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ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HAPPENING THIS MONTH HERE!
I love doing these segments for you because, in my opinion, buying toys for children is probably one of the hardest things to do ever. The interests of children in the daycare changes as things are brought in again, new children join us, and the seasons and the children get older. Because of that, I wanted to offer my readers gift ideas that they could possibly purchase for the children in their lives!
Bilibos – 1+ Years
You wouldn’t think these would be such a huge hit, but they are probably the most popular toy in the daycare at this time. The children are encouraged to use their imagination with this toy and normally I would say that spending $30 for a half circle is not worth it, but these things are crazy entertaining for our kids. Their favorite thing to do is sit and spin in them (and they get going really fast), but they also like to put it on their head and run around, put toys in them and pretend to cook, and step on them! We have three and they have lasted forever. I definitely suggest getting one for your kids! They are so great!
Get it here for $28.49!
Melissa & Doug Door and Lock Puzzle – 9mo+
We got this toy donated to us and even though it is such a simple toy, it is so popular! I love it because all the ages love it and I wish we had another one! Our youngest one can’t really unlock the doors really well, but he certainly tries and I’m sure that he’ll get it very soon! The older ones like to sit with the younger ones and do it. While I can’t find the exact one that we have in our daycare, I found one that is very similar and it can be personalized! That is so cool!
Get it here for $20.99.
Cars – 2+ Years
The cars and I have a love-hate relationship. For one, when paired with a car mat, the children tend to play really nice around it or they it can cause havoc when a child decides that they want to sit on it and destroy everything. But, especially on rainy days, the kids will race on the floor back and forth until they are so tired they will go down to nap without a fuss – but the noise is so horrifying loud and annoying that you will go insane. We have tons of cars of all shapes and sizes and the ones that seem to agree with me most are the tiny matchbox cars. I don’t have a link to them, but we found a ton of them at thrift shops and they are relatively inexpensive at stores!
Train Table – 1+ Years
This is another really popular toy but it requires some investment. My mom had purchased a used train table for relatively cheap and I happened to find some Thomas trains and train track for free on Buy Nothing. If you can find cheap train tracks or a train table, I’d definitely jump on it. The kids love running around the train table with their trains and they can spend hours putting the tracks together. It’s probably one of the best toys that I love. Especially because it is self-contained!
Although this isn’t the one that we have, I saw this and thought it was a pretty amazing and affordable train table and train set for $151.99.
Kitchen Set – 1+ Years
This toy seems to have spurts of popularity, but over the course of the Summer it really took off. The children like to take blocks, cars, and whatever else they can find to pretend to cook. We got ours from Ikea and it has been through some abuse. It is starting to break, but luckily it is pretty inexpensive and it has lasted us for well over five years.
Get it from Ikea for $79.99 (on sale right now).
Keep in mind, these toys may not be the same toys your children may be interested in. It’s always a good idea to judge toys based off your child’s interests and personalities, although I know sometimes it can be hard. I hope you gained some ideas on what kind of toys to get your toddler or preschooler! What are your child’s favorite toys? What were your favorites as a child? Let me know!
Related Posts:
5 Most Popular Toys in Daycare – GIFT/TOY IDEAS FOR CHILDREN
Eat, Sleep, Love, Repeat 
Nice listicle! Every time I read a listicle I feel like eating a popsicle 😝 I am really intrigued by the billaboo. I am definitely going to consider getting one for my third child after he is born.
My other two are already too old I think. They are 6 and 7 and their favorite toys are their stuffed animals and hatchimals. They just love little characters they can make up stories with and they will play for hours upon hours with them. I always thought stuffies were kind of boring toys, but my girls have proved me wrong. I just walked in on them playing last night and they had every single stuffie in the bed with them and they were ALL part of some big, long, epic story.
I will say we have some Calico Critters and I think they are TOO nice for young children. Almost every single piece of our sets was broken almost immediately and it made me so mad because Calico Critters are hella expensive. My mom had bought them and I asked her not to buy anymore until they are older. I would say that 9 or 10 is a more appropriate age for expensive collector toys.
My favorite things to do with my kids now are read, watch them draw, and do kiwi crates. We are huge Usborne fans and have an excessive library of their incredible books. We have a lot of learning to draw books and my girls will spend hours sitting and drawing while talking and making up stories their characters are experiencing. Then they cut out their drawings and play with them. Many of my friends’ children LOVE to do this kind of papercrafting as well. I think it is most popular amongst 5-13 year olds.
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