Toddler Toys

The ClubHouse: Archives: Toddler Toys
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Archive through February 26, 2002 25   02/26 05:55pm

Julieboo

Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - 09:38 am Click here to edit this post
THANKS BOOK! Those are good suggestions. Any more you think up would be great as my little guy will be three soon too.

Has anyone tried the MY FIRST LEAP PAD? I wonder if it is worth the $$$.

Who else besides me, Jewels and Bookworm has kids under 4?

Crazydog

Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - 11:14 am Click here to edit this post
I don't have any kids but I have a number of friends that have toddlers three and under. I find that they enjoy almost all of the Fisher Price Little People toys, especially the one that plays the "Little People" song... they always dance around to it.

My question is this. I have a good friend that lives in a neighboring state that I see about every two months. He's got a three year old boy and a one year old girl. The three year old has just gotten to the point where he actually remembers who I am, so now when I go there I bring a toy. How do you buy a toy for this situation if you're only going to buy one? I usually buy for the boy since he knows me and is in a better position to appreciate it. But I am concerned that the toys for him might be dangerous for the one year old if there are small parts, choking hazards etc. Any toy that would be suitable for the one year old is too basic for the three year old and he probably has most of them anyways. My friend will think it too extravagant if I buy a toy for each.

Julieboo

Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - 11:23 am Click here to edit this post
What about a video that they both could enjoy? Maybe a Barney or a Disney? There are tons of videos, everything from VeggieTales to Dragon Tales to the Wiggles to Pooh. Rolie Polie Olie is very popular with my son (2 1/2 as well as my niece, 1).

Babyruth

Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - 06:26 pm Click here to edit this post
Crazydog, you could also buy a fun book and read it with him. She can enjoy it in a year or two as well!

Tess

Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - 06:54 pm Click here to edit this post
Julie, I'm not sure I would do the My First Leap Pad. My daughter is 5 now and we just got her the regular Leap Pad and I'm glad I didn't put the money into the first one. The First Leap Pad is supposed to be for ages 3-5 I believe but at the rate we're going the the regular Leap Pad she would have out-grown the junior one sooner than would be worth it dollar-wise. There also doesn't seem to be much software available for the First Leap Pad. The regular Leap Pad has books for pre-schoolers also and goes up to age 10. Seems like a better investment.

Tess

Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - 07:05 pm Click here to edit this post
I will also say that I don't think any child can have too many books. My daughter has 3 bookcases full of books and gets more in the mail every month from her book club. No matter how many we get, there are so many she still doesn't have. Children love being read to. My daughter still loves all her books from the toddler years because now she can read them herself. I don't think you can ever go wrong with the gift of a book.

Julieboo

Wednesday, March 06, 2002 - 07:57 am Click here to edit this post
Thanks Tess. I noticed that there were only 2 extra books that you could buy for "My First.." My son really loves letters and numbers. He plays with flashcards all day. He also like computers, so I thought the first leappad would be good, but I also thought it might not be worth the $$$. Any thoughts on other products he might like? (He's nearly 3)

Tess

Wednesday, March 06, 2002 - 02:51 pm Click here to edit this post
If he likes computers, the Reader Rabbit Preschool and Jumpstart Preschool are great programs. They also have Toddler versions. My daughter has loved those. She also loved the Sesame Street Preschool, all the Freddie Fish ones and Putt-Putt. With the last 2 he'll need quite a bit of help at first. They are more problem solving than working with letters and numbers.

V-tech makes a couple of alphabet toys that my daughter has gotten as gifts and she still likes to play with those. Blocks with letters on them are great also, as well as tub letters and refrigerator magnents. There are also so many work books to be found. My daughter would do them every day if I didn't tell her to just go play for a little while. I get some workbooks at the grocery store, some from Target and some in the mail.

Any building type toy is also perfect. Good luck!

Sia

Monday, March 11, 2002 - 07:48 pm Click here to edit this post
I'm looking for small interlocking red plastic bricks like the ones that my brother and I played with in the late 1960s. They were very small and came in various lengths (from two to six bricks) to make interlocking them easier to accomplish. Also included in the set were white plastic (working!!) doors and windows and green plastic roof panels in different sizes. I've looked at Toys 'R Us and other toy stores, but have been unable to find anything comparable to this favorite building toy from my childhood. If anyone here knows of a retail store, mail-order, or web supplier for such an item, please post the information here for me. Thank you so much.

Confession: This is my first post here since BB1 and I have lurked here year-round since then! This is my favorite message-board on the whole web!!

