What Toys Have Your Kids Played With a Gazillion Times?
My boys are now 11 and 15, and over the years, they’ve played with certain toys dozens, hundreds, even thousands of times. Here are five of them…
Anton got a yo-yo during a trip to Ireland, and since then has picked it up every few months to learn new tricks. I can picture him doing this as a teenager, college student, adult, dad, grandpa, forever.
As I’ve said before, Toby’s favorite toy — from age one to 10 (!) — was this wooden bus. As a toddler, he pushed and pulled it around the living room; as he got older, he played pretend games with the wooden people. It’s one of those toys that can be a million different things.
We’ve loved many games — Uno, Outfoxed, Dog Bingo — but the most beloved one is Guess Who. (What about you?)
Glow-in-the-dark stars for bedroom ceilings. For years at bedtime, we have cuddled under the twinkling “sky” and felt so dreamy and cozy. When we host overnight guests, even those in their 70s and 80s, they’re always delighted, too!
And I know this isn’t a toy, but this little step stool has come in handy soooooo many times. My friend Kendra — who has three kids — gave it to us when Toby was a baby, and the boys grew up standing on it to brush their teeth, wash their hands, reach higher bookshelves, help me chop vegetables, you name it. Sometimes when handymen come over, they use it, too, which I always find endearing.
What would you add to the list? Oh, also this ice-cream set and a Nerf hoop!
P.S. The #1 trick to enjoying family travel, and three words that changed how I parent.
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Comments
142 commentswha’t the first toy friend for Toby? best soft toy for newborn before 1 year old – Eotton Organic Cotton Baby Toys:)
I had a favorite Barbie doll and I had clothes that my grandmother had made for it. My mother said she gave my toys away when I got older. For two of my granddaughters I bought jacks and they play with those sometimes.
Magnatiles – we had multiple sets piled into big wicker basket. And Legos – the big multi brick sets with lots of wheels, Windows, doors, for random building vs fussy sets with instruction manuals.
One thing that all my kids (15, 12, 6) are into right now is the basketball hoop in our driveway. I was a little skeptical at first, but they play EVERY DAY. Sometimes together, sometimes they split off. When the 15 and 6 year old play, it’s usually Horse, but if they just play regular hoops the 6yo gets 10 points for every shot to make it more even. Sometimes my husband and I leave the house to run errands and the kids are off doing their own things (screens probably) and when we get back, they’re in the driveway playing together. It’s the best!
My sister & I played a looooot of travel Guess Who back in the day… after countless hours on the road over the years we instituted a custom rule: you’re allowed to lie once per game! Really added a fun twist – that we still include to this day :D
Faves around here: The game Spot It, which is now our out for supper game.There’s a few different ways to play, so we change it up depending on moods. Playdough still makes a regular appearance even though my kids are 9 and 7. I usually make it from scratch, but the store bought kind is also awesome. They do epic games of Playdough Bake Off, with challenges like make 6 identical cookies, or make a 4 layer cake. Guess Who is also played a lot over here, but recently they’ve started playing a version that me and my husband call “Guess Who: Just Vibes”. They’ll do one or two of the standard questions, like: “does your person have blue eyes?”, but then it’s like: “does your person like pop music?”, “is your person a dog person?”, and “can your person skateboard?”. Their success rate is pretty low, but several of the Guess Who characters now have pretty interesting and substantial backstories!
Does you person shop at Trader Joe’s!
Love this post – such fun! I have an almost 2.5 yo boy and his favourite toys are the Brio train set, Melissa & Doug ice cream stand, play kitchen, books, soft toy animals and cars. Recently, he’s really enjoying taking his insect observation box out on walks: it’s a small plastic box with a magnifying lid which we use to catch bugs. We use a leaning tower daily so he can watch and help in the kitchen. We go to the library weekly and I pick books for him to support the topics at his nursery eg bugs, sea creatures, the zoo.
That Melissa & Doug ice cream stand was a HUGE hit with my kids and every kid whoever came over to play. I made it my go-to gift for nieces and nephews for several years. The amount of different creations, the flavor combinations, exchanging money, you name it, it’s fun. What’s more, it’s popular with toddlers through 8 years olds (heck, I had fun “ordering”).
Maileg mice, magnatiles and Grimms rainbow. All are perfect for handing down to the next generation, look lovely and go together to make all sorts of things
Magnatiles! SO popular at my house. They were a great gift to suggest to Grandparents, because they are a little pricey and there are many different sizes of sets, so it’s something they could continue to gift for a while as our collection grew. (And had the added side effect of canceling other, less desirable grandparents gifts…such as Grandpa’s Little Princess shirts, etc.) I was going to put ours away to save for my kids’ kids, as our kids are 11 and 14. Too old, I thought. I sat them out in the living room, and they’re being played with again!
Our kids (ages 2 and 5) have played with this Stack and Drop tower for YEARS (https://www.kaplanco.com/product/33313/stack-and-drop-transparent-tower). We’re also in love with kinetic sand–we put it in a tray so we can easily contain the mess and store it.
I have a newborn so I love this post, saving it for our future :)
DECK OF CARDS. works with any age and keeps the whole family entertained for ages. We’ve moved from simple memory games to go fish to rummy to poker and our new favorite is euchre. the only challenge is how many times we lose a single card and need to buy a whole new deck because it drives me insane.
