what toys do your 2.5-3 year olds currently play with and enjoy?

[Mom to M&M]

Jumping in as my DS is younger but similar in many ways. TBH, DD was this way too and sadly, nothing we did made it better until she got older. Being outside is the one thing that seems to help - he has a much easier time playing nicely outside!

[C&B&E]

The only thing that holds Ben's attention for any length of time is matchbox cars (and the tv!).  I'm presuming Henry has lots of these though?  Most are DH's old ones, and ones we've picked up from charity shops - so really cheap so he's got a huge box.  We've got a playkitchen, brio (well, ikea) trainset, puzzles, painting stuff, stickers etc and he really won't play with them for more than a few minutes at a time.  But if we give him a tray of uncooked rice then he will happily drive his cars through for hours and make up stories.  That has been one good thing about TV actually, that it's given him characters and role play ideas - so the cars are often chuggington characters and they're always rescuing people  .  Is he into that sort of thing?  If not, could you start him off by doing some role play stuff with his cars so that he can carry it on?  Not sure if it really works like that though  . 

Other thing that has helped us is buying a storage system from ikea so that most stuff is out of sight most of the time - he is much more interested in something when he hasn't seen it for ages.  (although still won't necessarily play with it for long!)

[Mashi]

Claire that is what happens here, too! DS will watch episodes of Thomas (he much prefers the old style ones that were not animated but more moving figures?) Like this one   Trouble in the Shed   and I think because they are more like his toys,rather than animated, it helps him to re-create with his own cars and trains. He does love to make them go down hills too fast and crash, to put rocks in the way and knock the trains over, etc etc.  If I put a DVD on for him (I have three DVDs each with 50+ episodes of the old style Thomas!!!) and set up his train he plays more than he watches, but he doesn't feel he is alone, he feels he is a part of the trains on the TV and makes his own games up to go along with what they are doing on the TV, if that makes sense?   

[*Becky*]

H loves the Thomas books and DVD's but he could not care less about his Thomas Duplo train set. I cannot think how many times I have tried to set it up with him and then have him not want to play with it. It is the same with his garage that we bought for his birthday. He likes it but has never really played with it for long.

Clare - he 'quite' likes cars but his big love is anything to do with farm machinery so tractors, diggers, combines...he knows 'everything' about them it seems! We do have quite a few bits and pieces of farm machinery and he will spend ages outside with the gravel, sand and earth just moving them about but when I give him pasta inside to do the same he is not bothered. He is such an outdoor boy!

I thought about buying him some more farm bits like a barn and some pens?? We are in the process of sorting out a trampoline for him too.

Mashi  -I signed up to kneebouncers today so hope that will keep him occupied for a bit too.

[shivi]

Hi Becky!

At this age, Oscar loved Bob the Builder and Thomas (still does but in another way now). We had all the Bob lego (2nd Christmas, Name Day, 2nd Birthday and Children's Day with us, grandparents and babcia we were done) and I'd build them for him, build a house and a few more bits and leave at least another two activities - like some simple puzzles (he had some textured ones from Boots from a trip to the UK at that age - Emma likes them now) and his beloved cars (also DHs hand-me-downs) and I'd leave the room. In saying that, he was a great independent player from very, very early...just was, no training involved. Was/is very spirited but also likes to be left alone.

Emma is the total opposite - she will potter from one thing to another, loves real things - sieves, bags, shoes, old make up cases or empty bottles of shampoo, facecream, dress up, hats, scarves etc and she LOVES singing. She's always had SOMEBODY around - always. Never been "taught" to play alone as Oscar has always been by her side, or me, or the childminder or DH - Oscar the chronic EWer at least had to keep himself occupied from 5.30 to 6.30am most days from age 2-3 LOL! And I remember last September (Emma aged 1 yr 9 mths) when Oscar started football practice on Sat mornings...I thought, yay, me and my little toddler will get LOADS done in the house when the lads leave. I tried to put her in the cot to play alone while I washed the downstairs floor (its a small flat - the whole ground floor is 60 sq.m max so it would take me all of 10 mins) but she just screamed....

Some kids just aren't made to play alone....some are. For when no2 comes, have lots of mess-free (relatively) activites close to hand - new ones - aquadraws, magic colouring books, simple threading activities with shoelaces and big chunky beads, play doh, puzzles etc. We used two boxes like this for early days with Oscar and Emma as a twosome. Of course, if all else fails, Henry could always decorate your windows with a box of breast pads!!! Oscar did this one winter's evening....loved tearing the labels off and sticking them on!

S x

[Mashi]

Mashi  -I signed up to kneebouncers today so hope that will keep him occupied for a bit too.

