puzzles… lots of puzzles.
Wooden beads big enough not to swollow but can be threaded on a string for fine motor skills.
Puzzles,
Duplo cant go wrong with lego
Crayons colouring books
sticker books,
Musical instruments (fine tuned)
Wading pool for the summer.
I was just thinking about how much my almost 2 year old would love a kids flashlight for her bday/christmas. I had one as a kid that has 3 differant colored lenses that could be changed to make the light shine regular, green, or red. I used to love flashlights as a kid, and my DD mischievously steals my booklight every chance she gets!
At the moment my boy who is 2 and 4 months loves he following toys, no particular order just as they come to me
trampoline
sandpit
cars and floor mat with roads (old box flattened out, draw and paint roads etc)
balance boards
puzzles
things that come apart and go back together
bolts and screws (only under careful supervision)
shopping trolley
trains and tracks
pc games
little leaps (leap frog interactive dvd game)
books (as many different varieties and genres as I can get my hands on)
empty boxes (any size)
jar with a toy in it
carry pocket (large hand made pocket on a string that hangs over shoulder go out and collect bit and pieces you can do this outside or inside)
swings set
ride on car (they push themselves with their feet)
peddle bike
figurines (Schleich truly are worth the extra money and we find get played with more but in the end the 20 for $2 from the reject shop get their fair share of use too)
magnets
stickers (oh boy do we love stickers)
paint
playdough (so many different uses)
a couple of cups of cornflour (we usually dump it on the trampoline and let him drive cars through it etc and generally make a big mess then we just jump until it all comes out).
lego
blocks
musical instruments (any thing and everything that we can give him to experiment musically on - his personal favourite is his harmonica followed by drums and guitar but he loves them all)
Colouring and drawing (sometimes prefers blank paper sometimes likes to colour)
bits and pieces of junk
Animals (we don’t have pets but we have cows on the property next to us and dogs, ducks, chooks and birds and wildlife everywhere and he has a good respect and relationship with all these - it is wonderful companionship)
I think spongy toys are best for chid. These are safe and funny. If you think some educational toy you should give puzzle and contruction toy to him.
My daughter is 2.5 years old, she loves puzzles,blocks, she also loves playing with water…we do Montessori at home, she gets different activities using house tools,she love playing with rocks, also music, loves dancing. I think at this age they are ready to explore the world not only with TOYS but with ther senses, you can keep a child busy at least for 15 minutes in the kitchen sink playing and pouring water in cups, or even cleaning the house, doing their lundry.Just let her discover how things get done…they love learning more than playing with toys.
for my son its cars & balls of all shapes & sizes. He can play in sand pit alone for a long time. and coloring …
I have some pictures up on my blog of some of Ethans fav. toys!
http://raisingethan.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/toys/
you can click on any pic. to enlarge it.
diva7, you check the nearest toylibrary…these gives more variety we normally cannot buy so much and stock in house…so library is best…