Can you buy say 3-4 decks. And use one designated for playing. And if one card goes missing just pull out from your designated back up deck
Not a toy suggestion but a COJ advice request: how do you know if you’re spending enough time with your kids? I worked full-time as a teacher from age 22- 33, took one year off to stay at home full-time with my oldest (and wanted to die of boredom, tedium, monotony and loneliness), then went back to work as a literacy specialist in a school til we had our second last February. Since then, we left NYC and moved away. I hired part-time help in our new city because I planned to find a job and haven’t been able to yet. I drive my oldest to preschool, pick her up, tutor every day of the week – and I take my youngest to baby music class once a week, go to my oldest’s school for holiday celebrations and special events, but a lot of the time, they’re with our nanny. I constantly feel guilty. I have applied for hundreds (it feels) of jobs but I’m looking for a niche position as an interventionist, instructional coach, etc. not a classroom teaching role (I did it for eleven years and I’m too exhausted now!). It’s very hard and I’m in a new city where no one knows me so I don’t have connections to help. Tl; dr- should I fire my nanny and give up on looking for a job so I can spend more time with my kids? I don’t necessarily want to but I also feel terribly guilty I’m not spending every second that I can with them in these precious years (they are 1 and almost 4). They ADORE the nanny by the way. I know there is no right answer, and I know I’m INSANELY privileged to have help.
Perhaps you can think about the time with your kids from a quality over quantity perspective. Will your job help to open up channels of creativity, energy, and income that is helpful to your kids when you get time with them? Or does it drain your ability to be with them? More questions than answers, but I think about this often.
Not helpful but here to say you aren’t alone! I have similar guilt every single day. Hang in there! There’s no wrong answer.
I’m in a similar position to you and we are keeping our nanny on. I like the idea of being able to start my next job tomorrow, and while I job hunt and do other things I know I won’t hace capacity to do once I start working again, my kids are having a great time with the nanny. We also rely on our nanny for babysitting on week nights and weekends so my husband and I can have fun together, and we don’t want to give that up. Hope this helps you.
I think your answer is embedded here within your own post! “I don’t necessarily want to.” I think Mom guilt is soooo real no matter WHAT the situation is. If I were you, I would try to avoid letting that guilt be your guide. If there are other reasons that lead you to pausing the job hunt and taking on full time mom-ing, then that’s one thing. But it sounds like you’ve put a good amount of energy toward trying to find a new gig, and there’s a reason for that too! I’m so sorry it’s feeling hard – that struggle is real!!!
As a former nanny I want to say that having a nanny you and your kids love is sooo special. Would it be possible to spend more time with the nanny and the kids? Sometimes the “co-parenting” with the nanny can really be fun for everyone-OR you can have special solo time with each kid while the nanny is with the other kid. Even a brief 20 mins with a 4 year old where you focus solely on them can be so magical for that kiddo. It really is not about quantity! Especially if it depletes you to be alone with the kids!
Thank you all for your words of wisdom! Really helpful. I love the COJ community <3
I love what everyone else has said. You said you don’t want to, (and it sounds like you don’t have to,) so feel free to let go of the guilt and lean in to what you already know. Also I often think of a comment from CoJ years ago about how a reader had wonderful parents who worked a lot. They knew their parents loved them AND they were grateful they also got to be surrounded by other people who loved them too. Sounds like thats what you’re giving to your kids! Also also, my therapist would say, what would you tell your daughter if she came to you and asked? HUGS.
Re: Amazon links, another idea is not to use an affiliate link when you aren’t able to identify a vetted alternative to Amazon That seems more congruent to me bc doesn’t lead your readers back to Amazon’s clutches
Your note about yoyo’s made me want to share…I just recently discovered that my partner — to whom I’ve been attached for 15 years — is an expert yoyo-er. Imagine my surprise when this person (who I thought I knew everything about) casually picked up a yoyo from a little free library on a normal afternoon dog walk and started spinning the sickest little tricks…people he can do all the fancy things and walk around with it while it sleeps! Literally for the whole week I just was like, “who are you?!”
I still have all of the Little People sets from my kids (oldest is 30) for grandbabies to play with. But the winner in my house would be a deck of cards. Alone, in a pair, in a group, from War to Old Maid and Go Fish to more complicated games Rummy, Canasta my kids will pick a deck of cards every time. Building houses, learning to shuffle. They love them. They get a deck in their stocking every Christmas.
Not a toy recommendation but I have two: The picture book Mommy Mine. I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old and both, starting with my oldest read it nonstop. Both of them had the words down by 3 years old. The next is a weird but delightful experience that both my children also stumbled upon: the ceramic forest animals that are situated outside of our local senior living home some deer, an eagle, a bear family. When we moved into the neighborhood and started to take walks my oldest was 2 and quickly became absolutely thrilled to see these animals on the route. We specifically walk to see the animals. My youngest is now just as equally as excited to go visit *the animals* and his older brother still is. I never see anyone out, near them, no other moms have mentioned the animals in conversation but my boys are over the moon to go pet them and talk to them, feed them some leaves and sticks. It’s equally so sweet and strange at the same time. Looking forward to our evening walk tonight to *see the animals*.
