Kids toys ideas?

[c-towns]

I'm really not a fan of any of the toys I see in my daily travels these days, I'm sure the kids love them but I like to get special active/educational/useful gifts for the young one.

Last year I got an indoor trampoline that has supplied endless joy and is still an active piece of the toy roster.

I know some of you have kids or buy gifts for kids so I ask you this.

Can anyone throw out some recommendations for kids toys, I'm shopping for 3 1/2 year olds.

[Velvet]

My nephew loves dragons, so I can always fall back on something dragon-related.

Lego is a good stand-by.

If the kid hasn't got a stack of Dr. Suess books yet, do them a service and get all your shopping done at Chapters.

[Hal Johnson]

If the kid hasn't got a stack of Dr. Suess books yet, do them a service and get all your shopping done at Chapters.

Sound advice.

Id say a sled is a good idea too.

[Irie Guy]

WE have done all of our shopping for the twins online this year. They are 28 months and we did not want anymore plastic crap in the house.

The Melissa & Doug toys are nice educational alternatives. Chapters has a bunch but its tricky to find stock. Cape Breton Baby Company has a great selection of non commercial Walmart type toys.

Cape Breton Baby Company

There's lots of smaller independently run toy stores out there it just takes time to find them all.

[Birdy]

Books and arts and crafts stuff there Davies. I'm assuming you've already hooked her up with all the little kid musical instruments that are out there.

Get her glittery glue, crayons, markers, finger paints, pom poms, pipe cleaners, stars, circles, squares, construction paper, zig zag scissors. Put it all in a colourful tupperware and then get an easel and big sheets of paper that she create stuff on/with.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Guest

[c-towns]

Thanks for the tips, got all of that stuff already though but more can't hurt.

[slavetothegroove]

http://www.healthytoys.org/product.least.php

If your concerned with lead content and other chemicals, this site is really great. I linked their list of best toys.

[SaggyBalls]

I say get the kid a trampoline/rebounder.

[berk]

Visit www.sprigtoys.com

"Designed for the active preschool child, our vehicle and character bodies are molded using SprigwoodTM – a durable, child-safe, bio-composite material made from recycled wood and reclaimed plastic."

The toys are made from recycled materials and have little generators in them (no batteries). Basically the more you run with the toys, the more they’re charged, the more the toys do (lights light up, toy begins to play music or tell stories). My nephew has the “discover rig†and loves it. The only thing is, you need a decent amount of space to push the rig to really get it going.

[SmoothedShredder]

zig zag scissors.

DON'T GET HER THOSE... just get the right sized zig-zags.

[Birdy]

I always wanted a dollhouse as a little girl. Not those fisher-pricey jumbo doll house things, but the real Victorian-type dollhouses.

There's a store in Port Stanley that sells them.

http://www.grandpasdollhouse.com/

[tigger]

crazy glue,scissors ,steak knife set , lead only paper weightsand real tools a framing hammer is always a hit.

[backbacon]

I got for my niece a cd with a bunch of original kids' songs that use her name in them. Thy are great songs too! She's going to love it! I'll find out where I got it from if you're interested.