Over the years I've found that I personally love more toys than others. My favorites aren't always the kids' favorites, but they are usually the ones I find most beneficial to them and the best quality. What makes a toy worthy of becoming one of my personal favorites? Well, for starters I want a toy that is going to make their little minds work. Now, I don't make them sit and have to think about how something works for hours on end--that's obviously not any kids' ideal play time. I am just suggesting that an occasional puzzle or initiation of imagination can be a good thing and a nice change after watching morning cartoons or racing toy cars around the house. Second, I want toys that are going to stand-up to my rough and tumble children. They can wreak havoc on toys and we've had to bid farewell to many a toy thanks to their turbulent ways. Third, I look for something that can keep my kids' interest. A toy isn't very useful to the kids or to me (come on, we all need a little peace once and a while, and if a good entertaining toy is the way to that--then so be it) if it isn't something they find fun. I don't think those are too stringent of qualifications, and in fact we have many toys in our house that meet the criteria. However, I'm going to share some of my favorites from one particular toy maker--Melissa & Doug.
Melissa & Doug make some of the best toys in my opinion and my kids have a lot of them. They have such a huge variety of things and they range in age from infant toys to things kids can enjoy well throughout childhood. And, they'll last through several kids (big bonus). So here's some of my favorites:
This isn't exactly a toy (another reason I love M&D, they don't do just toys). This is Max's chore list. It came with lots of little magnets with different chores on them. We only have a small number of them up for Max, we can add more as he gets older or even add some for Maggie. Then there are the little smiley face magnets to place on the chart to signify completing a chore on any given day. Max loves it and it has really motivated him to participate and complete his daily jobs. He gets paid a nickel per chore--he's saving for his big Disney World vacation this summer!
Maggie got this for Christmas. She plays with it a lot and for a 20 month-old, she's really done well with it. You can change out the outfits and faces of the bears. It takes some problem solving skills for her as she occasionally doesn't understand why certain parts won't fit--but she's figuring it out!
This is Maggie's as well. I think this is so cute. It's a little farm house board and when you open the doors.....
...there are magnetic animals inside the doors that can be removed and moved around.
I love this one! But, I also love Noah's Ark so....yeah. It's an ark with holes in it and then the kids fit the animals into the correctly shaped holes. Max can do it as intended. Maggie manages to mangle pieces through the unintended holes, but she doesn't mind--she loves putting pieces in and opening the sides of the ark to pour them all out and start again. Great toy!
This is Max's and it has been challenging for his 4 1/2 year old self. There are 6 puzzles in one. Each side of the cubes have different images and you have to match them up to reveal the farm animal scene. It's tricky!
This little guy is magnetic and there are little pieces that can be combined to dress him up. Both kids enjoy this one (actually the Easter Bunny may be bringing a girl figurine for Maggie this year!).
Here's a completed one...although I'm not sure those are the right pants :)
This one is great for hand-eye coordination. They were Max's but now he's moved on from them and Maggie plays with them. She is able to focus enough to fit the lace through the holes that go around the boarder of each piece. She's getting better, but I think she'll enjoy it even more as her attention span and dexterity improve over time.
We have no shortage of M&D puzzles at our house. These are a few of Max's favorites. These each have 48 pieces I believe and are just right for Max.
There are also puzzles perfect for Maggie. This is an example of an easier puzzle with large chunky pieces easy for Maggie to handle. We have puzzles with as few as 3 pieces that are a great introduction to puzzles.
Max is an imaginative little boy and loves dress-up--once again, Melissa & Doug fit the bill. He loves his pirate outfit and wears it often. Even little Maggie sneaks it out from time to time (although it doesn't last long for her--Max is possessive of his costume--maybe we should add "shares well with others" to his chore chart!).
This is a set Maggie got about a year ago. It's actually missing a piece (it'll show up eventually--I think it is a banana). Each piece of the set makes some sort of noise: rattle, squeak, jingle bells, etc.
I love this one for Max who is just learning his alphabet and the order of the letters. He still needs help with it, but his letter recognition is definitely improving--all while having fun!
The finished Alphabet Train and a proud little boy!
Melissa & Doug also have a large selection of activity books like this with stickers (some that are re-stickable) and coloring pages. Max love the ones with the re-stickable stickers.
And of course a cute presentation of crayons for said coloring pages.
I have other toy favorites as well, and someday I'll share those too. Toys sure have come a long way since I was a kid--but I still get excited about them, just not for the same reasons as my 8-year-old self!
Check out more Melissa & Doug!
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