We spent a lot of time playing it together at first! Not just teaching him the pysical bit of how to navigate it, but in making the games fun, iykwim?  So there is one my DS calles "eyes" and after about 20 clicks the lights go out and you can only see their eyes. We talk about the eye colours, etc. Then the lights come on and he knows he has to click until the bear slides down the pole, and the next click the lights go off again (hard to describe but if you play it you will see what I mean!) So when DS asks for the lights to go off I can be washing dishes or cooking and just ask him what does he have to do to get the lights to go off - he will say "click until i see bear!" and then he his happy, kwim? There is a dog race one, he LOVES.  We sit together and choose which dog will win and then cheer when it us one of us who wins.  But we have had to play together a lot to get him to enjoy it alone. I now can sit him at the kitchen table and get that game open and while I am cooking dinner as long as I am choosing my dog and shouting the odd "go blue dog!" then he is happy and sees that as playing "together." Aside from the fact that my DH has joked we need to give him pieces of pasta and teach him how to bet on the dogs he has learned a lot of vocab, colours, etc from the different games. But they are not totally 100% "alone" activities just that I can multi-task and give him 50% attention iykwim!

[babybarr]

Haven't read through everything but DS likes...

Cars, emergency vehicles (esp. with lights )
He has a wooden train set and trains which he's just started to not get frustrated with
He has farm and zoo animals which tend to live (together!) within a megablock construction
He likes painting and drawing - he has an easel which has a white board so I conveniently got him some white board pens Large pieces of paper stuck onto a wall with water colours has been amazing while we have been decorating
He also has a water table which is simply the best toy when the weather is good.

I would say he's only really started to play for longer periods in the last 6mths so maybe H just needs some more time?

[koe2moe]

we got a plasma car. boy.... even i love it hehe  actually it was me who wanted it and when i saw in on flea market, i jumped on it    You don't need to upgrade, like a bicycle to suit the age/weight/height, etc.  It can hold me and DS or DH and DS together hehe.  

I see TV being mentioned.  Can you shed some light on how much tv your LOs get please?  I have a thread on this.    

[C&B&E]

Clare - he 'quite' likes cars but his big love is anything to do with farm machinery so tractors, diggers, combines...he knows 'everything' about them it seems! We do have quite a few bits and pieces of farm machinery and he will spend ages outside with the gravel, sand and earth just moving them about but when I give him pasta inside to do the same he is not bothered. He is such an outdoor boy!

I thought about buying him some more farm bits like a barn and some pens?? We are in the process of sorting out a trampoline for him too.

I would totally take this as your starting point then - get him a tray of gravel for indoors that he can use, or popcorn kernels, or even sand if you can bear the mess (get a big plastic sheet to keep it all on), some more little animals, make a mat to be a farm with different textures that he can drive his toys on (brown corregated card for ploughed field, some green scouring pads for grass, some sand paper, etc etc).  Pretty much with Ben he will play with cars in the sandpit, cars in the kitchen sink, cars in the bath, cars on his railway track  , cars in the gravel outside (spot a theme  ?!), so if you get H some more farm/tractor type stuff I'm sure this would be money better spent than trying to guess other things he might like when really that's all he's into iyswim?

[babybarr]

I would totally take this as your starting point then

I agree.  Get him some life like farm animals, O also has frogs which he'll play with in water.  Get some "pens" and fences which he can build himself, tractors *with trailers* are also a big hit here too.  O likes to fill the trailers and cart them around.  A friend of mine uses butter beans as "gravel"

[~*Nicole*~]

Haven't read every post but DD is similar. She wants TV a lot and to avoid that I have to plan activities or send her outside. Our yard is fenced and she has a castle thing with a slide, some tricycles, one of those cars you move about with your feet, shovels, a watering can, etc. She can play outside for ages. I leave things out like sidewalk chalk and let her draw on the sidewalk/driveway/our front porch .

She likes bubbles and sand and mud and anything messy.

When inside, she will read books and go up to play in her playroom, etc. (there is a bed and she often ends up jumping on it! LOL) But she inevitably wants TV OR youtube. She LOVES videos on youtube. Particular faves are: We're going on a bear hunt, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, videos of dogs or cats doing tricks....etc. OH and fisher price has a site with easy games. She loves them. She also loves to just type her letters!

[*Becky*]

I must be doing something wrong with the water table as he has one but he does not play with it and will just get mud and put it in and tip it all out so loads of muddy water all over the place - not much fun after the third time...
I set up an easel for him but seriously, I know painting is messy but he just put paint everywhere...on his toy car, on his bike and mixed up everything to just be a mud colour. I can cope with mess to a certain extent but that just seemed destructive really and I cannot be cleaning everything up all day atm.

So...will get him some farm animals and pens and we will do more farm stuff. Claire - sand in the house! Yikes, that would just be crazy with H. I like the butter beans idea though.

thanks everyone x

[babybarr]

O's water table has a little train which runs round the edge and has various things for pouring water into.... however I add washing up liquid for bubbles you can add food colouring too

[*Becky*]

good idea about the bubbles - thanks!

[Mashi]

I must be doing something wrong with the water table as he has one but he does not play with it and will just get mud and put it in and tip it all out so loads of muddy water all over the place - not much fun after the third time.

I would need to be with my DS and play with him even in a water table in order to keep him entertained by it.  I think maybe for Henry it is not about the specific toy but about needing someone to play with him, kwim? I know that doesn't help in a lot of ways but if you find that is the issue then at least can reduce the frustration of searching for what it is that he wants.   My DS has a water play thing for boats which he LOVES and will play with for 2 - 3 hours and be upset when the play is done, but if I set it up for him to play with alone he plays for 3-4 minutes before he tries to dump it and throws the boats.  He just wants someone to play WITH him, kwim?