I come from a large extended family – around 80 aunts, uncles, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. My aunt gave each family a customized Guess Who filled with headshots of all of the family members. Such a labor of love that I cannot wait for my kids to be old enough to play with!
That is so cool!
My sister made this for our mom as a Hanukkah gift–we have a large family with lots of nieces and nephews so we filled up the board just with our family alone. It’s hilarious to play at family gatherings–sometimes it’s simple questions, like “does she live in X state?” and sometimes it’s loaded ones like “did he get in trouble a lot in high school?” I could not recommend this gift highly enough!
This treehouse playset from Lakeshore Learning is the BEST for kids who are into imaginative world-building. Ignore that is says ages 3-6 – we got it for my elder daughter when she was about 5 and she and her sister still play with it all the time at ages 11 and 9. Skip the cheesy plastic people and pair it with some smaller plastic figurines (we had a set of dragons and fairies that inhabited it for a long while). It also plays well with Calico Critters! https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/blocks-manipulatives/building-sets/treehouse-imagination-builders/p/HH238/
Part of my husband’s family lore is a giant plastic tub of LEGO… When he was a teenager, my MIL packed up the giant tub of LEGO and mailed it to a cousin 5 years his junior, and when HE got older, HIS mom sent the tub over to their youngest cousin. As soon as my oldest son was born, my husband’s aunt let me know that the tub was waiting in her attic to be sent over for our kiddo when he was old enough. It brings so much joy to know that this family full of introverted, mathematical, playful men and boys have all loved these same toys!
Ours is “row row boat” – a wooden shipping container with loads of blocks stacked on top. It sits on our coffee table and the blocks build houses and towers, make forests for animals, serve as playdough molds and cookie cutters with the holes in them, little vroom vroom car racers, and sorting/counting the different colours. Total surprise but it’s the best. Also balloons, and unfortunately for my mother in law’s hopes, this month it’s been a small helium balloon my daughter picked up at the grocery store and refused to let go of that says “It’s a girl!”. Sorry grandma.
Sad to see Amazon links. Here’s the step stool not on Amazon for those who care: https://www.ginsey.com/products/growing-up-green-bamboo-step-stool
thanks for your note, Jenny! here’s the reply I wrote to another commenter, below: we aren’t linking much to amazon at all anymore — definitely not for books, fashion or beauty. it was a huge revenue cut for our business, but one we are more than happy to make and stand by. this decision is important to our team and our readers. that is what we are still doing. for toys specifically, it’s trickier because we haven’t vetted the small toy sites online. we once linked to a star light in a holiday gift guide and (in an effort to link less to amazon) I linked to an independent toy shop. that toy shop ended up being not great — it wasn’t fraudulent, but it must have been overwhelmed by all the orders from CoJ readers. many people didn’t get their order for months, way after the holidays. of course, I wanted to make it right for those readers, so I paid everyone back for the money they’d spent (if their order hadn’t arrived or was problematic in any way). i was happy to do so, but it added up to thousands of dollars and was disappointing for those readers. so, it makes us pause in terms of linking to small stores we don’t know well. for that reason, in this post, we linked to eBay, barnes & noble, a toy store called Woodpeckers, franklin sports, and amazon. hope this makes sense!
Thank you, Joanna, for that reminder…I remember the comments you received from readers whose orders took ages and ages or were outright cancelled. I’m always surprised with these comments bc we know how to search for items on the internet, and can choose where we purchase or not purchase said item…
Grandmother of six here, ages 12-4. Magnatiles all the way…..my 12 year old will STILL use them. If you can only buy one toy, this line is it. And you can add endless versions as the brood grows larger. Fun post and comment section!
Lego, nerf guns, magnatiles, costumes (buy a couple each halloween so they have them in the proper size). Also just our real instruments – electric drum set, piano, electric guitar. Those will outlast every toy. I have two boys ages 7 and 6. These are the top tier things they play with.
Magnatiles have been so worth it!
Amen to magnatiles.
Concur!
This might not be considered a toy but our learning tower has been one of the best things we’ve bought for our kids (3 yo and 1.5yo). They use it everyday and love getting involved when we cook.
yes!! We are not a family that shells out $$ for kid things but my gut was right that it’d be a game changer. Invested in a gorgeous navy folding one for our kitchen and it made my tot a sous chef. Specifically paid more for folding and of course it was never folded/set aside, always in use. And it has exceptional resale value.
I love Guess Who?! We used to play a version where you couldn’t ask specifically about their physical attributes (so no hair colors, etc) – you’d ask “do they look like they bake their own bread?” “do they look like they could be a high school guidance counsellor?” “do they look like they know how to drive a motorcycle?” So good!
I love this so much! I feel like we missed out by playing it the standard way and need to go out and buy it again so we can try this, haha!
I love playing it this way! “do they look like someone’s annoying kid brother?” Our set also has a flip side with superheroes to change it up.
We have spent a lot of time recently playing Sleeping Queens and Sleeping Queens 2.
We love Sleeping Queens!
