Best Kid Toys

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mbk734
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Best Kid Toys

Post by mbk734 »

I have been looking for some of the best toys for my niece and nephew. Any suggestions for other good toys?

I got my niece a Furby that she loves:
http://www.amazon.com/Furby-Boom-Figure ... ords=furby

I got my nephew some Nerf Guns, an Aqua Bazooka, a Syma RC Helicopter, (more fun toys for boys)
http://www.amazon.com/Nerf-N-Strike-Eli ... s=nerf+gun
http://www.amazon.com/Nerf-N-Strike-Eli ... s=nerf+gun
http://www.amazon.com/ZOOKA-AZ-32-Quick ... ua+bazooka
http://www.amazon.com/Syma-S107-S107G-H ... helicopter

I also got a Power Wheels Jeep for both of them that was reasonably priced 239.99:
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Powe ... wer+wheels
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mlipps
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by mlipps »

How old?
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mbk734
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by mbk734 »

Niece is 2 nephew is 4, but any toy you have in mind please share.
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surveyor
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by surveyor »

A 4 year old boy can and should start legos. The small creator series might be good at that age.

Bruder makes particularly good toys.
livesoft
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by livesoft »

Bikes and scooters with PPE.

But not electric cars for $240. What's up with that?
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keystone
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by keystone »

My 16 month old son loves this RC car and for under $14 it's a great value:

http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-Race-Radi ... ler+rc+car
mickens16
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by mickens16 »

my kids (7 & 4) love scooters (Razor brand). They are on those more than their bikes.
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mhc
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by mhc »

My kids loved Thomas the tank engine. We had a train table so they could build the wooden tracks. Later, the tracks got so big they moved to the floor.
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davebo
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by davebo »

Magnatiles would be perfect for those kids. My kids are 4, 4, (twins), and 6 and they still play with them all the time. They are also huge hits at their schools.

http://www.amazon.com/Magna-Tiles%C2%AE ... 1432746152

Other things that get a lot of action in our house are:

Legos/Duplos
Train Table (Although not as much as I thought)
Kids trampoline for indoor use
Bikes
Puzzles
Swingset
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mbk734
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by mbk734 »

livesoft wrote:Bikes and scooters with PPE.

But not electric cars for $240. What's up with that?
I always wanted one as a kid so I can live vicariously through him. He said it was the best present ever so I think it was worth it. He has a ball driving his sister and friends around in it. Not a Boglehead purchase I admit.
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JupiterJones
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by JupiterJones »

This is an idea stolen from a Mr. Money Mustache post, but... how about a white board and a bunch of dry-erase markers?
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sls239
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by sls239 »

Pretend food / play kitchen
jwinsome
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by jwinsome »

We're big fans of board and card games in our family. Nothing like back-to-basics fun to get everyone looking at each other instead of devices. Particularly recommend Rat-a-Tat Cat, Sleeping Queens and other Gamewright games.
Calhoon
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by Calhoon »

Those razor push scooters can't say enough about. In a world of junk, these are amazingly durable, and like the other poster, the kids are on them all the time. Don't know about the electric ones though. heard those aren't as good, but can't realy say.

However, the best thing we bought our daughter is a Yamaha keyboard that was on sale for 100 or 150. She has since graduated to a digital piano but this was a "toy" that they played on more than any of the others through the years, and they're still using it as a secondary keyboard. In the beginning, they didn't have lessons, but they'd still play around with it.

As far as standard toys, with the exception of some games nothing really was played with much past the new year after Christmas. There was this electronics snap circuit toy that I was real excited about, but apparently I don't know children very well because I messed around with it much more than they did. Still think if a kid was into tinkering this would be a great gift.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by mlipps »

surveyor wrote:A 4 year old boy can and should start legos. The small creator series might be good at that age.

Bruder makes particularly good toys.
Any kid should have Lego's, not just boys.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by Kenkat »

mbk734 wrote:
livesoft wrote:Bikes and scooters with PPE.

But not electric cars for $240. What's up with that?
I always wanted one as a kid so I can live vicariously through him. He said it was the best present ever so I think it was worth it. He has a ball driving his sister and friends around in it. Not a Boglehead purchase I admit.
My kids got years of fun out of their PowerWheels. I replaced tires, motors and batteries just to keep them road worthy. They drove them until they no longer fit in them before we passed one down to the kid up the street.

The Razor scooters got a lot of mileage too.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by ChrisC »

This: http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys/cardboard-box. It's cheap and frequently free. And it's transformative. I enjoyed countless hours during my day and I frequently see kids in my neighborhood inside them or building forts.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by joe8d »

mlipps wrote:
surveyor wrote:A 4 year old boy can and should start legos. The small creator series might be good at that age.

Bruder makes particularly good toys.
Any kid should have Lego's, not just boys.
:thumbsup
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by GoldenFinch »

Legos are a huge hit for kids who love to build. I bought my youngest son a really cute cash register when he was 3 and he still loves to play "book store" with it two years later. Kitchen sets are great for little kids. There is something called a Stomp Rocket that is always a hit for the back yard. Origami is great when they are old enough. :happy
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by joe8d »

ChrisC wrote:This: http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys/cardboard-box. It's cheap and frequently free. And it's transformative. I enjoyed countless hours during my day and I frequently see kids in my neighborhood inside them or building forts.
Yes, made so many things with cardboard boxes ( also wooden orange crates ) when I was a kid. Today, however, you can't get them due to store recycling programs.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by surfstar »

Image

Image

Image


So my suggestion would be Calvin & Hobbes books. They can (and should) be passed down among the kids.

