Hi there
I have a 15 month old boy who is very active. He'll be 18 months old at Christmas...and I am not sure what to put on his Christmas list or what to get him. I'm a first time mom, so I'm still learning about stages/capabilities and interests by age, and need a little help.
Currently, he is really into books (has tons), loves flash cards (we have colors, ABC, Animals, basic words), likes climbing and getting into cabinets and hiding (he has a play tunnel and tent already). He already has a few toy trucks, cars, big and small rubber balls, shape sorters, wooden blocks, Mega Blocks (He basically just throws blocks around at this point. Will only stack 2 and loses interest). He doesn't seem quite ready to "pretend" yet . He has one "parking garage" play-set with cars, and an elevator, and he loses interest after about 5-6 minutes, so I have not purchased any other type of play sets such as Fisher Price farm, school, house, airplane, etc. He really likes the Busy Ball Popper that plays music and pops out plastic balls. At times he'll play with it for 10-20 minutes, then other times is bored with it.
My little guy has interest in crayons, but hasn't quite mastered holding the crayon and gets bored and eats them after about 5-10 minutes. He doesn't quite get the concept of wooden puzzles yet, but we're trying! :-) He likes pushing his dump truck full of Mega Blocks, kicking the ball around the living room, sitting on, climbing on, going under/over things...and here we go heading towards a Midwest winter - and I really need help figuring out what kind of toys will challenge him, be age-appropriate and keep him interested.
Any of you with boys who are older than 18 months who can give me good advice from experience?? Any specific toys you recommend? Help! :-)
Thanks!
A.
Get him a toddler trampoline. Its great when its too cold to go outside to play. My daughter wore out her first one in about a year.
I have a 19 month old and everytime we go to Barnes and Noble he has to play with the train table with thomas trains. So that is on his list. I'm also thinking of getting his own little table and chair. He does have a powerwheel and loves it. He pushes on the gas but doesn't know how to steer yet. He also has a little tikes basketball hoop and loves it.
My guy is just a little older than yours. He loves his Little People Farm and vehicles. He has that Fisher Price corn popper push toy, pull toys, books, he's starting to show interest in buckles and how they work so I plan to get him one of those dolls and there is also a puzzle board by Melissa and Doug. Play kitchen and accessories, easel (my guy still isn't into crayons either), a sled for winter fun, ball pit, we have a Little Tykes slide that folds up for easy storage, pint sized table and chairs, one of those bead maze things, balls of all sizes, basketball hoop, ride on toy..........I started a wish list on Amazon so when I think of something I go online, find it on Amazon and put it on the wish list so I remember when it comes time to order what I want for him. Have fun!
Check out this web site for great learning toys that grow with your child's development skils....
https://www.ebeanstalk.com
Hi A. Your son seems to have a plenty already. At his age anything you get him will be okay until he gets older and learn the concept of things.
His attention span will get longer, so some other playsets may be good. My son likes his farm, duplo blocks, and Little People airplane. Just after 18 months is when my son's car and ball obsession really took off! It's hard to predict what your son will get into, but most of the things you mention are the sorts of things he will likely only become more and more interested in with time :) We tend to put away some of the toys from our son's birthday (Oct) and Christmas to bring out throughout the year to keep things fresh. What they see every day tends to get boring and hold interest less. So, don't be afraid to pack some of the new stuff away and rotate the stash :)
Hi A.- it sounds like you're already off to a great start with your son. In addition to your list above, my son was a big fan of books, Matchbox cars & bead-mazes at that age. Museum memberships also make great gifts and will help you get through those long winter months as well as offer great learning opportunities-- my son's favorites were/are the Museum of Science and Industry and the Shedd.
My sons loved the weeble stuff and also the little people stuff. I would suggest the bus. it comes with some fat people and he can push it around. i would skip the crayons till he is older. also would not go overboard. economy is bad and no use in starting out huge. one or 2 presents under the tree is plenty at that age.
S.
Maybe everyone could pitch in and get him one large item like a little tykes little slide to have in the house or a picnic table. It sound like he already has a lot of "toys" as most of our kids do! Then if relatives still want to do more, there is always the college fund, or help out a child or family less fortunate. There really is such a great need.
Think SMALL!!! he is so young, and things don't hold his interest yet. Family and friends will get him more stuff than you need. We ask others for savings bonds for our boys and get them a few things from us/Santa. Last year I bought my boys (3.5 and 18 mos at the time) small size brooms, dust pans,rakes,shovels, scrub brushes. No child labor problems here, its just that they both LOVE "helping"us do chores, now I can almost do my stuff while they help with theirs! Also a big hit with my boys at this age was a back pack, who knew?
One of the things that has lasted longest in our house has been the echo microphones, and small magnetic writing tablets (both in the dollar bin at Target). Mostly though he will like opening the packages so wrap everything individually.
