Hellobee

With the holidays fast approaching, here are some great gifts for a toddler around age 2 to 3-years-old. To be perfectly honest, Lion has more than enough toys and really doesn’t need any more; I would be more than happy if he did not receive any toys for Christmas. Something tells me that response won’t satisfy his seven grandparents, though.

We’ve found that the toys that Lion plays with over and over again, toys that are not the “five-minute-toys” that I quickly donate, are ones that allow imaginative play. The toys that light up and make sounds generally are both annoying for us as parents, but also do little to hold his attention for an extended period of time. We like toys that he can build with or ones that serve multiple purposes.

Lion already has quite a few Thomas the Tank Engine trains (purchased for an amazing price off of Craigslist; we’ve been giving them out to him slowly over various holidays for the last year-and-half), a play kitchen, and a set of magnatiles which are his most loved toys at home. If we didn’t have these items already, they would be high on our list. He also loves books. Keeping in mind both his own preferences and ours, here’s what is on our wishlist for him this year:

1) Magna-Tiles – Lion loves building with his Magna-Tiles and has gotten much better in the last several months. He first began playing with them when he visited the preschool one day last year, at about 15-months-old, and we purchased a set for him at about 18-months-old. At first, he would get frustrated or require us to help him, but he’s really gotten the hang of it and has built some very creative structures. He likes to build houses and castles for his animals, make stalls for his trains, use them two dimensionally to make stop signs, and much more. We would love to get another set so he can build even larger structures and to have more pieces as Panda grows and wants to join the fun. My only complaint is that they are a rather pricey item, but we have found the price to be well worth it.

2) Picasso Tiles Magnetic Car – We don’t have any Picasso tiles and chose Magna-Tiles based on better reviews. That said, we decided to pick up this set of two magnetic truckbeds which can be used with Magna-Tiles to make cars. We plan to give one to Lion and one to Panda.

3) Percy from Thomas the Tank Engine – Although we have over a hundred trains in this house (most of which are in my closet since we’re still in the process of doling them out for holidays), we do not have Lion’s favorite character: Percy.

4) Code-A-Pillar – This is my number one toy on Lion’s wishlist, though he may be slightly young for it. I work with a lot of open source software advocates (and open access, open data, open educational resources . . . open in general) and this toy has been getting a lot of positive feedback in my professional world. Marketed for ages 3-8, kids connect the pieces of the code-a-pillar to make it go forward, left, right, etc. and can be combined in different ways. I will totally break my anti-light anti-sound stance for this one. As an added bonus, it seems to be a fairly reasonable price.

5) Hape Sushi Play Set – Rather than expanding the universe of toys in our home, we would prefer to add to existing toys. If our family wanted to purchase additions for the play kitchen, I think Lion would enjoy this sushi play set since it is one of his favorite meals.

6) Superhero Capes and Masks – Lion enjoys dressing up and we love encouraging the imaginative play. He has been obsessed with superheroes lately (he frequently comes home from preschool with construction paper masks taped to his face) and would love this set of four masks and capes.

7) Little Tikes Trampoline – Little Lion has BIG energy and I always worry about not having enough inside things to do to help him burn off some of his energy. This trampoline has gotten really good reviews and would be great for the winter.

8) Curious George Box Set – Lion loves books and his library is, above all else, his favorite “toy.” Although I have tried to declutter our home and resist purchasing too much, I have a weakness for books. I think Lion would enjoy the stories of this mischievous monkey.

9) Count the Monkeys – Speaking of books and monkeys, we picked this one up from the library last month and Lion was obsessed with it. He made us read it about ten times the first night and it was a favorite for the two weeks we had it before returning it to the library. I’m sure he would be thrilled if we purchased it for his home library. There are many other books on Lion’s wishlist, but this one tops them all.