Best. Comic. Ever.
Have some inspirational ones in my 'cube right now.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by PhysicsTeacher »

This is a suggestion for about age eight and up, but the board game King of Tokyo is tremendous fun and has been a hit with 90% of the high school students who've played with me as well as my adult friends while still being simple enough for elementary schoolers.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by ChrisC »

surfstar wrote:Image

Image

Image


So my suggestion would be Calvin & Hobbes books. They can (and should) be passed down among the kids.

Best. Comic. Ever.
Have some inspirational ones in my 'cube right now.
Not a comic strip reader here, but Calvin & Hobbes was my son's favorite comic strip and somewhere in his apartment he has The Complete Calvin & Hobbes, which we gave him as one of his graduation gifts from high school. The OP, however, requested a kid toy. Books, comic strips, and other communication media (with the exception of puzzles and games, including video games) really don't qualify as "toys." Nonetheless, I do believe that children and parents get a lot out of joy by reading books or comic strips together. A close second is playing games and puzzles together. My family's favorite video/computer game was The Oregon Trail.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by linenfort »

mbk734 wrote:Niece is 2 nephew is 4, but any toy you have in mind please share.
Keva planks, but you'll probably have to wait a few years.
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mbk734
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by mbk734 »

ChrisC wrote:
Not a comic strip reader here, but Calvin & Hobbes was my son's favorite comic strip and somewhere in his apartment he has The Complete Calvin & Hobbes, which we gave him as one of his graduation gifts from high school. The OP, however, requested a kid toy. Books, comic strips, and other communication media (with the exception of puzzles and games, including video games) really don't qualify as "toys." Nonetheless, I do believe that children and parents get a lot out of joy by reading books or comic strips together. A close second is playing games and puzzles together. My family's favorite video/computer game was The Oregon Trail.
There are a lot of great kids books. I loved reading Calvin & Hobbes as a kid too. Lots of sarcasm and satire.
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FBN2014
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by FBN2014 »

Lots of unique toys here that I have used in past for grandkids.

http://www.tscshops.com/toysgames.html
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by dbCooperAir »

surveyor wrote:A 4 year old boy can and should start legos. The small creator series might be good at that age.

Bruder makes particularly good toys.
Another great option is K'nex as well for the young builder.
http://www.knex.com/
They have them for most age ranges, our kids loved those things. A lot of is still made in the USA ++++

A little off topic, this is a great web page to get some ideas/things to make for kids as well as adults. This may give you some ideas.
http://www.instructables.com/
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Jonathan
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by Jonathan »

Here are some links to a few toys I've been saving for when my son is a bit older. Right now his favorite toys are a play house we built for him from cardboard boxes (sorry $300 Costco playhouse, maybe next kid), a spatula, and the security bar for the sliding glass door.

* Robot Turtles: The Board Game for Little Programmers
* Diggin Active Skuut Wooden Balance Bike
* Fort Magic

You can also get a Lego subscription these days, either through Lego or through various third-party product curation services. Or, for a girl, maybe a Barbie doll, because everyone knows girls shouldn't play with Legos.
johnubc
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by johnubc »

Anything non-electronic that will stimulate thinking, creativity, exercise and growth.

Legos
KNex
Bicyce/Tricycle
Scooter.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by NoVa Lurker »

I have a son who turned 4 in April. For his birthday party, one of his friends gave him this Bat Cave:

http://www.toysrus.com/buy/favorite-cha ... 7-21655226

It is an understatement to say it has been a huge hit with our son. This is not the kind of toy we normally would have considered for him (our son is already kind of a "boy's boy," and my wife is kind of anti-superhero), but the friend's parents have three boys, and they obviously know what they're doing. My son has played with it non-stop for the past 6 weeks. He plays with it imaginatively, by himself or with friends when they come over. My wife forces him to stop occasionally to play with other stuff, go outside, read books with us, etc. I assume, like other toys, it will phase out soon, but it hasn't happened yet.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by JupiterJones »

mlipps wrote:
surveyor wrote:A 4 year old boy can and should start legos.
Any kid should have Lego's, not just boys.
Maybe not a 2-year-old kid though, which I think (hope?) was more the poster's point. (The OP's question was about a 4yo nephew and 2yo niece.)

Image
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btenny
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by btenny »

I like the Original Big Wheel Trike for the 4 year old. He can ride and have fun with it for two years and then his little sister can take it over when he gets a bigger bike when he is six.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1& ... 0tricycles

And maybe some BIG block legos for both of them. The key is the blocks are big so they will not fit in a baby or toddles mouth. See here. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... lock+legos

Enjoy.
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Re: Best Kid Toys

Post by gkaplan »

This is a Portland store, but you probably can get some ideas by perusing its website:

http://www.finneganstoys.com/
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