Your opinion on toys

[mima08]

Before LO arrived I had visions of the odd lovely wooden toy lying on the carpet, LO playing contently with wooden building blocks and no "nasty" blinking, noisy, plastic toys would enter my house. Well, some of these lovely wooden toys arrived (blocks, shape sorter)as did tons of books (which he loves), some less "offensive" plastic ones arrived too (stacking cups, ring stack) as well as the usual array of playmat, rattles and soft toys - problem is, at 8month he is bored really quickly! I have always been pretty sceptical of "educational" toys like from Vtech et all with all their battery operated overstimulation (as I thought), but would these be more interesting for him?

What are/were your kids favourite toys and which ones do you wish had never crossed your doorstep?

[srisky]

Favourite 'toys' - remote control, mobile phones, flex leads, washing intruction labels on anything, hairbrush, paper (the more important it is to mummy and daddy the better)

Favourite proper toys - Sophie the giraffe (we have the mushroom version), all books, boing ball, Lamaze toys

Least favourite - furry teddies/cuddly toys - I guess the just don't taste as good as the others

We only have one toy with music and flashy lights (just the way it's worked out, not conscious decision) and my daughter is equally interested in this as the other favourite toys.

Maybe put some of the toys away for a while (a week or so) and then when you re-introduce them they will seem like new to your son?

[Sanne Panne]

We've mostly done without the vtech stuff due to an extremely battery-operated-baby-toy-noise intolerant husband. The nice thing is that when you go somewhere else where they do have the vtech type toys the kids looove it and you don't need to worry about entertaining them for an hour. If you do buy them they will get bored with them pretty quickly.

You could consider getting things you might normally get for an older child. Only when we had our second baby did we realise how nice playdough is for a one year old. Same with a glue stick and some paper. Washable felt tips. Duplo. A train track. A cookery set (e.g. a colander and some spoons from your own kitchen plus some dry pasta). And a continuously changing collection of recycling materials such as empty kitchen rolls, yogurt pots and shampoo bottles. I'm not miss creative at all but these things really do seem to keep kids busy much longer than some of the more advanced toys do!

[jollybaby]

Being a good ed mum I tried to avoid the plastic too, but a couple of pieces have crept in. Much to my shame the vtech baby walker has been a particular favourite! Now that baby jb is walking it's going on loan to my niece - I won't miss the bloody puppy calling song.

Other favourites have been - stacking cups, the stacking hoops that go on a pole and she's beginning to get into using shape sorters etc.

But as sanne panne says - nothing beats empty bottles or cartons. Keeps her entertained for hours.

[cuppa tea]

At 8 months my 1st boy wasn't much interested in toys. He liked playing with kitchen utensils, water, remote control, mobile phones, bits of wool, stuff from a treasure basket, etc. Though he did play loads with a small electric keyboard....awful noisy racket. Now at 4 we have utterly lost the battle with plastic. We do still manage to at least get some stuff second hand. That said the toys in plastic for older kids are great - Lego of course. For babies they are pretty crap.

[jennyh]

Mine is nearly 8 months and has decided most of her lamaze toys are no good anymore. She is really into all the plastic things that you can bash and make noise and I dont really mind as she is learning to slide things across and push specific buttons etc and seems to make an effort to direct her hands to the bits she likes. Similarly she has got bored of the normal books and wants the ones where she can push the buttons to make yet more noise! She is really into rattles, rainmakers and maracas so perhaps you can get some of these as they make noise but aren't as irritating as the battery operated things.

On the other hand she really likes dry leaves and sticks, anything made of rubber, remote controls, pans and spoons.

[sanity girl]

Favourite toys for my 1 year old: traditional spinning top, teddies, anything his 4.5 year old sister is playing with! Not interested in the one vtech toy we have at all (thankfully bought second hand) but he does like a sort of drum/shape sorter by chicco that plays 3 different songs when you press a button - claps his hands when he hears the music - luckily the tunes are not bad and there is no annoying singing.

[melbourne groover]

Those WOW toys are great as well, especially things like the ambulance. No small bits for babies, very robust and still popular!

[Yak]

Surely this is the point of playgroups? Lots of plastic & electric noise-making toys (which I absolutely hate) for them to get excited about, leaving home clear for lovely wooden educational toys & books?

*cue hollow laughter from experienced parents*

[melbourne groover]

I think the key is big containers you can put all the plastic toys away in so when they are in bed it doesn't look like you are hanging out in a playgroup!

[chantelle]

it sounds to me like you already have the appropriate basics for now. His interest and attention span will grow in the next few months. I boycott anything electronic and batteries come out if a hand me down or gift makes it through our line of defences.

[mima08]

Thanks for all the great suggestions and opinions! A sensory treasure chest with shampoo bottles, kitchen utensils etc has been created and will start getting the likes of playdough, duplo etc for slightly older ones, too. Plus a big container! MG, thanks for the suggestion on the WOW toys, I did get a wind-up submarine for bathtime and the look on his face was absolute priceless. Makes me accept certain plastic may be ok (particular if it doesn;t sing!) and I guess I should count my blessings if I can minimise the plastic, battery-operated toy impact - must visit more playgroups! :)

mx