This week we've been focusing on cleaning & getting back into our routine. With a little re-shuffling, I think I've found homes for all the new toys. This Christmas, I didn't really want my kids to get many toys ... I'm not super-mean, I just don't want to store anything else. We have limited storage space (although more than a lot of New Yorkers), and I'd really rather not have anything they don't love & won't use all the time. ie, I'd rather have a few good quality toys than a mountain of plastic junk.
This got me thinking about the toys we have that have been well worth it (and I'd sacrifice to keep) and why. Since I know what has really worked in the past, I think I can predict what will work in the future. I'm not always right - Jacob is in LOVE with a plastic lawn mower he got from a cousin this Christmas, that I would have never thought about buying because of it's size. Fortunately, it's an outside toy! Anyway, I often buy things way in advance for birthday or Christmas gifts, if I see them at a good price on e-bay, or in store sales or clearance. I thought I'd share, in case you guys are bargain hunters, or just love great toys, too.
Bitty Baby (American Girl) - Emily got her Bitty Baby when she was 2. She has loved this doll, and carried her everywhere, just as I had hoped. We've left her in Utah, and had her mailed home, taken her out to dinner, & even celebrated her birthday with a real party. She sleeps in Emily's bed, and they've worn co-ordinating clothing - we have LOTS of Bitty Baby clothing, which will be great to share when Jane gets hers (maybe next Christmas.) I am hoping that these dolls will be one's they hand down to their daughters. Check out their website here.
Kaya (American Girl) - Emily received Kaya this year. She also recently inherited Kit from Rebekah. I like these dolls, but I LOVE the books that go along with them. Though they are very simple stories, they really give young readers some insight into history, and what life was like for kids in other times. The Kaya books have been my favorite, so I'm glad Emily liked those the most (so far, she hasn't read them all yet.)
Trains (Thomas the Tank Engine & Brio) - I know that there are lots of kids who love these. Rebekah liked them, Emily got into them a little more than her - but Jacob is our addict & the one we've really expanded the collection for. I found the one above the day after Christmas on sale for $10 (usually $25.) He plays with his trains every single day. It's creative (he has just started to be able to build his own track set-ups) and gets him to use his imagination and fun (also comes with a lifetime warranty!) - what more could you want in a toy. Available in most toy stores.
Plastic Animals (Schleich, Wild Safari) - There are a lot on the market, but these are the 2 brands I like the most. Schleich are the best. They are a good size (a toddler can hold them) and pretty sturdy (for those times they get dropped over balconies, or go into a teethers mouth.) We started to collect these when Emily was about 18 months old. These have been the greatest investment. My kids play with these 5 - 7 days a week. They go in the tub (no holes to let water in & grow bacteria), We've had them in sandboxes, play-dough, shaving cream, inside, outside - all over the place. I've even run them through my dishwasher on a sanitize setting (160 degrees) and they've come out fine! Again, great imaginative play. My kids seem to like the Mommy - Baby combo's a lot, so we have "families" of most animals. We have so many of these we've had do divide them into 2 containers (land or water.) One other thing I like about Schleich is they have some more unusual animals. This was really helpful for Emily who loves ocean animals (where else can you get several Beluga family members, a minke whale, a right whale) or animals like an Okapi! Target has some, we've bought a lot at FAO Schwartz, or you can buy online here.
Haba - Have just beautiful, great quality toys. I love, love their baby toys (so have my babies) and also really like their play food, which we use with the tea set (which we just added to) from IKEA all the time. You can find these all over the place, but online usually have the biggest range. The site I have bought from a few times is here.
Selecta - Same as Haba. Wonderful wooden toys and games. Seem to be more easily available (at least in Brooklyn toys stores, or FAO) but also easy to find online.
Ravensburger - Have some great games, (my sister gave us one when she was living in Germany called Grusselino - it's great if you can find it.) What I'm most in love with is their puzzles. They come in a huge range of sizes & pieces, have great pictures for each range, and are (what really matters in a puzzle) DURABLE. The little sticking out pieces don't get bent easily, or break off (rendering a puzzle useless.) Even the boxes are nice and sturdy! Here's their website.
Playmobil - I played with these as a kid! Totally great toy, and a huge range of products (city life, farm, zoo, Noah's Ark, Victorian house, fairy castle, knights, etc) My kids have loved these. They are temporarily in hiding, to come out only when Jane (& often Jacob "the wrecker") are not around. I think as soon as Jane is old enough, all 3 younger kids (Rebekah still sometimes helps set-up) will be able to play with them together, as this is a toy at appeals to a really wide age range of kids. Here's their website, but widely available in stores. 
Childcraft Blocks - How can you not love blocks? My dear friend Melissa actually turned us on to these particular blocks. They are "unit blocks" so they all have a mathematical relationship to each other - the small rectangle is twice the size of the square, and half the large rectangle, and two triangles put together will make one square, etc. This is supposed to make them "a fun way of exploring mathematical and structural concepts", and I'm sure they do. I just like that it makes them so easy to put neatly stacked back into their container! My kids like to build houses, towers & roads out of them (many of our plastic animals have "lived" in these.) Available on their website.Well, those are pretty much our faves. I've left out some obvious hits, like Lego's and other things we have & like, but just aren't as beloved as the one's I've listed. Jacob has also just started getting into cars - playing with matchbox cars on our map, and the shake-n-go speedway he got for Christmas. It will be interesting over the next few years to see if / how differently he'll play with what we have & what new things he'll like. Already he tends to like the dinosaurs the most in our animal collection, and enjoys knocking down towers & throwing blocks WAY more than the girls did .... time will tell, and I'll keep you updated.
What have been your / your kids favorite toys?
So, several months ago Jacob went through a bit of a biting stage. It was pretty short lived (thank goodness), but was followed by a spitting phase. I think because of his apraxia, Jacob seems to have a LOT of spit. He could really be quite gross with his spitting, so I employed the same deterrent for both - a quick squirt of listerine in the mouth. I had a small travel size that I kept at-the-ready. It actually worked beautifully, but I'd figured that even if it didn't, at least he would have fresh breath!
On Sunday Rick emerged from the kitchen chewing happily. I asked if he was chewing the piece of gum that was the last one in the pack on the windowsill, and he was. EEK - It was Emy's, that she'd bought with her own money, and was saving. He was good, he went to her and apologized, and said he'd buy her a new pack. Today we went to Target, and while there I bought a new pack of gum for Emily. (Because seriously, when does Rick go to a store?) I reminded her that this was the gum to replace the one Dad owed her. She smiled and said "And have you done the spray yet?" 
