What Are Your Must Have Toys?
I was a lead infant teacher in a center for 2 years, and you would think that I would be able to remember the top ITER-S toy categories for infant and toddler toys. For the life of me, I can not remember what toys we had in our room, or what was the biggest hit with the kiddos. I am looking to slowly add to my toy rotation over the next few months, and am looking for suggestions for children 0-2.
Here is a list of things I want to add or I want to get a new variety of: Manipulatives Fill and dump toys Sorters and organizers Gross motor toys such as climbers Blocks Balls |
I briefly worked with the toddlers in a center (12 months to 2 years for us) I remember having:
*pegs and boards (lakeshore has a set made for 18 months+ and another set for 3 years+) *pop beads *giant star builders (the star points on these would break off easily though) *plastic chunky cars *jumbo nuts and bolts *large foam blocks *plastic animals *Melissa and Doug chunky puzzles *dancing scarves *kitchen center - it was a small wooden kitchen with plastic pots and pans and large soft plastic food. |
Originally Posted by Miss A: Zany Zoo activity cube (Target); in fact I own a lot of the B toys inc cars & piano mat (yes "B" is a brand) Play silks - used as a light blanket, for make-believe, picnics etc. Soft blocks that have different push out triangle/square/round noise makers inside 15 different types of balls (soft fabric & rubber, all sizes);some even rattle inside Indestructible book set (all of them lol); they've lasted 6 years so far |
stacking rings- even my older girls love the M&D stacking rings... I got rid of the big heavy red ball on the top though because in my world that was an accident waiting to happen.
stacking cups- love these! Plastic animals FP Little people Doll babies Kitchen/food Fisher Price "peek a boo" blocks |
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The most played with items right now in my 2-5-year-old classroom are:
MagnaTiles (constantly played with) Cars Dramatic play (babies, baby clothing, toy food) Sensory bin Puzzles For trays they are: Peg boards (letters and numbers) Alphabet matching popsicles Rhyming/Matching set/Etc. puzzle cards Geoboards |
Ditto MagnaTiles! My children from infant to SA love them!
Soft wool balls for throwing. Pushing toys. Containers for dumping. |
I love all different levels of puzzles....I love watching the kids problem-solve and move up the ladder on degrees of difficulty. :)
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Originally Posted by Miss A: |
Originally Posted by sahm1225: https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-.../dp/B000NV6BZY https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-...BQHQW3XV8GR78Y I also have a "Fill and Dump" Mega Bloks wagon (it tips, dump-truck style) that my current dcks love |
Magna tiles
Sensory table stuff (I usually fill with rice and utensils from the dollar store) wooden blocks lego/duplo blocks playsilks playkitchen stuff anything outside |
Wooden puzzles
Sensory table Kitchen/food/dishes Trucks/cars Duplo blocks and sets like Duplo zoo or hospital Grocery cart-they love to fill them up and push them around! Buckets like Easter or ice cream tubs with handles-they love to fill them up and carry them around! Dolls and blankets & baby bottles & purses! Board books I have a rocking moose from Ikea they love. I have other rocking toys they love! And the most loved for toddlers that toy that looks like a giant gum ball machine. Kids put balls in the top and there two different levers to push and the balls room down. I also have a Melissa and Doug toy where they push wooden balls into this wooden box and they roll down a zig zag ramp. Any variation of ball /ramp toy. There's different ones out there! |
I would add stuffed animals of different sizes and a classroom pet to the list.
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Originally Posted by DaveA: |
Originally Posted by Miss A: Pps have shared great ideas. Anything sensory minded(balls, soft blocks all with different textures etc.) soft babies and feeding dishes/spoons/bottles, strollers. Musical instruments, magnetic letters/animals/pictures of themselves laminated for refrigerator time. And books galore. My youngest dcks are 3 right now and it seems like they spent 90% of free play with dollhouses and people/animals. |
Originally Posted by Miss A: I have a hamster in the classroom. No real room for a calf, DW's allergic to cats, and her and DD both would shoot me if I brought home a feeder pig. So I'll stick to 3 ducks, 7 chickens (3 more weeks till they transition outside FT), a 1 psychotic old Pekinese. I've joked we must never let DD see a pic of one of the mini appaloosa horses. They're about the same size as a large dog. She'd never let us hear the end of it if she knew they existed. :rolleyes: |
For a big splurge that will go from your age group to 11+, get the Symphony in B from B(Battat). It's dropped to 35 now, but it is the coolest musical toy, plus teaches them sections, lke woodwinds, strings, etc.
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Originally Posted by MotherNature: |
Originally Posted by DaveA: |
What gets the most use:
-A water transfer activity: Dollar store tray, turkey baster, and two small bowls. -A homemade color matching activity, similar to this one: http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/...206/162730.jpg -Scarves from the thrift store--$1 apiece. Not as pretty or as uniform as the playsilks, but more bang for my buck. -Melissa & Doug alphabet nesting blocks. -Green Toys Build-a-Bouquet -Safari Ltd. life cycle models. I have the frog (big hit!) and chicken so far. -Play Toys cone sorting. http://www.oompa.com/collections/pla...s-cone-sorting -A simple ball drop track (Earlyears Roll 'n' Swirl). |
That Oompa site is pretty awesome! I'll take one of each please?
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Originally Posted by Josiegirl: http://www.oompa.com/collections/woo...-first-orchard |
Originally Posted by Pestle: |
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