Oh yeah and TOOLS, huge for years with boys. Definitely a tool box/workbench. My older son (now 4.5) has played with his workbench since my brother bought it for him for his 1st birthday.
Why not get him a pass to the Children's Museum?! That won't add to the clutter and will definitely not cause boredom. Or Brookfield Zoo, they're open 365 days a year and are an excellent way to teach your kiddo about the world.
As to what to open, I can't say enough good things about the fisher price farm. My daughter loved it so I got one for my niece and she has zero attention span but LOVES it, then when my little guy came along another sis got one for my son (dd's was long gone as they're 8 years apart!) and he just loves it and he's 23 mos. It's fun for them. Also I'd add some choo-choos to the mix - at Target you can get bathtub versions of the Thomas trains & we use them for normal. He LOVES them. They go everywhere with him. My oldest absolutely loved Dinosaurs, you might get a big stuffed one *(not huge you don't want to have to store it, but normal sized), he might love it. If you go the museum or zoo pass route, you could have the animal holding a note about the museum. They won't really understand a lot, but it'd be a way for him to have something to open.
Have fun!
D.
Hi A.!
My son just turned 2. Last Christmas the Grandparents got him a kitchen. It's gender neutral yellow and wood tone with a BBQ grill. He LOVES it! His favorite thing to do is take everything out of my cabinets (the safe ones that I don't have locked) stack the pots/pans on the floor and then put everything back in the cabinets so a play kitchen was right up his alley. His very favorite toy by far has been his ride on truck. He plays with it every single day.
If you're brave, you might introduce him to Play-Doh. My little guy doesn't seem to have much of an attention span for coloring but he really enjoys playing with Play-Doh with Mommy.
Last year we also got him a museum pass to the Kohl Children's Museum (which can also be used at Milwaukee's Betty Brinn Children's museum- which has a GREAT area for kids under 3) and a zoo pass to the Milwaukee zoo. Both have been wonderful investments!
Happy Shopping!
Sounds like you're set on toys except for a ride-on! My kids all LOVED them around that age, and older, especially the kind where you can lift the seat up and store little toys in there. Have fun!
My son is nearly 4 so this is our experience:
1. The Little People School Bus (got it at 1 and used it every day for 1 year and still likes it a bit)
2. Thomas the Train metal trains
3. Fire trucks and trucks in general - really started playing with them between 1-2 yrs old. Big ones and small metal ambulance/trucks
4. Book with sounds: Sounds on the Go, by Gail Donovan,has real sirens, trains, etc.
5. Workbench
Every kid has their preference and mine was not into construction as much but yours might be.
A.
A little about me: Mom to a nearly 4 yr old son and 10 mo. old daughter
A.,
At that age, my son loved trucks that he could press buttons on then they would light up or the back of the dump truck would lift up.
Also, for the Christmas that he was 18 months, we got him a Home Depot tool table with all the fake screw drivers, drill, sander, etc. It is something he will have many months of fun with. They sell them at Toys R Us. My son is now 6 and still plays with it!
Good luck.
I have suggested this so many times on Mamasource for parents with little boys. Tonka Trucks, Bulldozers, abd many other products by Tonka. Little boys love them because they are big and great to play with. My 19 year old son still has his first Tonka Truck and plans to give it to his son one day.
Another thing you can get is one of the big tractors they sell at Farm and Fleet in there toy section each Christmas. 90% of all young boys love tractors.
How about a big wheel or a tri-cycle. If you house is big enough he will ride it right around the house.
Or maybe a Little Tykes Coop Car or Truck. One they can ride in themselves.
There are so many fun things out there for little boys.
S.
I second the ride on toys... kids love those... and the "little people" things. We were given a used little people playhouse for my daughter and both her and my son love to play with it. They are a little older though. The other thing I would sugegest that I always wanted to get but didn't have the space/money at the time was a little play kitchen. They have a whole variety out there from very basic to very intricate.
Shopping cart and play food. Mail box that things go into and out of (and his own box of .59 cent envelopes he can put stuff in, and square stickers to be 'stamps'). At that age, my boys wanted to push stuff around and put things in and out of other toys. Oh, garbage truck was also very big at that age. We have one that has a dumpster it empties into the back - all our young visitors love that one.
balls, plastic animals or dinosaurs, ramps for cars, cars, shape sorters or those pop up animal things, stacking pegs, Crayola Color Wonder stuff is GREAT cause it only marks on the proper paper, washable paints and an art smock and brush (but finger painting is fun)
Both of my boys loved Mega Blocks as well as those cardboard brick boxes and the wooden blocks. Crayola makes something called Tadoodles to get kids started with coloring, maybe check that out. I know it only adds to the clutter, but, a big dump truck is always fun and fire trucks as well. Happy Shopping!