We love sleeping queens so much! Every friend who comes over plays it and then gets it for themselves! Have to try Sleeping Queens 2!
LOVE Sleeping Queens! My kid is 5 but we play with “open hands” and have a blast. Don’t be deterred by the 8+ on the package. It’s so fun!
In a secondhand shop we found a build-your-own den kit – a pack of sticks, connecting foam balls and a leaflet with ideas for different shapes to make. This has been a HIT. As well as making dens and tunnels, the sticks get sorted and carried, balls are mixed, swords and dragons are imagined – truly when people talk about “simple open ended toys” this £3 beat-up box has knocked it out of the park. We even travel with a small selection of the sticks and balls.
I love that line traveling with ” a small selection of the sticks and balls ” yep that about sums up kids’ needs ! :) That kit sounds so great..
If anyone has been able to find a link to a toy that fits this description, can you please add it? This sounds like a winner!
I have a Toy that sounds like this called Crazy Fort that i do NOT recommend. It works OK…. but unless you have the balls oriented correctly the structural integrity is terrible, so even our very lego inclined kiddo can’t really do it without an adult who has to work really hard. Concept = amazing, but the specific execution is terrible. Sorry to not be more help.
It’s an old version of this (UK link): https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/activity-toys/build-your-own-den-75-piece-kit/WKS_5052089185500.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21213113248&gbraid=0AAAAADybf6d69Nh3TjFSLDLZ-UWJfdQJj&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0LDBBhCnARIsAMpYlApcPoibJDDlIrEblIxtoIsFZ5xLfytSPzZkWufTZuzYv56cciytUnMaAry8EALw_wcB
Love these! Yes to magnatiles but so sad not to see many art supplies listed here! A tray of watercolors and set of basic brushes goes so far in our house. Pack a jar and a water bottle and bring it to the beach or playground, etc. + small sketchbook – we bring everywhere, especially dinners out. It’s fun to look back at the pages and seeing games of hang man we played before they could actually spell lol Plus the ones with the brown covers give you somewhere to put the gazillions of stickers they’re always getting!
Lizzy, I love this! Our intro watercolour kit is still kickin around and my second kid just started experimenting with it. Plus, it got me into painting and drawing, although I’ve upgraded my kit. :) I’ve started applying for art grants and am part of a drawing group—I seriously link my creative blossoming to these little craft projects with my kids.
I’m not a parent, but I love this question and thinking over my childhood toys. Our Lincoln logs and big tub of mixed Lego pieces inherited from another family with older kids, and our wooden train set all got used for years and YEARS. The best was combining our wooden blocks with the wooden train set for maximum building potential. My parents have the train set still, for when friends with young children come over. Always a big hit. Honestly, I will happily play with those things the minute a child gets them out, even at my ripe age of 31. They’re like these: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lillabo-50-piece-track-set-10320077/
The most classic “toy” around here is the lone, stray ballon. I’m curious – what does your family call the game when 2 or more people try to keep a balloon afloat without it touching the floor? Every family seems to have a different, made up name for this, ha. We call it Bumbleball in our house
Ha! I can hear my kids now screaming “don’t let it hit the floor!”
It’s Bop the Balloon in our house! Now I want a balloon.
We just SCREAM “KEEP IT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!” lol
Keeps uppy
KEEPY UPPY!! That’s what it’s called in the kids cartoon Bluey and so we call that in our house too.
My kids still call this “keepy uppy” even at 7 and 10 lol. I honestly enjoy this low stakes game a lot, I like to be the one in charge of keeping it off the couch ;)
Due to bluey everyone with kids under age 7 calls this game “keepy uppy” now. We called it don’t let it touch the floor haha
Keepie Uppie! Per Bluey haha – and we always have a balloon on the go. Now with an additional variation of “hockey sticks” (any stick my daughter can find) wielded by “fwends” (stuffies holding the sticks).
Balloon volleyball!
Shoot the Moon aka Space Force wooden board with two metal rods and a ball – 3 to 80 year olds reliably pick it up of the book shelf. Indoor “snowballs” were a blast when my kids were toddlers and still get pulled out when my 18 year old has a group of friends over. And Legos always. Saved my teen at the beginning of COVID with a minifigure creative marathon.
Shoot the Moon – have never seen this but looks like it has enduring appeal. Thanks Josette, for sharing!
Nerf guns (sorry, but they love them), unit blocks, Uno and Mermaid Island, craft items (scissors, markers, glue, paper, stickers)
This set of counting bears have been played with so much by my two kiddos. They can be sorted, lined up, drivers for trains and trucks, and block houses inhabitants. https://www.amazon.com/Jumbo-Counting-Bears-Stacking-Cups/dp/B074795C45
Not a toy but a game my mom invented – The Quarter Game. Two or more kids sit at the top of the stairs and on each turn have to guess which hand the quarter is in behind your back. If they get it right, they move down a step – first one to the bottom wins the quarter! Why it’s GENIUS – you can easily switch the quarter behind your back so that it’s always a close race and everyone wins at least once – no tears!
