This is my vote for my Top 5 toys, in contribution to Kate’s master list of the Top 10 Toys as voted by Parent Bloggers at Kate Takes 5 and I think it includes some old classics – one of which gets a vote simply because I wanted one and never had one. Perhaps because it was potentially lethal, who knows?
1. Brio or General Wooden Train Sets
This is one of my our efforts at the wooden train track. I used to not like things like train track as I could never get it to meet up, but since we’ve had this bucketful (made up of track from Brio, BigJigs, Tesco, ELC, eBay and ads in our local paper) I’ve got a bit better and – dare I say it – a little addicted. I try and take a pic of each track as they get destroyed in about two seconds! And the kids to, occasionally get a look in in between the harridan yelling of ‘No, you’re breaking it! I haven’t finished it yet!’ *ahem*. The official Brio stuff is quite pricey, but the other brands can be quite reasonable
2. Lego Duplo
I agree with Kate here on the Lego thing – although my kids are too young still for the ‘proper’ stuff, Duplo is brilliant at keeping them amused for ages. I was so proud to find a Disney Cars basic set recently for a mere Pound in Asda recently thus killing two birds with one stone! Only drawback, it’s so expensive for what you actually get, so getting it passed down from friends and family is a real help!
3. Mr Frosty
I was desperate – desperate I tells ya! – for a Mr Frosty when I was a kid, but I wasn’t to have one – perhaps because of the ice cruncher made of sharp, sharp metal, just perfect for severing small fingers (what were they thinking?). I don’t know why I wanted one, but there we are, I did consider buying one later life, but my friend did that very thing and said it just wasn’t the same at all – for one thing the lethal crushing metal teeth were now plastic (I ask you!), so I will just remember it longingly and fondly!
4. iPad
I use the word ‘toy’ loosely here, but our eldest child has made our iPad his own, we are merely allowed the occasional turn! It’s great for kids as the games are good, there are lovely little apps that teach them to spell, maths etc without it seeming like they are learning. The iPad is also a great as a distraction on long journey – we’ve got several Disney films, episodes of The Simpsons and In The Night Garden on it which keep both kids amused and helps the time pass for them when we’re travelling to see relatives (a five hour drive at the least).
Little Tikes make some great toys for both indoors and outdoors, but our kids love the climbing frames, slides and cars and stuff – we’ve got quite a bit now in our garden which is well-loved and well-used, but the classic Cozy Coupe is a favourite which the three-year-old still uses and the one-year-old is starting to fight for! Ours used to live indoors in our old house, but now we’ve less room for it indoors it’s a cute outdoor ride-on.
So there we are – if you’d like to take a look at some of the other entries then hop on over to Kate’s blog.
