Toys you would recommend from personal experience

jbbonce

Hi everybody,
I'm starting to research what toys to get my daughter for christmas (I know it's only july but her birthday is christmas day as well so I wanna have plenty of time to research and shop around for best prices and I want to get it right) I am considering getting:

a wheely bug
a lexibook water turtle
some megabloks OR duplo - would appreicate your views on which is better
some kind of spinny bead thing
ELC my first shop
maybe some sticklebricks
and some little wooden stocking presents

but i would really like to know what toys you found were popular with your kids and cost effective.

thanks
jbbonce

Classy_Chick06

how old is your daughter?

jbbonce

she will be one on christmas day

Violetta_2

My daughter got a Vtech Little Walker for her 1st birthday it has been brilliant she 's loved it and it did help her walking, some reviews on Amazon page here . I would recommend it to anyone.
We got our dd Duplo I thought there was a bit more mileage than megablocks and you can buy different Lego as they get older, but I may be wrong re the megablocks stages.
Nothing wrong in starting to get presents now especially when it's her birthday on the same day as Xmas. Far better to keep an eye out for good offers throughout the year than running about crazy in December.

Janepig

Don't go mad would be my advice. There is a tendency to go a bit OTT, especially if she's your first, and I'm sure you'll want to make up for her having Christmas and Birthday on the same day (my DS will be 3 on Boxing Day). But really, what people say is true - at that age they get more enjoyment out of the wrapping paper.

My two are very different - DD is 5 and has never really had much mileage out of any of her toys, and being our first child she did get a bit spoilt (although not toooooo much). DS however plays with everything - he particularly loves his cars, well, any sort of vehicle, and will spend ages putting them all in a line, zooming them around the floor, crashing them, etc... He also loves the wheeled toys in the back garden, whereas again, DD has never bothered even though she's always had wheely things. I nearly fained earlier when I saw her zooming about on her scooter because I don't know when I saw her do that last!!

One thing we did seem to get a bit of mileage out of with DD was from the Early Learning Centre and I think it was called "Poppy's Suitcase". Basically it was a soft doll in a little zip up bag and she came with a change of clothes. That was quite sweet and DD seemed to like it. She also liked a baby "Magna Doodle" that we got which I think was from age 1 up. It was a Winnie the Pooh one and very good for early marking!!!

Jxx

Contains_Mild_Peril

She'll be a little young for stickle bricks yet, I think: though they're very easy to build with when in good condition, the stickly bits can get bent out of shape easily and also get crumbs etc trapped in between so they're not very hygeinic for kids who still chew their toys.
When my DS was about 1, he liked noisy toys, e.g. traditional activity centres, pull-along trains with sound effects and toy instruments. My friend's DS (now 2) was ans still is a big fan of noisy toys, but a lot of his are battery operated, which I would try to keep to a minimum.

moo2moo

If shes anything like my DDs she'll spend most of christmas day ignoring the toys and playing with the boxes, the wrapping paper and sticking stick on bows onto everything in sight.

-Stickle bricks were a short lived thing. They are quite hard to push together and tend to fall apart as the smaller children try to add the next pieces.
-Duplo is very very expensive but 5 years on my youngest still isn't ready to part with hers although at 1 all she did was bang the pieces together to make a noise.
-My first leapster was superb but again not until she was 2.
-Shape sorters, Fisher price used to make a musical rocking snail which drove me up the wall but which the DDs loved.
-Books, books and more books
-finger paints
- anything which makes a noise, whether intended or not.
- 100s of plastic ball pool balls, not nescessarily in a ball pool, a laudry basket works just as well.

emmajane1

Both my dd's love/loved Duplo & we have lots . It is the consistently best played with toy we have . However I would say it is 2 up rather than 1. At 1 mine loved bath toys esp teletubbies bath Island (abut £10) things to push along eg brick truck & wooden bricks to build towers or at first just to knock down the ones you built & giggle lots!

mostly however she liked the wrappingf paper!
hope this helps

Emma

Surfbabe

Definatley the wrapping paper and boxes !!!!!!!! Otherwise just a few presents like a soft baby doll, shape sorter - etc.

Chell

I agree with moo2moo, we've collected various Duplo sets since DS first Christmas, he is now five and still uses it. DD is three and a half and plays with it too. Infact she spotted a pink bucket in Boots the other day which she said she would like for Christmas.

I know at 1 your DD might not be walking but she soon will be and a little toy buggy will get lots of use.

If you want something traditional then this site has some lovely toys, their rag dolls are gorgeous.

ailuro2

a pop up tent type wendy house for indoors. MY DD had a tweenies one, went up in a couple of minutes, she used to love it, and it lased her a good few years too.