Oh my goodness, my mom does this but with pennies and it is SUCH a hit. She even has a little rhyme. I tried to replicate it but don’t have the patience… I get too distracted by the dust on the stairs, the laundry basket at the bottom, the you know… everything. So much appreciation for all the grandparents’ unending patience. Hope I get there one day :)
We got my daughter the ikea kitchen and then we cut the hole larger to fit this sink. Omg she plays with it ecery day! The loves that she has a sink with real water in her-sized kitchen! https://a.co/d/c5Qu0RT
These excellent suggestions skew young, so here’s my attempt for the tweens/teens: Uno and standard deck of cards Mancala Rubix cube (with instructions) Bluetooth speaker Hammock Nerf guns Supplies: Box of yarn, box of embroidery floss, variety of papers, cardboard, markers, x-acto blade and cutting mat, light box screen, blue tape, etc Folding and locking knife for whittling (with accompanying lessons about safe use) Blank playing cards and board game components, like Catan hexagons (Apostrophe brand on amazon) For the 10 and under crowd: Echo so many of the suggestions here, particularly magnatiles, animal figurines, and wooden blocks which get used by a very wide age range and are never really put away. Duplos and Legos. Marble runs for elementary and middle schoolers.
My boys are 26 and 23 now but what a teary walk down the memory lane of their childhood! Huge yes to magnatiles-they loved these WAY into middle school. Also the road rug with all the wheeled objects in the house – hot wheels, block cars, anything that GOES and a lot of things that didn’t! A big box of Keva Planks – just smooth wooden blocks, but like planks, plus other wooden blocks – expensive but oh so worth it. The marble run – never got tired of remaking that. And legos – big bins of legos always. We also had a pretend tool bench that they loved. Someone down further mentioned making their backyard into an adventure space – LOVE this – look into the philosophy of risky play – we talk about this at my school – really interesting and important to encourage our little ones to be confident in their bodies, problem solve, collaborate, be creative and imaginative and get off of screen my gosh! Loving this thread!
I know it’s been said many times, but I need to emphasize how amazing Magna Tiles are throughout childhood. My kids are 6 and 9 and they still play with them for hours at a time, all the time. From stacking them at age 1 to building elaborate castles and houses now, it’s the toy that keeps on giving hours of quiet time!
Not a toy, but I framed a USA and also a world map, no glass on top just the coated kind. I hung them in the kitchen, near the table. My husband travels a lot for work so I cut out a picture of his head and we would move it around. We used it even more as the kids got older to point out where other family members lived or were traveling. We would look at state capitals, other countries we were hearing about and we could look and see where in the world they were located. One of my best parenting moves.
Laura, I love this and now I’m getting a world map. A lot of our friends and neighbours are immigrants (as am I) and I’d love to have a visual to help the kids appreciate this.
We have a world map shower curtain (hung so you can read it while showering). It has greatly improved everyone’s geography and sense of the world! I’m trying to think about what kind of curtain to get next….
This is so sweet! The stool! My grandparents had a yellow wooden stool for us and we all feel so connected to it. It’s such an object of care don’t you think? My eldest brother has it now just as decoration in his place so it shows we all feel that way. We got Outfoxed after seeing your kids enjoy it and we love it (kids 12 and 16!) also now kids are older we play Guess Who but call it Who The Hell Is That?! Haha! We also have a little plastic aardvark that stays on the kitchen table. It’s called The Staartvark and we spin it to see who goes first. Now no game can begin without it and I feel so much affection for that little plastic guy.
The plane version of Toby’s bus, the Melissa and Doug scoop shop ice cream set, and the Melissa and Doug birthday cake still get weekly play from my 6 and 3 year old. The M&D birthday cake is my go-to 2 year old gift!
We loooove the Melissa and Doug wooden plane! So many years of play with that one. I got to pull it out this past weekend for a visiting toddler, and it brought me such joy.
BOOKMARKED and reminder set to revisit in October. Thank you! And for us it’s toy food. We cook a lot!
One of my kids’ favorite toys was any giant box we’d surprise them with in the middle of the floor. Such a magical toy….one minute a house, then a rocket ship, to become a boat and then a cave. Here’s a box of crayons, go nuts.
Reminds me of the book Not a Box by Antoinette Portis!
To build on this, Makedo tools are amazing for building independence with cardboard creations!
Yep cardboard boxes. The best toy haha
Kristina, Those Makedo tools are great. We got a set for my kids at Christmas. Then, after everything was opened, I brought out ALL the boxes that holiday things had been shipped in. It was cardboard heaven! Their fort was gigantic and they played for hours.
Magnatiles And Those scooters with 2 wheels a In front that can pivot. Oh man, the miles used! Thank Micro is brand
I second those two! We got so many YEARS of use out of them.
We have replaced our Micro Mini wheels 2x already (because of high use, not quality issues!) As a city family, those scooters are a total life saver for getting around without the meltdowns or a broken back…
I am completely overtired from back to back sick kids…. And this is making me tear up. The idea of them not playing with the tiles anymore or making me pretend dinner is just hitting hard today!! I have a 2 yr old and 3.5 yr old so I have many years left. The open ended toys for the win. Also have a friend over. The friend always find a different way to play with the same old stuff. Anything boring plastic never lasts long in our house and generally ends up on buy nothing.
