What toys are we missing?

[jgenie]

Help please!! We have TONS of toys and we are about to get hit with a double whammy - out of town relatives sending Christmas and birthday presents for two boys. They're asking for suggestions and I just don't know what to say. Experience gifts and savings deposits are out - they want to send toys. DS1 will be 5 in January and DS2 will be 3 in January. We have MagnaTiles, Duplos (although they get very little love here), a great wood train collection, a huge collection of GeoTrax, and they're slowly working on building a Cars die cast collection. Last year we got lots of Bruder trucks. We have games and art supplies. DS1 still loves trains and DS2 is crazy for construction vehicles. We're buying them scooters for their birthdays and Cars die cast vehicles for Christmas.

For DS1 I'm thinking of suggesting regular Legos but I have no idea which series - Disney Cars sets or Lego City sets. Thoughts?

For DS2 I'm thinking of suggesting Playmobil. I was looking at the Ambulance, Police cars and fire engines. Thoughts?

Is there something else out there for 5 and 3 year old boys that is usually a hit? Should we take them to TRUS and see what catches their eyes?

TIA

[buddyleebaby]

Imaginext playsets get a lot of love here.

The batcave, eagle talon castle, pirate ship, etc.

[hillview]

scooters?
a stash of rainy day supplies (arts and crafts, stomp rocket etc)
I know you said toys but also what about
sleeping bags
books

[Jai]

Play tent and tunnel

[kristac]

Matchbox mega rigs

[iaam]

Another vote for Imaginext - great toys with lasting play factor.

Books? What about a kitchen? My DS loves to play with ours (but admittedly, we only got it after DD was born).

Other ideas: bounce house/trampoline, Plasma cars, play animals, easel.

To answer your question about Legos: based on my experience with DS, I would suggest Lego City or Lego Ninjago. Both have manageable (small) sets for the 5-year old set.

[ourbabygirl]

My kids are 2 & 4, and these are some other things that we have in the play room:

*Musical instruments (a set in a drum from Target, and a M&D set, along with some random things like harmonicas, kazoos, egg shakers, etc.)

*Cutting food (M&D)- we have two cake sets, but they have some other cute ones like pizza w/toppings, sandwiches (though maybe not 'cutting'), etc.

*Play kitchen/ play food

*Toy doctor kit (add in a flashlight and some other fun stuff)

*Walkie talkies

*Matchbox car & ramp

*Toy keyboard (we have the kitty keyboard from Target)

*Boy dress-up clothes (capes, fireman outfit, doctor, construction worker, etc.)

I second the play tent & tunnel! We have two sets connected together in our basement, and our kids (and cat!) like them.

*You could also get a little toy construction set/ tool belt sort of thing

*Binoculars and cheap camera

*Disney/ Pixar movies

*Kids cds, especially personalized with their names in the songs

*Rubber bases/ basketball hoop/ soccer goal/ t-ball set/ big bouncy balls

*Kids' cd player

*Roller and/or ice skates

*Kids' size shovel/ rake/ broom

*Trampolines are fun but would be expensive to ship, maybe? We use an old crib mattress for ours. :-)

HTH! :)

[WatchingThemGrow]

ukulele
Imaginext - like all the parts/people in a set. LOVE this.
real instruments (see westmusic.com)

[KDsMommy]

Imaginext sets - castle, bat cave, dinosaurs, etc. - these provide years of lasting play
Plasma car
Books

[beltm]

Imaginext!!!! I prefer this over playmobil - not quite as many itty bitty pieces to keep track of and easier for my four year old to manipulate. Plus they could play together! I just posted a list on the "ideas for a 2-4 year old thread" with some other stuff - cash register, my first science kit, star wars/transformers stuff. Do they need sleeping bags? Bikes/scooters/other types of ride-ons? Outdoor stuff - t-ball, soccer ball, etc.

[ahisma]

If you go with regular legos, I'd do City. Stick to the 5-12 sets.

We have the Cars sets. They are cool, but they fall apart easily. Why they made the Cars sets a 7-12 range is beyond me, but it's accurate.

[MommyAllison]

Imaginext are DS' favorite. Other toys that see a lot of play are trains, matchbox cars & track, duplos, Lincoln logs. He loves dress up stuff - superhero masks and capes, firefighter stuff, football & soccer jerseys and helmets, animals. Books, music CDs and outside toys too.