Julieboo

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 - 08:28 am Click here to edit this post
Sia

How does what you are looking for compare to legos?

Sia

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 - 04:39 pm Click here to edit this post
Julieboo, the bricks I played with as child were much smaller than Legos (and were probably a choking hazard!!) and look like real bricks that an actual house would be built with (except for the flaming-red color) and were realistically textured and had marks on them that made them look like interlocking bricks. They were slightly pliable and were very narrow and held together much better than Legos do. My kids and I make lots of things out of Legos, but I really miss those old bricks. They were the greatest!

It's hard to explain them to someone who has never seen them, and I've never seen a photo of them on a web-site anywhere. Maybe my Mom has a photo of us playing with them somewhere among her dozens of albums, shoeboxes, and drawers of photos. I'll ask her to look, but she won't know where to start!

Twiggyish

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 - 08:37 pm Click here to edit this post
Sia..are these the bricks?:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4350/toys/toypages/happytoy.html

Sia

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 - 08:44 pm Click here to edit this post
OMG, Twig!! How in the world did you find those? Those are the bricks! Can I buy them? I am trying to figure that out now. You people are amazing. I've read this board since BB I and think you are a fabulous bunch of people. There seems to be nothing you can't answer!

Twiggyish

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 - 09:06 pm Click here to edit this post
http://www.chem.sunysb.edu/msl/lego/apb.htm

That link tells you more about them. If you run a search in Google or Dogpile.com There are antique dealers with sets. From what I was able to see, they run around 20.00.. you might check Ebay for cheaper.

Welcome here Sia!!

Teatime

Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 12:03 am Click here to edit this post
Well I'll be...Twiggyish, that second link of yours shows the exact bricks my brothers and I played with in the early to mid 60's! Thank you Sia for a great description and thank you Twigs for the links. What sweet memories! We have buckets and buckets of Legos at our house, and yes they are wonderful, but there was something special about those realistic brick patterns and especially the intricate little windows on my childhood set. How interesting that one manufacturer of the old version was "ELGO" and now we have "LEGO"

Julieboo

Monday, March 25, 2002 - 10:51 am Click here to edit this post
Okay, Bookworm, here is a question for you? Where can I find a board book of Nursey Rhymes (and why is it so hard to find one)?

Of course, anyone else knowing this answer, please share!

(so far I've checked Target and Ebay)

Bookworm

Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:04 pm Click here to edit this post
Why is it so hard to find one? Cuz people don't read them as much as they used to. The rhythm and rhyme (and repetition of them each day/week) of Nursery Rhymes are very important in the development of reading skills, by the way. So everyone go read/recite a nursery rhyme to a child tonight.

<Bookworm gets off of her soapbox>

Where? I guess I would try a bookstore like Waldenbooks or B Dalton or Borders. If they don't have one in stock they should be able to order one for you. I just got a free Nursery Rhyme book from an inservice that I attended. And I found a board book of Nursery Rhymes at a garage sale last summer. That's where I found mine.

By the way everyone should come visit the Children's Books thread in the library. Share your favorite children's books there.

Julieboo

Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:40 pm Click here to edit this post
My son has apraxia (if ya know what that is) so rhyme and repetition is very important to him. I can't believe I can't find a NR board book. Today I tried Borders and Barnes&Noble. Will try Walden next. Thanks!

Teatime

Monday, March 25, 2002 - 07:47 pm Click here to edit this post
Try Walmart too. Our local store is starting to carry lots more toddler books, many of them board books. "My First Mother Goose" by Lisa McCue, Reader's Digest Children's Books, has 10 rhymes, board book pages, and a carry handle for $12. Good luck, and happy reading!

Julieboo

Monday, March 25, 2002 - 08:08 pm Click here to edit this post
Thanks Teatime!!! That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for! Can you tell me which 10 rhymes it has? (though ANY 10 will do!)

Teatime

Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:29 pm Click here to edit this post
My pleasure, Julieboo:
Mary, Mary quite contrary
Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle
To market to market to buy a fat pig
One, two buckle my shoe
Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold
Hickety pickety my black hen
Sing a song of sixpence
Little boy blue
Ride a cockhorse
Wee willie winkie

These are first lines, did these things even have titles??
I'll add some more favorite books to the library thread soon, too.

Julieboo

Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 06:36 am Click here to edit this post
Perfect!. I wanted to make sure it had Hey Diddle Diddle! Thank you so much!!!!