Agree with those who have already said magnatiles and the Nugget. The other winners for us have been those foam glider airplanes, counting bears with colorful cups and tongs (https://goodbuygear.com/products/legato-counting-bears), and a set of plastic hoops that came in a loveevery kit. Also large cardboard boxes.
Dress-up toys: play dresses, tiaras/police hats/other headwear, superhero capes, wrestling masks… They get used again and again, and seeing the combinations of attire is always a treat! My son always ends up “fighting crime” and my daughter is a “superhero princess”, and they use a lot of the same pieces! Stuffed animals. All of them, for all ages. My kids are always doing something with them. I love to gift a very soft stuffed animal to all the kids I know! And as others have said, magnetic tiles are always a win. They’re an excellent toy to play with their grandma. :)
Yes to capes! My sister gave my son a set of superhero capes when he was little and they got so much use! Once I pulled one out of my work purse and gave everyone in my office a good laugh.
Echoing capes! These from a local small business near us are amazing – https://creativecapes.com
Bop-It! We have had many a family Bop-Off. it’s like we forget about it – or it’s been relegated in time out on top of the fridge so long we forgot – and we rediscover it anew! Karaoke microphone – need I sing more? CD player. Oldschool and encourages checking out cds from the library. Spider swing. Half dome jungle gym.
If you’re a Bop It Family, your kids might appreciate Flipslide. https://www.target.com/p/flipslide-handheld-electronic-game/-/A-53361030
My boys are 10 and 13 and they still play with a giant plastic slinky. It’s plastic, rainbow colors. Somehow it’s still functioning! Every kid that comes over loves it too!
We finally put up a sensory swing and bought a curved board a few years ago, and they are constantly in use by our kids (currently 13, 10, 6) and any visiting kids. Also, the wooden Melissa & Doug cookie set has been a constant for 12 years because the round discs and tray can be imagined to be a wiiiiiiide range of things and are easy to store. Open ended toys for the win!
Adding: if you have the room for it: a pingpong table that could be folded up and still resides (now mostly folded up unfortunately) in our backyard. Many fun summer evenings for kids and adults alike.
We don’t have room for a full table, but we have a giant farmhouse style dining room table (90 inches) and we have a retractable ping pong net that goes in the middle of the table. Hours of family fun for older kids.
We got these around 5 years ago, and they were less $ then, but these have NEVER been put away for longer than 24 hours in our house: https://www.ecr4kids.com/products/ecr4kids-over-sized-hollow-wooden-block-set-for-kids-play-natural-18-piece-set
I love these. Expensive but seem worth it. I have two little builders.
The Melissa and Doug ice cream shop has been an MVP with my three boys and is my favorite gift to give for toddlers/preschoolers.
they have a really great one that’s a magnetic PUZZLE now! I wish they had all sorts of food sets that were in this format — so versatile and easy to store! https://www.melissaanddoug.com/products/wooden-magnetic-puzzle-play-set-ice-cream?variant=40737528315958&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21802289665&gbraid=0AAAAA949c4ztTsLq5imlXKQbXT40haIlW&gclid=CjwKCAjwravBBhBjEiwAIr30VPfyUZ5_DD__YwBOpnaHQ87-p5GuiSr2tJUnroUgqQTEYetR5UKzPRoCj_sQAvD_BwE
Came here to say the Melissa & Doug ice cream counter is a huge hit with kids aged 1-10 (and beyond?). I won’t let my husband get rid of it. Highly recommend!! https://www.melissaanddoug.com/products/scoop-serve-ice-cream-counter?variant=40109177765942&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21802289665&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0LDBBhCnARIsAMpYlAp-9-2su4PU014G2OoxZRHuSprsGyPAbR0TzGndTx4V2N_mOVTJUzcaAu4YEALw_wcB
We have loved the strider bike and now the woom bike. My son learned to ride a pedal bike at age 3. Incredible!!! Also big fans of Magnatiles and marble run kits. :) For travel, black rainbow scratch paper and sticker books are really great.
Omg we have a Woom bike for our toddler and it is amazing! We started out with the Woom 1 when our son was 17 months old, and he’s not quite 2.5 now and will be getting a pedal bike in June. He rides more confidently and with better balance than our five year old neighbour! And he uses the hand brake to stop at every alley and corner. Wooms are super pricey upfront but incredibly well made, and the resale is so high where we live (like 75% of purchase price) plus they HAVE A BRAKE. It is wild to me how many balance bikes don’t have brakes.
A gymnastics bar in our living room! An adjustable, kiddie one with a mat underneath. Makes the room look awesome, from a decorating perspective, but my kids play with it Every. Single. Day. My sons (10 and 13) are mostly too big for it now, but my 5 yo loves it. Magnatiles, naturally. The whole family will still play with them! We’ve evolved our tile play to include FIVES mosaic tiles, which are more art-focused and require some spatial reasoning to fit them together. We get lots of Minecraft things, of course, and I love seeing how they conceive of an idea and then try to build it in real life. My 5 yo will show off a colorful assembly of tiles and tell me it’s… an octopus riding on a boat? Yep, I’m with you kid. Imagination is amazing.
