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naomikritzerSince it's December, I have -- of course -- done some toy shopping. It's a compulsion. Neither kid, in point of fact, asked for any toys. Molly asked for books; Kiera asked for a snow globe. But there are things I like for them to have, and things I think they'd enjoy, and it's a lot of fun to delight your kid, and so -- toys.
They already have a ton of toys, of course. The thing that's interesting is that they play with a really narrow selection of them, constantly. What they play with:
1. Dolls. They have quite a few, and will sometimes get out every single doll and play school, or day care center, with all of them. Kiera likes to 'read' to her dolls. (She's not reading yet, but she'll make up a story while showing them the pictures and turning pages, which is adorable.) Some of the stuffed animals also get in on the act, though mostly all but a few gather dust in the basket where they're stored.
2. The pop-up play houses. They have a play house, a tent, and a couple of pop-up cubes, all of which get hauled out semi-regularly.
3. The laundry baskets. These are not technically toys, but you'd never know it, considering how much they get played with.
4. Blankets. See #3.
5. Board games. Molly's current favorites are Clue, Life, and Set. Kiera's are Hi Ho Cherry-O and Memory, though I'm not sure she's yet gotten through a game of Memory without either losing her temper or getting bored. Molly took over for her the other day after she quit mid-game and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of Ed. Back when she was four I attributed her skill to pre-literate visual memory, but no, apparently she's just really good at it.
6. The kitchen toys. We keep them in a large pot with a lid. They include a plastic tea set I got years ago, with some miscellaneous fake food, plus two rotary eggbeaters I picked up at a thrift shop.
7. The art supplies. There's a lot more here than any normal parent would consider necessary, but art is such a wholesome and pleasant activity and they both enjoy it so much that I keep them well-stocked.
8. The Polly Pockets. These are teeny-tiny dolls with teeny-tiny plastic clothes and teeny-tiny cars to drive around in. These have gotten far more play over the years than the sturdier and better-equipped Barbies.
In the past, the list has also included:
9. Play-Doh. They still get it out sometimes but it's not nearly as exciting as it was once.
And at least at the moment there's also:
10. The Leap Pad. Kiera got this for her birthday, and still takes it out to play with pretty regularly.
Most everything else got played with a lot when new, and now mostly stays on the shelf unless a visiting friend gets excited about it.
Of course, if they see something being removed, it's their favorite toy in the WORLD and they desperately want to keep it. Better mothers rotate toys in and out from a closet in the basement, so that neglected toys have a chance to be new, fresh, and exciting for a month out of the year and are out of the way the rest of the time. I've tried this, but when the toy comes back upstairs they get excited and play with it exactly once, and then it goes back on the shelf and continues to be ignored. Which is very frustrating when it's something that on some level I feel like they ought to play with, like blocks.
They're each getting another game for Christmas, and some doll clothes. And Kiera is getting a toy accordian. (Unless the purple ukulele turns up, but after sending me a confirmatory e-mail, Amazon appears to have lost the order completely, so I'm not holding my breath.) And Molly is getting a pile of books, and Kiera is getting a snow globe.
I predict that nothing they open on Tuesday will have the entertainment staying power of the laundry baskets.
They already have a ton of toys, of course. The thing that's interesting is that they play with a really narrow selection of them, constantly. What they play with:
1. Dolls. They have quite a few, and will sometimes get out every single doll and play school, or day care center, with all of them. Kiera likes to 'read' to her dolls. (She's not reading yet, but she'll make up a story while showing them the pictures and turning pages, which is adorable.) Some of the stuffed animals also get in on the act, though mostly all but a few gather dust in the basket where they're stored.
2. The pop-up play houses. They have a play house, a tent, and a couple of pop-up cubes, all of which get hauled out semi-regularly.
3. The laundry baskets. These are not technically toys, but you'd never know it, considering how much they get played with.
4. Blankets. See #3.
5. Board games. Molly's current favorites are Clue, Life, and Set. Kiera's are Hi Ho Cherry-O and Memory, though I'm not sure she's yet gotten through a game of Memory without either losing her temper or getting bored. Molly took over for her the other day after she quit mid-game and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of Ed. Back when she was four I attributed her skill to pre-literate visual memory, but no, apparently she's just really good at it.
6. The kitchen toys. We keep them in a large pot with a lid. They include a plastic tea set I got years ago, with some miscellaneous fake food, plus two rotary eggbeaters I picked up at a thrift shop.
7. The art supplies. There's a lot more here than any normal parent would consider necessary, but art is such a wholesome and pleasant activity and they both enjoy it so much that I keep them well-stocked.
8. The Polly Pockets. These are teeny-tiny dolls with teeny-tiny plastic clothes and teeny-tiny cars to drive around in. These have gotten far more play over the years than the sturdier and better-equipped Barbies.
In the past, the list has also included:
9. Play-Doh. They still get it out sometimes but it's not nearly as exciting as it was once.
And at least at the moment there's also:
10. The Leap Pad. Kiera got this for her birthday, and still takes it out to play with pretty regularly.
Most everything else got played with a lot when new, and now mostly stays on the shelf unless a visiting friend gets excited about it.
Of course, if they see something being removed, it's their favorite toy in the WORLD and they desperately want to keep it. Better mothers rotate toys in and out from a closet in the basement, so that neglected toys have a chance to be new, fresh, and exciting for a month out of the year and are out of the way the rest of the time. I've tried this, but when the toy comes back upstairs they get excited and play with it exactly once, and then it goes back on the shelf and continues to be ignored. Which is very frustrating when it's something that on some level I feel like they ought to play with, like blocks.
They're each getting another game for Christmas, and some doll clothes. And Kiera is getting a toy accordian. (Unless the purple ukulele turns up, but after sending me a confirmatory e-mail, Amazon appears to have lost the order completely, so I'm not holding my breath.) And Molly is getting a pile of books, and Kiera is getting a snow globe.
I predict that nothing they open on Tuesday will have the entertainment staying power of the laundry baskets.
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Date: 2007-12-24 03:39 am (UTC)Barbies, dolls of all sorts, and my toy horses. And books books books. My rug and desk got a lot of use as house/lake/estate/etc, anything that I needed for said dolls and horses.
Never did want any of the Barbie houses because it was so much easier pretending when I didn't have set parameters.
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Date: 2007-12-24 03:58 am (UTC)Meg, oddly, does not do dolls... but she has lots and lots of animals, small and large, stuffed and plastic. She rotates through them at a good clip. Currently, she's into Littlest Pet Shop, which is much like Polly Pockets in its teeny-tininess. There might be an upsurge in doll attention after the baby arrives, but it's more likely she'll "baby" her stuffed animals. (I also predict an upsurge in use of the cooking toys, since Ratatouille is showing up for Christmas.)
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Date: 2007-12-24 04:09 am (UTC)If we had the slightest bit of room for one, Alex would prize a pop-up play house above all things.
Little figures, and places for the little figures to be, are huge right now. Last weekend we visited my parents and essentially I never had to worry about or entertain my child all weekend long, because my parents have a closetful of the old Fisher Price Little People sets. She's getting a castle and an assortment of medieval figures for Christmas, which I hope will be an equally lasting hit.
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From:Animals - 15 month old
Date: 2007-12-26 03:51 pm (UTC)-Martine
no subject
Date: 2007-12-30 11:45 pm (UTC)