2nd B'day gift ideas - recs for DS who likes to open things

[naomi01]

Hi everyone,

My 23 month old loves to do up buckles, do and undo zips - that sort of thing, any ideas for toys that would challenge him? I know this is a little bit of an absurd question, but I figured someone else may have encountered this before... I thought of those dolls with different ties etc, but I think it would be too easy very quickly.

TIA,

Naomi
DS 12/02/02
DD 10/18/04

[darby24]

Well there's a number of dolls out there with the activities you've mentioned. What about the Melissa and Doug toys for something different? They have a number of latches and lock puzzles. I've seen the fire truck, it looks pretty cool.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00009ILYA.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009ILYA/qid=1099979472/br=1-5/ref=br_lf_t_img_5//104-1920109-3255967?v=glance&n=12849211&s=imaginarium&m=A1PA6795UKMFR9

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000BX8ME.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000BX8ME/qid=1099979450/br=1-7/ref=br_lf_t_img_7//104-1920109-3255967?v=glance&n=12849211&s=imaginarium&m=A1PA6795UKMFR9

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000062SP5.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000062SP5/qid=1099979472/br=1-16/ref=br_lf_t_img_16//104-1920109-3255967?v=glance&n=12849211&s=imaginarium&m=A1PA6795UKMFR9

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000084JM7.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000084JM7/qid=1099979472/br=1-15/ref=br_lf_t_img_15//104-1920109-3255967?v=glance&n=12849211&s=imaginarium&m=A1PA6795UKMFR9

HTH.

[naomi01]

Fire truck looks perfect - thanks so much for suggesting it! Trucks are his other current fascination.

Naomi

[Chelsey333]

My 2 yr old loves a gift we got at TJ MAXX. It is a bunch of cutouts with a picture of an animal on it. Then the cutout has holes all around it. It came with all kinds of shoe strings. My son takes the shoestring and weaves it in and out of the cutout. He loves it. This is a Melissa and Doug item also. TJ Maxx has a lot of Mel and Doug Items.

[brittone2]

Some things that come to mind...

As the above poster mentioned, "Lace and Trace shapes" are pretty neat. I think Melissa and Doug or another wooden toy company makes different shaped beads that can be strung too.

We have a cloth book my mom found at a yard sale (it is washable, which is great too!) and it is called "my first busy book" or something like that. On each page there is a buckle, a zipper, a snap, etc. to do.

Also, there are larger soft cubes/blocks that have a different activity on each side, such as a zipper, a pretend shoe to lace, etc.. I think they may be called a "dressing cube" or something like that. If I can find a link I'll edit and post later. I have to get DS down for a nap so I don't have time to look right now.

HTH!

ETA...I did a quick search and this one came up for about $22.
http://www.theraproducts.com/index/page-catalog/main-7057/sub-7454/

I believe I've seen some more elaborate ones if you want something with more activities.