I bought so many electronic, short-lived, plastic toys during Charlie’s first year of life that I’ve long since sold or given away, because they had such a short lifespan in terms of Charlie’s interest. Olive doesn’t miss them at all, and I can’t say that I do either.  Now I try to only purchase high-quality, long-lasting, open-ended toys that encourage imaginative play.

I’ll delve into much more detail about open-ended toys below, but since I’ve purchased virtually no toys for Olive and got rid of most of Charlie’s toys, I’d love to get Olive a couple of classic toys that both she and Charlie can enjoy for Christmas. This is what’s on my wishlist:


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1) Wonderworld sound blocks – Olive loves blocks, and these sound blocks filled with various objects that produce different sounds are sure to engage many different senses.

2) Janod Shape Sorter – Shape sorters are an excellent toy for toddlers 1 and above, and Olive has really been into one that Charlie borrowed from daycare.

3) Grimm Wood Truck – I found this truck at a local toy store, and knew it was the perfect Christmas gift for Olive as soon as I saw it. She loves pushing cars and trains around on the floor while making “vroom” sounds. This truck is a great size (not too small), and has an open truck bed for her to put things inside. (Also available in red or natural wood.)

4) Grimm Pull Elephant – I saw this pull elephant at the same aforementioned toy store, and fell in love. I wanted to get Olive a pull toy, and this is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen! (Also available in blue.) More inexpensive options include the popular Plan Toys Dancing Alligator (which I didn’t get because it makes noise), and my runner-up option was the Marc Boutavant designed Squirrel Pull Toy.

5) Rainbow cup and balls – These Montessori and Waldorf inspired rainbow balls each come with a corresponding cup (not pictured). This open-ended toy teaches balance and color, and the cups can be used as play food.

6) Grimm’s colored bowls – These Montessori and Waldorf inspired bowls teach stacking and can be used with a play kitchen.

7) Click Clack Track – This is probably the least open-ended toy on this guide, but it’s just so much fun I couldn’t resist. This particular click clack track can be stacked or divided into two so you can race cars. Every kid I know loves this, and Charlie will love it just as much as Olive.

8) Hape Bead maze – Olive is really into bead mazes. We have a tiny one at home, and whenever we go over to a friend’s house that has a big ol’ bead maze, she loves it!

9) Janod xylophone – I couldn’t have a guide without a musical instrument. This xylophone is great because it’s also a pull toy.

10) Rainbow Stacker Blocks – There are lots of rainbow stacker blocks out there, but I recently purchased this one for Olive because I love the asymmetric shape. This can teach colors, stacking, and they make the perfect tunnels for trains and cars to pass through!

11) Moover Dump Truck Ride-on Toy – Olive loves ride-on toys and this one from HABA is gorgeous!

When I say plastic vs. wood toys, I’m referring to toys with directed and limited functions (plastic), vs. toys with open-ended unlimited ways to play (wood). Not all open-ended toys are necessarily wood, but they often tend to be, and there are certainly great, plastic open-ended toys. But most toys that light up and make noise tend to be plastic.

As much as I’ve always admired beautiful wood toys, they’re usually pricey, and didn’t seem to captivate babies’ interest as quickly as electronic toys. Plastic light-up toys with their sounds, bells and whistles were much more affordable, and instantly captivated babies’ attention. As a first-time mom it took me a really long time to learn how to play with Charlie, so I loved how happy these flashy toys made him, and I continued to buy new ones for each developmental stage of his life.

Eventually, I learned that most electronic toys have short life spans because the way they can be played with is directed and limited. You push a button and something happens. There isn’t any other way to play with such a toy. Open-ended toys like blocks, on the other hand, can be an airplane, city, castle — the possibilities of play are only limited by a child’s imagination. The flashy, plastic, electronic toys were loved at first because of their instant gratification, but Charlie lost interest in them quickly. The toys that encouraged imaginative play like his play kitchen and dolls on the other hand, have been played with for years and undoubtedly have many more years of play ahead of them.

I got rid of almost all of our “shiny” toys before Olive was born because we only had the space to hold onto the toys that we knew would be cherished. Olive learned to stand on our train table and play kitchen. She improved her fine motor skills stacking blocks. And her favorite thing to do is to push a train or car around on the floor and make vroom sounds. She doesn’t miss the toys that light up and make sounds at all.

I used to balk at the price of high-quality toys (which are often made of wood), but now I finally know better. Toys that encourage open-ended play have so many possibilities, that children actually need less toys. You don’t need to buy new toys for every single developmental stage because open-ended toys are meant to be played with for years and years.

I admit I purchased every popular toy there was (often of the flashy variety) in Charlie’s first two years of life (in the name of Hellobee research, ahem). But we’ve hardly purchased any new toys for Charlie from ages 2-3 other than open-ended toys like blocks, puzzles, and art supplies. Other examples of open-ended toys include: building toys, play kitchen, train table, play market, fort, dress-up clothes, play silks, play doh, art supplies, sandbox, etc.

I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for “shiny” toys in our children’s lives. Both Charlie and Olive loved the Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes for a very long time, and I have no regrets about that purchase. And an exersaucer or jumperoo was an awesome thing for us to have despite its short life. But I spent a lot of money and learned the hard way with our kids — it makes more sense to limit our flashy toys in favor of more high-quality, open-ended toys.

Do you have a philosophy when it comes to toys?