Baby dolls and accessories -- My girls just love them! I think Karis got her first doll when she about 7 months old and it has been her favorite thing ever since! My girls carry them around and put them in slings and pretty much take care of them all day long! We simply can't do anything around the house without a doll baby :) My girls have been given many different dolls, but they particularly love the Little Mommy Newborn Nursery doll. Keep an eye out for consignment sales, because you can find really good deals on fun accessories like baby doll strollers, swings, pack N plays, and play mats.
Fisher Price Little People and animals -- Oh, how my girls love them! I think they are way overpriced at the stores, but if you factor in how many hours my girls have spent playing with them, they are well worth any amount of money :) But once again, these are easily found at consignment sales and we haven't paid more than $5 for any set. We currently have the Noah's Ark, School Bus, Farm, and Alphabet Zoo. We usually only have one set out at a time, and switch them out every few months.
Puzzles, esp. Melissa and Doug -- Both of my girls have been obsessed with puzzles, and it started at the toddler age. They pretty much taught themselves their letters, numbers, and shapes by doing puzzles with us and asking us to tell them the name of each piece. I especially love the Melissa and Doug puzzles -- they have ones with big pegs for babies, little pegs for toddlers, and big floor puzzles for the older ones. My girls have loved them all!
Books -- My girls would read books with me all day long if I let them. They are always following me around the house and bringing their books with them to look at as I cook and clean. They've always loved books by Boynton, Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, any Mother Goose collection, Raffi and other "singing" books, Curious George books, 5 Little Monkeys books, and Biscuit books. We've really enjoyed the Alphabet and Pre-reading Skills Bob books, as well as the Big Picture Story Bible. They are currently obsessed with "Alfie and Annie Rose," books by Jan Brett, and "I Spy" books. I could go on and on about our favorite toddler books, but I think that is plenty!
Doll house and people -- Definitely something else that my girls will play with for hours! I love to hear them talking to the people, imagining all sorts of scenarios, and telling me about what each character is doing. We started out with a worn old Fisher Price dollhouse that we found at the consignment sale for $5. Then my folks got the girls this beautiful wooden one with cute wooden people (from Cracker Barrel) for Christmas. Oh, they love it so much!
Kitchen set/food -- My girls love to cook just like Momma! Kitchen sets can be pricey, but just keep an eye out at yard sales and consignment sales :) I LOVE the Melissa and Doug wooden food and this stainless steel pots and pans set that the grandparents gave my girls. My girls have also been known to take their play-doh into their kitchen and make their own food :)
Dress-up clothes -- It is a very rare day that my girls don't wear something from their dress-up bin! Karis is currently obsessed with a ballerina outfit my folks gave her for Christmas and Karlie loves some purple sparkly butterfly wings. They are always putting on their tutus and they generally wear about ten different hats over the course of the day!
Stickers! These are definitely one of their favorite things to do at the table while I am making dinner. Karlie still has trouble getting them off the page sometimes, but luckily Karis is at a stage where she likes to help Karlie with her stickers. Nina bought them each these awesome Melissa and Doug sticker books last weekend and in just two days, they have almost emptied them! They especially love the "dress-up" stickers (kind of like paper dolls, only they stay in place!) They also LOVE the foam stickers, and my youngest seems to be able to get the backs off them more easily. but get them at a dollar store; they are expensive elsewhere.
I'd love to hear about some of your toddler favorites!
1 comment:
Wow I would second a lot of these favorites but right now some of our favorites are the kitchen WE LOVE THE KITCHEN! my girls got pots and pans (stainless) and felt and wooden food for christmas from grandparents and our kitchen came for Xmas last year on a huge sale at Big Lots! We also love dress up and have a whole weardrobe full my girls love to play when my neices come over. WE also love books, dolls and our shopping carts and strollers. The girls love me to hide thier play food around the house like easter eggs and they each get their shopping carts and find the food. My oldest then tells me if it is a sometimes food, always food or never food. They love that game. We love to dance at our house and my ipod is loaded with hundreds of kids songs and we dance and play to that very often. They also both love magnadoodles and I just got the glow doodle for my daughter for her b-day this weekend she will see how she does with that. Happy Playing
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