Magnatiles, Legos, dolls of various shapes/sizes/colors/genders and lots of clothes/accessories I can all vouch for. Another one I’ve seen mentioned less or not at all is a bin of toy cars/trucks/emergency vehicles and a ROAD RUG. The rug alone yields a massive ROI — our kids build Magnatile cities on it, play with superhero action figures on it, drive toy cars, create Lego worlds, scene build with wood or plastic toy figures/animals… truly an incredible yield on a very low investment.
This! My son is 8. He got the road rug from my four brothers (gifted to him as a newborn) as they fondly remembered theirs. He uses it almost daily, now with his two year old sister. Also used daily since he was about 6 months old: Magnatiles/Picasso Tiles and wooden blocks.
Love this question, I will evangelize the beauty and benefits of open-ended toys for ever and ever. For our kids (6 and 4) this means wooden building materials (blocks, arches, boxes), loose parts (little wooden balls, sticks, rocks), large silk scarves (Sarah’s Silks!), wooden animals, cars and Maileg Mice. The Waldorf philosophy of simple, unformed toys has worked so well for not only entertaining our kids, but fostering their imaginations, and keeping our house free from plastic junk – a big benefit for me :)
Two things I’d never have predicted stood the test of time: 1. Hape wooden play cube (aka Doctor’s office type wooden cube). Before they could walk my kids would pull themselves up and play with this and we still have 6-7 yr olds who visit and play with it! 2. Indoor toddler balance bike (SEREED). Obviously need a house that’s set up for this but my kids love using this to get from room to room/coast down the hallway starting from 1yr to now 6yr!
Hands down 2 toys are played with most – magnetic tiles and Duplo (my older child has recently moved to Lego and I’m sure that is going to be similar). My children also LOVE books. And can often be found asking someone to read to them or going through a book on their own. Oh, one more toy, the lead shavings drawing pad. And LED drawing pad. Those are absolute winners any day of the week.
I have to chime in with maybe the best parenting move of my parenting career: last fall, I put out a message on our neighborhood listserv soliciting people’s “yard junk”: boards, buckets, gardening stuff, whatever was piled up in their garages and yards. We scored a ton of old shutters, some very heavy duty plastic decking planks, pvc pipes, etc. I also found a small climber someone left on the curb, and the remains of a slide from someone’s play house. Combined with ropes, tarps, etc, and my yard is now an “adventure playground”. My kids will play out there with friends for far longer and much more imaginatively than with anything else in our house. It’s kind of any eyesore, and my neatnik husband can have a hard time with the mess, but I see a beautiful open-ended play opportunity. I’d love to add in real construction tools, a big mud pit for digging, and a fire pit, but we’re renters and I don’t know how far we can take things! I was inspired by the adventure playgrounds that originated in Denmark and the UK. I wish we lived closer to NYC, because I’ve heard great things about the adventure playground on Governor’s Island.
I love this so much Hannah! Well done! It will be such fun mémories for your kids and their friends.
What an inspiring idea!
My kids love our marble run by Discovery Toys. We have a giant bin and they love them from the minute I can safely say they won’t eat the marbles to now-which is four kids and 20 years later. I will keep them forever.
I’ve been waiting to get this for my kids, it looks like so much fun and reminds me of a favorite toy from my childhood. Our youngest is juuuuuust getting to the end of the “will probably still eat marbles” stage of things.
We’re into Lego over here, and headed to Denmark this summer, to Legoland and Lego House (and many other things!). Hoping that trip makes them Lego fans for life!
Hi Erin, make sure to make a reservation for the restaurant at Lego House ahead of time. It was amazing! You will have so much fun in Denmark (can also recommend the different wow parks, Danfoss Universe Park and of course Aarhus, our favourite city in Denmark)!
Magnatiles! We collected several hundred pieces over the years. My kids are all teens and older and I still keep a big basket around that gets occasional play. Even from me.
Toy-adjacent – got our first-grader a Yoto Player for Xmas and I wish we’d done it sooner! I had a blast burning my old mix CDs into playlists for him. He doesn’t use it as much for books, yet, but it’s a delight to see him set it up during ping-pong or whatever else he’s doing. I saw a rope mention on here – his older bro got a knot-tying book and a pulley system and it’s been fun to see what he comes up with. Lastly – we laminated a map of our town (bicycle, so it shows all street names) and WOW. Kid spent hours with a dry erase marker inventing routes, planning outings, etc.
I love the laminated map idea! My almost-6 year old is obsessed with maps!
Yoto is the gift that keeps on giving! Before bed each night my daughters select a podcast (brains on, forever ago, smash book best). So often they will pull out random facts or vocab word that they learned from the podcast.
Marble Run, wooden train set, magnatiles, LEGOs, and arts and craft supplies are the staples in our house! They have other toys but return to these again and again.
The nugget couch has received so much love and use in our house for my 6 and 9 year old boys. It’s been in a constant part of play for the last 2 years. I highly recommend it, even if it does take up a little bit of real estate in your home. Magna-tiles and Legos (of course, right?) are ever popular. Uno No Mercy is da bomb!
My nephews built an alternative Guess who by drawing other cards with family members. Then even added a dog. It was very fun to do. And this Christmas we played the original version but with a twist I saw in a short : you can’t ask physical questions! I lost but my sister won and we were both amazed of it! We asked questions like : Could this person be the kind to be very proud of their haircut ? Could they volunteer ? Or be a spy ? It’s a lot based on stereotypes but also so fun to try to try to guess the thinking of the other player.
