loved items in our playroom. We were fortunate enough to have ours handmade for us by my husband’s uncle, but IKEA makes an affordable, lovely looking one too. The only accessory for the kitchen I would recommend at this point is a set of kids pots. We’ve done the play food thing and I find it more trouble then it’s worth. It often just ended up scattered everywhere without actually being played with much. Our current play food is recycled food boxes from our kitchen. The favorites are the empty spice containers, egg carton and empty mac and cheese box. This works out great because when I get frustrated by the excess clutter and cleanup time, when too much accumulates I can recycle these items guilt free. The kids also currently use other toys like magna-tiles and blocks as food. The newest idea for creative play food is Anika draws and cuts out her own. Her egg was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
Art cart
Technically this isn’t a toy but it needed to make the list. We use to have an easel and a three storage bin of art supplies tucked away. The easel was very infrequently used. I decided to try life without it and replaced the easel and storage bin with a streamlined and well organized art cart. The cart has eight shallow drawers. Each drawer contains just a few items. For example drawer 1 holds construction paper, drawer 2 holds white paper, drawer 3 has markers and crayons, drawer 4 has paint, drawer 5 holds things that make stuff stick; tape, glue, glue sticks, drawer 6 holds tools like scissors or stapler, drawer 7 holds paint, drawer 8 holds playdough, etc. When I switched over to this system Anika’s time spent in the corner on the floor creating with things from her art cart exploded. In fact the majority of her free time these days is spent in this little corner, creating paintings, books and drawings. It is truly wonderful to watch. Maybe it just happened to align developmental with a time when her artistic side was going to take over or maybe it was clearing away all the unnecessary clutter from this area and simplifying it for her. No matter what it was she is a blooming little artist now and I can’t recommend this art cart more. I currently keep our over flow craft materials tucked away in our pantry cabinet. As requested by the kids or when we need them for a specific projects I bring out the additional items. Another perk of all this is it leads to so much less mess because there is less stuff available for the kids to scatter everywhere, like tiny beads or sequins.
Kid size table
Also not technical a toy but a staple in our home. I got this ikea table at a thrift store when Anika was a year old and we are still using it daily. It’s currently set up in our kitchen as a place for kids to work on things or have a snack while I’m cooking or cleaning. We have only recently come to a point where I have decided we are going to upgrade to something a little bigger. My daughter is really starting to outgrow it and with two kids now, they both need a little more space to work.
Doctor kit
Anika received this for her second birthday and it has been played with so much since. It comes out frequently during play dates and my daughter and son play with it together also.
Baby doll and a few accessories.
Each kids has their own doll. We keep accessories to the bare minimum. A couple of blankets ( that are Anika and Jake’s swaddle blankets from when they were babies) a baby bottle, diaper bag and a few outfit changes. We use to have much more then this, but I found the kids just dumped the bin out looking for the few things that I previously mentioned anyway. It is so much easier to clean up now.
Figurines
The kids have Playmobil figurines, both the 123 and the regular size. These things are fantastic. They will use them in conjunction with trains, Magna-Tile creations, card board box creations, etc. The list goes on and on for the way they can be used in open ended play. I think Playmobil is great, but any figurine of some sort seems to work to trigger their imaginative play instincts.
Train set
We have this one from Melissa and Doug. The kids love creating train tracks and including Magna-Tiles, Playmobil figurines and other random objects in their creation.
Shopping cart
Anika got a play shopping cart when she turned one. She used that thing daily for years. She’s only recently started to become too big for it. Jake started pushing it around when he first began to learn to walk and he still plays with it daily. We have just an inexpensive plastic one, but if I had known how much the kids would love it we would have probably invested in this pricer, nicer one.
Barbies and Play tools
This is where my kids get a bit divided. The tenth toy for Anika by far is her Barbies. She could spend hours quietly, imaginatively playing on her bedroom floor with her barbies. While Jake will happily join his sister from time to time with her Barbie play, his tenth favorite toy is hands down his tool set. The boy loves this thing and fixing everything he can in our home.
I think for the most part the pattern for the toys that the kids continue to play with over time is that they are open ended and make them do the work. They can’t just be turned on. I know the price tag on a lot of these toys can be a bit much at first glance, but I am a huge believer in quality over quantity. I love the idea of giving my kids three awesome Christmas gifts that I know they will love and hold their interest. The other thing to remember when having a bit of “sticker shock” about purchasing a toy is cost per use. If it is a toy that will be used for multiple years, multiple times a day by multiple children, the cost in the long run is a little less daunting.
