Hellobee

Ah! I can’t believe I have two toddlers now! I just adore this stage where Lion is constantly amazing me with his language skills and Panda is becoming more verbal and interactive by the day. I love hearing the pitter patter of two sets of tiny feet running in our hallways and watching the two boys hold hands when they walk together. Most of all, I love watching the two of them play together. While they’ve always found great ways to interact, they seem to love playing with each other even more now!

Playing together with train accessories.

Here are our favorite toys for two toddlers (ages 2.5 and 1) to play with together (or at least, side-by-side). In putting together this list, I realized that a number of the “toys” aren’t traditional toys, but instead are general household items. Lion and Panda have a lot of fun together, even as they are still learning how best to share and take turns.

Play kitchen – I’ve mentioned it before, but the play kitchen is by far the most played with item in the Dolphin household. Whenever one of the kids starts playing, the other one inevitably ventures over and they play side-by-side. Surprisingly, it is also the one toy where there has been zero squabbling or fighting over a particular item, perhaps because there are plenty of items for them to both use.

Magnatiles – One way Lion has found to play with Panda, even with the developmental differences at this stage, is to just accept that his little brother is going to knock over whatever he’s building. Lion has embraced Panda as “babyzilla” and often even encourages the destruction. Sometimes, Lion will knock over part of whatever he’s built himself, then tell Panda, “Here, you knock over that part now!” Even without Panda playing the part of babyzilla, the two will often sit together, Lion building while Panda just sticks two pieces together repeatedly. We only have one set right now, but I’d love to add to their collection so they can make bigger structures.

This is actually a photo from about six months ago, but the sentiment hasn’t changed. Lion builds, Panda destroys. Repeat.

Picasso Cars –  These are inexpensive and a great addition to any magnatiles collection. Lion loves that there are two of them and instantly declared that the red one was his and the blue one was Panda’s. Panda enjoys just pushing the chassis itself around the house, while Lion likes to build cars and trains.

Blocks – Like the magnatiles, it’s another way for Lion to build and embrace the destruction of Panda. Sometimes he does get upset, usually when he’s not finished building whatever structure he’s working on, but more often than not he encourages Panda to take part.  A Christmas gift from my dad and stepmother, our little guys have played with it every weekend since they opened it.

Dress up – Lion is big into imaginative play and loves dressing up. He particularly loves being superheroes or firefighters because we have enough items for him to share with his brother. Panda just loves doing anything that Lion is doing, so he’s always eager to follow his big brother’s lead.

Lion decided that the cardboard tube and the highlighter were firehoses.

Trains and train table – I mentioned in this post the table we built for the kids and it has been a huge hit. Again, it’s one of those items where there are enough trains and tracks for everyone to play with, plus plenty of space and a smaller likelihood of babyzilla destruction now that we have a table. They are constantly trading trains with each other and Lion loves trying to teach his brother how to connect them.

Sometimes they play at the same section of track, other times they like to have their own trains to play with.

Balls – Both kids have loved balls from an early age. While Lion’s biggest interest at this age was kicking a ball, Panda seems to prefer throwing a ball and chasing after it. Panda enjoys the game even more, though, when Lion throws a ball to him and they play “catch.”

Taking a break from catch, watching his brother do wind sprints.

Blankets – Panda is at the phase where he thinks peek-a-boo is the most hilarious game ever. Lion loves Panda’s laughter and will cover Panda with a blanket or, more typically, crawl under the blanket with his brother. Blankets are also great for throwing down on the ground for the two to wrestle on, something that Panda has shown a surprising interest in doing. We’ve thrown blankets over the crib or pack-n-play for a makeshift fort, as well, prior to getting the teepee.

Didn’t get a blanket down in time, but this is a common sight in our household these days.

Tissue paper – So, half of the things on this list really aren’t traditional toys and many have some element of hiding involved. When unwrapping Panda’s first birthday gifts, the kids gravitated toward the tissue paper and started running (or toddling) around the house pretending to be ghosts.

They walked back and forth in the hallway for a good half hour.

Curtains – Probably related to Panda’s interest in peek-a-boo, his favorite spot in the house right now seems to be behind the curtain. He and Lion love hiding behind the curtain, swinging the curtain back and forth and occasionally peeking out.

They love having a separate world from us!

Large baskets – We have some large baskets underneath our coffee/train table to hold tracks and larger items like the roundhouse. Half the time, the baskets get emptied out and the kids jump in the basket together. I think Panda just likes sitting in the basket itself, while Lion pretends that it’s a boat, spaceship, train or other vehicle and that he’s off on an adventure with his brother.

I’m pretty sure they were in a spaceship this time around, heading to outer space.

Tent – Mr. Dolphin’s mom made the boys a teepee for Christmas and they absolutely adore hiding in it. It now lives in the corner of their room and I love watching Lion crawl in with Panda close on his heels. Lion will then ask us to tie the doors closed while we hear squeals of laughter from both kids enjoying their own little hideout.

Large cardboard box – Sometimes, I think the kids like the giant cardboard boxes even more than the tent! They like to crawl in and play in the dark space, or even just sit together in it. I don’t know what’s going on in their minds, but I do know that they love being together in boxes judging from the laughter that always ensues.

Whenever we bulk order diapers, the kids clamor to get into the box.

Small chairs – We have small chairs from Ikea, but any child sized chairs seem to be a magnet for our children. I don’t know what it is, but they love pushing them all around the house. We put felt feet on the bottom of the legs to minimize scratching, but they really seem to enjoy following each other from room to room pushing chairs around.

Chasing each other around the house while pushing chairs (not entirely sure why) . . . 

Noisemakers – My mom got a set of wooden music toys for Panda’s first birthday and both kids are in love with them. Panda loves the shaker, while Lion has been enjoying the sticks and tambourine. They are loud (I mean, they are noisemakers, after all), but it’s so much fun to watch them play together that I really don’t mind!

Painting – We like to set the kids up with finger paint, brushes and paper in the bathtub and let them go at it. The prospect of finger paint usually persuades Lion to race to the bathroom, even if he’s in a resisting mood. It’s an activity they can do side by side.