HI team! Did I read that y’all weren’t linking to Amazon anymore, or did I make that up? :) I don’t care either way–I realize COJ is a business and it’s not your job to be ethically “pure” 100% of the time….it’s a wild world!–but, as a small business owner myself who struggles daily with making values-aligned decisions in a non-aligned system, I’m curious if there was a deliberate change, or if it was just the only supplier of these toys!
we aren’t linking much to amazon at all anymore — definitely not for books, fashion or beauty. it was a big revenue cut for our business, but one we are more than happy to make and stand by. this decision is important to our team and our readers. that is what we are still doing. for toys specifically, it’s a little trickier because we haven’t vetted the small toy sites online. we once linked to a star light in a holiday gift guide and (in an effort to link less to amazon) I linked to an independent toy shop. that toy shop ended up being not great — it wasn’t fraudulent, but I think it must have been overwhelmed by all the orders from CoJ readers. many people didn’t get their order for months, way after the holidays. of course, I wanted to make it right for those readers, so I paid everyone back for the money they’d spent (if their order hadn’t arrived or was problematic in any way). i was happy to do so, of course, but it added up to thousands of dollars and was disappointing overall for those readers. so, it makes me pause in terms of linking to small stores i don’t know well. for that reason, in this post, we linked to eBay, barnes & noble, a toy store called Woodpeckers, franklin sports, and amazon. hope this makes sense!
Of course it makes sense!! It’s much harder than most folks probably realize to completely transition to small businesses especially, in a world that is just set up for corporations! I’ve had to make these kinds of decisions myself and it’s interesting seeing what other likeminded small business owners are doing!
Joanna, thank you for this explanation!! :)
This is off topic (though it is Motherhood Monday)- I went in for my first ultrasound today and learned that the reason I have been feeling so sick with this pregnancy is that there is not just one baby in there- there are two! We have a four-year-old and one-year-old already, and we intended for this to be our last baby. Though I am excited, I’m feeling very sad about how different things will be than I expected. The unimaginable challenge of two newborns aside, four kids just feels beyond my capacity. Any words of wisdom from my CoJ friends?
I went through something similar, but found out about #4 when my youngest was 9yo. It reset our family and I too mourned the loss of the future I had envisioned. Even though it has been different it has been SO good. You are a great mom and it will all be okay.
My best friend is in the same place right now. 4.5 2.5 and 4 months old twins. If you can afford help get it. Also if someone can set you up a meal train. Also you might think the hardest time is the first month. It’s actually when they are awake more and four people need you vs sleepy newborn time. Good luck.
Kate—what a surprise that must have been! I will never forget when my OB excitedly announced she had “found another one!” and I immediately burst into tears. So many unknowns, fears, and changed expectations. Though I wasn’t in the same position, now that I’m a bit on the other side, I can tell you—twins are MAGIC. And your 4-year old will feel so special to be a big helper and playmate for the middle little. How special for them to all be so close in age—they’ll be great playmates! It will be hectic, messy, chaotic as hell AND completely beautiful and perfect and you’ll wonder how you ever didn’t think you should have four kids. Sending you hugs and coffee xx
I am in my mid 50s (hoping and praying to be a grandma one day) and would LOVE to help out a new mom with her babies! My closest friend’s son and daughter in law had twins two years ago. My friend and I had the time of our lives helping them with nighttime feedings so they could sleep. There needs to be an organization to pair up younger and older moms to help one another. I would be first to sign up!!
Kate, that must have been hard to hear and wrap your mind around. For what it’s worth, I was the 2nd of 4 kids and my husband said it looked so fun that he wanted us to have the same number! We ended up having 3 kids, but I’ve always loved big families, and we say three is the “smallest big family.” Here are some things I loved about growing up with 4: – The bigger the family, the more you develop your own internal culture. Your kids will grow up in a rich environment of inside jokes, family traditions, and shared memories. – More kids = more interests. Each of my siblings had different interests – art, music, theater, sports, etc. We all got to witness and learn about those worlds even if we weren’t directly participating. – Built-in buddies. I was a shy kid, and it was so nice that to have siblings to lean on when going into scary situations (like the first day of school) or to play with on vacation. – You bring the party! My husband and I joke that we have the ability to turn any sparsely attended event (craft workshop, library talk, etc.) into a well-attended event simply by showing up with our team. – Infinite combinations. You can go out to dinner with the whole family, break up into two groups to explore a children’s museum, or hang out 1 on 1 with any of your kids and the dynamic will be beautiful and different each time. Two newborns will certainly be hard, but you have the advantage of going in with the strong parenting skills and lessons from raising your first two. And there are such joys ahead. I’ll be thinking of you.
Momma of four adult children. My twins were my “planned” second pregnancy. My youngest arrived when they were just over two. We had four under six. It was overwhelming, it was wonderful, it was exhausting and then it was over. Your capacity to mother will expand with your family and one day, if you are really lucky, one of your grown children will tell you they want to have four children because they think it’s the perfect number. Take care.